The view from my balcony
There's No Place Like Home
Home is something I think of all fall and winter long. For me, the greatest ‘sacrifice’ I make as an athlete is spending so much time away from the places that I love. I say this tongue in cheek because it’s hardly a sacrifice when compared to most people’s realities. But, since we’re talking about me here, let’s just say I am not the biggest fan of living in a city. Being a long track speed skater gives me approximately two choices in Canada where I can skate indoors: Calgary, and for the next eleven months, Richmond, BC. My idea of a great place to live involve aspects both places offer: mountains, fresh flowing water, birds and trees… however, my version of paradise does not involve noise, traffic, pollution you can taste, and neighbours closer than a small forest away.
That’s precisely why my husband Peter and I have chosen to hang our hats in places like our little plot of forest in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and the Eastern Sierra Nevada of California. June 6, 2008 is a long time ago and that is the last day I was at here in this piece of paradise I call home in the former. Autumn and winter have come and gone, leaving their marks with evidence in the form of some water damage downstairs, temperamental taps in the upstairs bathroom and, unfortunately, a squirrel who met its demise after deciding to winter in our woodstove…. the poor thing didn’t plan ahead very well when it decided to drop way down the chimney and check out the stove.
In less than 36 hours after leaving Richmond, where my racing season ended last weekend, I traveled from the west coast, to my home in Calgary for an evening, and then finally to Quebec. The latter is most difficult because from the airport, with our car in storage, we have to take a bus into Montreal, then another bus into the nearest town that’s still 22 kilometers from our house. A neighbour was nice enough to pick us up and bring us to our back door.
It’s strange leaving a home empty for so long. Whenever we return after such a long absence, you can feel the loneliness in the air. A few days of dusting off, cooking and living seems to cheer the place back up and the feeling is palpable.
That first night of sleep is what reminds me each and every time why I love this place so much. Going to sleep in darkness and waking to a flood of natural light in the room, listening to the silence nature offers, makes me feel whole and rich. After spending months feeling trapped in cities, traveling thousands of kilometres to different countries in order to skate a few kilometres and try to be the best at what I do seems ridiculous when I sit here at home. Looking out at the beautiful old mountains and sweet maple trees dripping with sap as spring warms the air puts me exactly where I dreamt of all winter long.
The blanket of winter snow shrinks each day, welcoming this new season. Perhaps it’s welcoming us home…
And there is certainly no place like home!
