So we’ve been back in Manitoba now for about three and a half months. It’s been (mostly) great–I say “mostly,” because it’s been difficult (so far) for me to be productive on my dissertation. However, it’s also been long enough to begin to miss some things about our lives in Massachusetts.
For one, we’re already missing the fall and winter seasons in Massachusetts. Not that anyone particularly enjoys winter, even Massachusetts winters, but the winters there were exponentially more endurable than they are here. It’s not winter here yet, but the colder days have been enough to make us dread the upcoming winter. And even though the fall season is pretty here, it’s more pretty and longer in Massachusetts.
I’ve also missed my running route. Part of my running route here is Wellington Crescent which, don’t get me wrong, is nice, but the route also requires me to run a significant amount on streets and sidewalks. In Northampton, I had a nicely reclaimed rail line I could run. There were mature trees along the sides and most of it was a significant distance away from busy streets and car traffic.
There is also just a sense of loss, knowing that we will probably never again live where our children were born and, in L’s case, spent the first few years of his life. I, and I’m sure Pam does too, have a lot of fond memories of our time there, and we may never again be able to spend significant time where those memories were formed. That makes me sad. Oh well, as the cliche goes, you can’t have everything.