Wrapping Up Dartmouth Cove

So my time in Dartmouth cove is coming to a swift close at the end of the month as I head out on my big journey.  The past 14 months in Dartmouth Cove have been very interesting, as well as tragic and thought provoking.  I truly enjoyed my time spent in my cozy apartment just a half-block from the ocean.  My neighbors were entertaining, to say the least - everyone from little mama with her violent partner to baby daddy with a chip on his shoulder to the various and assorted interesting folks who came and went.  The fire that burned out apartments to a crisp that cold New Year's Eve will not be long forgotten, but I am working to put it behind me. 


I enjoyed being so close to the parks, the downtown, the ferry, and Tim Hortons (I am Canadian after all) and having my own private balcony to chill with Stormy through the glorious spring, summer and fall days.  The apartment had so much character, and my stuff fit perfectly.  I should have known then, something was going to unravel, and I had that sense even last fall, this weird sense of forboding.  Little did I know it would be a horrible fire that would blast through my cozy apartment. I still struggle with the losses, however material that may sound.  It isn't for the furniture or the dishes, it is for my life story, wrapped up in VHS home movies, 8mm soundless reels of old home movies, the hundreds of slides my father took of us as wee children, the thousands of photos lost in albums and boxes, the jewelry given to me by my grandmother, and so on. I have yet to really grieve for this loss, being wrapped up in the business of life and preparation for my trip. I reckon it will eventually catch up with me on some idle Tuesday.


My current apartment is a dump. I hate it. It is a roof over my head, but I have treated it like a barn, where I can prepare for the trip.  This apartment is no sanctuary that my last one accomplished so well.  The fact that it doesn't have a living room and no comfy chair or sofa is the biggest problem I have with it.  Stormy doesn't seem to mind too much, but he does miss going out on the balcony. This one does not have a gate and he would be GONE if I let him out.


Soon enough, my home will be a 1985 Westfalia Vanagon, and Stormy and I will be touring the country. Life will be wrapping up in Dartmouth Cove, and it's been a hell of a ride.