Dear Wisdom

 

Where are you from?  

When you were just a twinkle in our eyes (aka a ravenous grasshopper in my belly), we took an outrageous trip from Winnipeg to Boissevain on bicycles.   I planned the trip as I plan trips...planning to do more planning en route, except that the whole family came and because it was summer and because it was gorgeous and because we sent some of our stuff ahead when we got to the first Canada Post office (outside of the big city) to make our paniers lighter, it worked.    The trip was more than 300 km of which we did at least 270 as far as I remember. 

 

You were conceived in this incredibly vast prairie land of golden wheat, endless blue skies, green green grass.    But you’ve done the visible kind of growing on avocados, breadfruit, oranges, dust, and diesel fumes between two mountain ranges.  

 

What do you see from inside there?...morning?  

What do you hear?...market women enticing us to buy eggs and pumpkins? blaring music in the back of a taptap? soap suds rubbed between hands and clothes? blan blan blan? aluminum cups falling on our newly ceramic-ed floor? me swearing at the fridge?

 

NINE months to get used to each other is blissfully long.  

I usually give myself TWO weeks to try out a new job, new neighbourhood, new schedule etc.    

But if you change everything at once, TWO months, I’ve learned again this time is the bare minimum.    The last day of 2 months and 3 months I was still jumpy for airplanes.  Five months has me wondering how I will leave.