Épilogue
Can you have an épilogue without a finalé?
I know I know, it was horribly rude of me to just disappear in mid June.
Suddenly we were in Victoria, then back in Vancouver, then Victoria. There were festivals to volunteer at, houses to be moved into, things to buy and things to sell.
And stairs to be painted.. LOTS of stairs to be painted.
But I digress, I was apologizing for abandoning you, all eight who had followed so diligently my adventures! Now that I am back in Montreal visiting, on the anniversary of the weekend we came last year to find a home for our sojourn, it feels appropriate to "wrap things up".
I had planned to do a "Top 5 things I will/won't miss about Montreal" list. However, was having trouble picking a "Top 5" of either category. There is so much about Montreal that is amazing and infuriating at the same time. Sometimes it's the same thing!
The other day Lynda asked me my happiest memories of our time in Montreal..
That seemed a better place to start!
These were they:
-Rolling down St Urbain on a Bixi bike at the beginning of April (BEFORE it snowed one, or two, more times)
-Devouring an amazing meal at Ile Flottante. Not knowing what I was eating, and not caring a bit.
-Discovering that Lynda's father's family is about as QC as you can get, replete with Decarie's, Prud'homme's, Hurtubise's and Gervaise's, most arriving in 1650ish and promptly making intra-familial marriage an art form. Then finding out she is related to the first Irishman to land in North America in 1677 (that anyone knows of), which must have been a sigh of relief to the gene pool.
-Having our friends/family visit. I know, this one surprised me too. I love my friends/family. But I love my routines as well (yes, I came out at birth with the personality of a 73 year young grumpy old lady). Visitors tend to disrupt everything from bathroom availability to what time lunch will be. Both very important things to grumpy old ladies like me. Yet once I realized that all these visitors meant I could have multiple trips to Poutineville and sugar shacks and gluten free patisseries and gelato, all in the name of "guest entertainment", my brain got right on board!
-Taking art classes again- amazing how you can lose yourself for three hours. Way better than therapy!
-Just hanging out on the back patio, listening to the sounds of the Ruelle (from birds to screaming children)!
-Shoveling the front stairs. Yes, I enjoyed it. A lot more then painting the damn things, as it turns out!
There were literally hundreds of other moments, I have photos to prove it.
And yes, there were annoyances. But there are those anywhere.
I will miss walking to the end of the alley for amazing ice-cream.
I will miss Sophie and Benny (cats) demanding entrance to the back door each morning.
Yes, part of me will miss the snow (not that much though).
I will NOT miss the blazing heat we experienced in the week before we left. THAT can stay right here.
Now if you need me, I will (mostly) be here chanting "relax everything". Yup, I live 400 meters from the Gorge waterfront. #roughlife.
And unpainted stairs not-withstanding, I think I'm gonna like it just fine. Remember to follow the advice of the Montreal sidewalk...
Au revoir pour tondre mes amis.
Rester Bien.
Merci pour l'écoute.