I'se the By

Greetings from the Rock.  It has been a while since I have posted here.  It has been a long strange summer, but in the end it was just what I needed.  A chance to heal and return to my homeostasis.  At the beginning of the summer I was overwhelmed and was very low mentally and physically.  After a relaxing summer capped off with a trip to NL, I am feeling much stronger mentally and physically.  Mind, Body, Soul.  They are all interconnected. 

What an amazing journey to NL.  I won't dwell on a lot of the details as Cheryl has summed them up thoroughly on her blog https://cherylcan.wordpress.com/ .  We hit Deer Lake, Cornerbrook, Rocky Harbour, Norris Point, Woody Point, The Tablelands, Westbrook Pond, Fogo Island and Twillingate.  We climbed the approach to Gros Morne, a steep 9km route uphill through streams and up rocks, we took a boat tour of the Westbrook Pond which was spectacular and made it to Fogo Island which was the quintessential Newfoundland port.  We drove and hiked and chatted and it was fantastic. 

Now that we are back home, I am trying to keep up with my physical activity getting back to the gym, hiking and biking.  This morning I biked to Strathgartney, Hiked the trail, stopped at the river to eat lunch and then biked home.  Cheryl and I are trying to walk most mornings to start the day out right.  

Overall, I am in a much better place than where I started at the beginning of the summer.
 

Liminal Summer

 

The summer is half over and, although it often seems like we have not done much, when I look back we have been very busy.  We went to parlee beach to meet with greg and sean.  visited with colin & janet, gerard and rhea, went down to leonards boat twice, went to lakeside cottage with the old crew, biked from morell to st peters and back, I biked to strathgartney and we have hiked there as well.  Cheryl and I have been walking most mornings and have been to the beach several times.  That just scratches the surface for us as we leave for newfoundland in 2 weeks.  Looking forward to gros morne, fogo and twillingate.

This has been a really unique summer as I have taken stress leave for a month for the first time in my 24 years in government.  I just felt very overwhelmed and hit a wall.  It has been fantastic for my peace of mind and has given Cheryl and I an opportunity to talk about  how we are transitioning from who we used to be to who we want to become.

Bacon

 

If bacon does not solve the problem, then you need more bacon.  

No, bacon does not solve all problems, but at least now you are dealing with your problems with bacon in your hands.  That's a start.

I keep going back to liminal points and I believe Cheryl and I are in the middle of one right now.  That period of time where many doors are closing, but many others are opening.  As humans, we resist change, but often, upon reflection later, those are the key moments that shape who we become.  

So much of my life has changed and is not what I expected it to be at this stage of my life.  Most of it is actually better than I imagined it could be, but those things that are not up to my expectations seem to niggle at me and keep me awake at night.  I am settling into our gentle peaceful life, but now that I am not used to chaos, when chaos inevitably hits from time to time, I am less prepared to deal with it.  Things that I used to gloss over now irritate me because I am trying to be better than who I used to be.  I am hopeful that as we exit this liminal period, that things settle down and I can ride out my last 6 years of work taking time off as needed to help me cope with the bureaucracy which seems to be ever-increasing and even more confusing.