Two weeks ago, as we drove up to Mount Umunhum for a hike we were chatting as usual. We were reflecting on the uptick in Covid cases in the US and how things are getting worse not better. We also reflected on how we are here but we are unable to spend time with friends.

And then Atlantic Canada bubbled. Restrictions got lifted as there were zero new cases for 3 weeks. They have contact tracing and mandatory quarantining in place. If you don’t live there or have family there you cannot visit. They are keeping Covid out while also living almost normal lives.

I’m not sure if I’ve blogged about our adventures with Treehouse Village. We discovered cohousing – which I had a misunderstanding about but now realize that I will have my own self-contained condo while also having the benefit of living with neighbours that want to be friends and enjoy each others company. Getting back to our Adventure’s, we decided that when we moved back to Canada we wanted to live in Treehouse Village. It will be another year before things are built, but we are really enjoying being part of the process of building the community and creating the communities social norms and policies. It is exciting, in part, because the people involved are amazing. We have not met many of them face-to-face but they all feel like close friends already. It feels nice knowing that we will be moving into a community – there is a lot of emotional labour that goes into building community, so it is nice when that effort is shared.

Anyways, the big decide that we made was that we are doing to head back to Canada in August. We have only a few more weeks to pack up everything here and manage all of the logistics. It is a bit daunting as I’m still teaching 3 courses, and doing a lot of work for Treehouse. We need to pack up the house, find a real estate agent to sell our place here, rent or buy something in Nova Scotia, figure out how to get our electric car to Maine, drive ourselves (in our van) to Maine, pick up all our stuff and put it in a Uhaul truck and drive across the border in New Brunswick, where we will need to quarantine for 14 days. Oh ya, and then just days after we arrive in Nova Scotia I’m due for my next lupron shot, so I need to coordinate seeing an oncologist and getting that prescription so I can get the medication (it is an injection into muscle so needs to be given by a nurse). The logistics are crazy.

As I learn more, I’m going to start sharing more. I’ll try and keep this blog up to date on how things are going. I am busy but I also don’t want to lose a record of this time. We are making a lot of decisions and I think others can learn from them. Moving not only back to Canada but also moving to the other side of the continent during a global pandemic when then country you are living in is a hot mess is a pretty crazy thing to be doing. It is hard to believe, but I’m actually looking forward to 14-days of quarantine where we are forced to not go anywhere and we don’t be able to do much other than work (I will still be teaching, Scott will likely still be working remotely), and relaxing. We will need it by then.

Oh ya, and we made it to the top that day! 4.2 miles along beautiful trails. The square box building is the top.

Feature image: Mount Umunhum taken from about 1 mile up the trail.