Chapter 15

2020 COVID-19 – May 13 Today is moving day. I type this at 4am when I should be sleeping. But stress hates rest, so my mind instead explores the deep crevices of everything that needs to be done and the simultaneous analysis of everything that can go wrong. Including but not limited to moving truck derailment (even if trucks do not drive on rails) and somehow forgetting to bring the baby because we have too many boxes.

Moving during a pandemic is not something I’d recommend. It’s been a lonely and tedious process. But we are very happy to soon be on the other side of it. Admittedly the tremendous upside is that driving back and forth to the new house these past few weeks has been for the most part a traffic free breeze. Small mercies to be found.

I have felt the need to trade concrete for open spaces for the last few years and today we are officially moving on.

The process of packing goes like this:

Early stages:
Strategic, labelled and organised boxes. Sealed and properly packaged.

Late stages:
Any and all random items are tossed into whatever box is close at hand. Crying and yelling as needed.

We are no longer labelling anything and I’ll soon be driving with a fish in a mason jar sitting in the cup holder of the car, a blind cat, a small incessantly coughing dog (because he is ancient) an exhausted wife, two children (likely screaming) and a truck full of boxes – containing who knows what at this point – precariously stacked in the truck.

It is the end of a chapter. Almost 7 years to the date we moved into our, then brand new, very trendy loft downtown Toronto. It had a fridge so fancy I pretended to be a movie star every time I opened it. We loved our time here but our family has grown both out of the space and out of the time.

I look forward to my kids discovering bugs in the backyard and finding the joys of silent observation. I look forward to marvelling at the red chested birds and silky faced squirrels that congregate on our grass. Commenting loudly about how wonderful they are – even though they are likely the same exact birds and squirrels from the day before.

I also have a tree that I plan to hug daily. I hope the neighbours are prepared.

Goodbye downtown city life. You have been loved.