Home from a few months of hobo-ness...

Traveling rocks my world. Traveling also tires me out.

So, since my last post I have partaken in another trip, a great one for many reasons. But also one that made me want to settle and relax back home for a while. I left NS on October 12th for Glasgow, Scotland. Took in my first Wintersleep show there the same night I arrived. My parents joined me the following day and we began our figure 8 tour of the UK.



It was fun (seeing places so different, old and unique), challenging (living in cramped quarters with the same people), and just the right length of time. We traveled to Inverness and explored some of the north of Scotland, then along the eastern coast and to Edinburgh for a few nights. We continued into England- Windermere, in the Lakes district, Manchester and Liverpool for a night each. We spent a few nights on the Isle of Man, where my cousin also joined us to meet and spend some time with some distant relatives. It was an amazing time- hearing stories of my grandmother and great grand parents that I have never met and slowly sorting out how my family came together. It was also an incredible time of getting to know my cousin, since we were never super close during my childhood.



We concluded our 3 weeks with a couple nights in Bath, sightseeing to Stonehenge and Lacock, then a night with an old Bielefeld friend, Philippa, in Brighton. Our last two nights were in London, and that was awesome.

Sadly, upon our landing in Halifax, we found out my last grandparent, Nanny Rowe, had passed away in St. John's, Nfld. It took me by surprise and brought questions of mortality back into my mind. Heading off on a plane the day after getting home, might have been just the tipping point.

Gladly, the funeral was a nice closure... I didn't go to my poppy's funeral when I was a kid since we couldn't afford to go back and it has always felt rather surreal. Seeing Nanny, feeling her cold hand, closed eyes, perfectly coiffed hair resting in coffin rest in my mind as the moment she was gone for me. My brothers, cousins and myself were the pall bearers- a first for me, but a fitting tribute to the fact that she was moved into death with her legacy close at hand.

Nanny despised the thoughts of people dwelling in a dreary state, gawking at her at her box and sobbing endlessly. She insisted that her funeral be a party. That was the one nice thing about the trip back home to Nfld. Many of my cousins and all my mom's siblings were back. We had a fabulous time hearing stories from Aunt Cheryl, hearing the jokes of Geoff, laughing at the silly comments about the funeral brochure Aunt Maxine picked up for herself and enjoying the wonderful cooking of Uncle Don's neighbours.

We had a champagne toast and gathered all together for a few minutes. Some of the family were missing, but most were there. It was truly a wonderful moment of togetherness. RIP Nanny.

I arrived home in time for Yarmouth's biggest party to date for 2009, the Annual provincial event- Music Nova Scotia "Music Week" Showcases and Awards. I was volunteering and when not "on the job" I was soaking in the new acts and old acts of NS musical ability that I'd never seen before. Showcases were happening Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights with a large award show and gala on the Sunday night at the arena. It was quite something. I enjoyed every minute of it, have added many artists to my iTunes as a result and many new friends to my FB and life.

This month has been an eye opening one. I have learned a lot about myself, my desires, my family (distant and near) and about the world in general. I have much more that is swirling around my head, but I think it might actually require me to consider starting a separate blog... a little more anonymously to get those thoughts out there. So as not to incriminate the innocent. Sadly there are some of you that I think could contribute to that but that would defeat the purpose of anonymity... But I digress... Inquire within if the suspense is now killing you!

It's too late to be adding pictures, so I will try to VERY quickly find a couple to highlight the last few months on the road! Enjoy!