The tree which grew out of control is gone. Two professionals took it skillfully down and Ralph cut the tree in more pieces for firewood for his woodstove heater.
Leaves and a few other smaller dead trees off to the landfill and our backyard looks a bit more cleaned up again. This summer gave us a lot of changing weather with more rain than usual resulting in still very green fields. Now the average temperatures are going down a bit again; on our way to the Fall.
The past two weeks I was able to catch up with several former colleagues again, among them Tom from Vancouver and Hadi from Kingston. Most of them are still fully active in the working world and others are in the semi-retired stages. It is nice to hear their stories and I must admit that I do not miss the work life anymore. It is good to have this phase of life without deadlines, too many meetings and especially managing people. I look back at a very fortunate, exciting and rewarding career, but it was long enough.
Now is the time to lose myself in many books, the occasional 1,000 piece puzzle, lots of walking, regular swims and exercises + sauna in our basement. I found a fun group to play bridge with on Friday mornings and am looking at some other volunteering with seniors as well as mentoring of younger professionals (who work in the international development field).
And every day being in awe with how close Mary keeps our Canadian family ties. Here she is on the phone with Hilary in Vancouver with whom she chats every day. Same with Mark who lives closer by, her brother, wife and kids in Sarnia (and one of the sons currently in BC), her sister, husband and daughter here in Fonthill (coordinating the daily looking after their Dad). Since my visit to Holland last Fall, I send updates to my sisters and their kids through a Whatsap chat group, but there is no comparison. Each family has its own dynamic of course.
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