Anniversary

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the day we moved from the country to our house in Toronto. It was a big decision for the 2 of us in our 70’s to leave our quiet rural neighbourhood and take on another house in a big city. Was it the right one?

September 5th, 2018 was a day very much like this one – HOT. The movers sweated buckets and went through cases of bottled water. (They refused to drink tap). They also brought a truck that was too small and Peter had to rent an extra truck and drive it himself. A few things broke in transit including a mirror – which is supposed to bring bad luck. The “day” ended at 10 pm when we fell into our partly-made bed, exhausted. We barely had time to hope that things would be better in the morning.

Soon, though, we discovered that we had moved into another quiet neighbourhood, with several advantages: close to a bakery, podaitrist, medical support, drugs, and wine. What more does a Senior need? We have access to public transit: the TTC and GO are both a short distance away. When we choose to walk, there are wonderful places to explore: trails north along the Humber River where the deer nibble on new branches in the spring and the salmon jump in the fall; trails south to Lake Ontario where beaches and picnic tables wait for us in the summer and our kayak feels right at home. And on Labour Day weekend we can hear the Air Show right above our heads! Well maybe that isn’t such a big advantage…

As for the house, it is exactly what we wanted: smaller but roomy enough for the 2 of us. We each have our own bathroom and one relaxing area with our favourite sofa or chair, a TV, and a side table for our pens and paper to write down lists of all the things we might forget. The dining room is in between, and we meet there for meals, board games, and discussions abot how our grand childiren are doing and why aren’t they eating their vegetables like we did when we were their age? The house is perfect, really.

But it is a lot of work. There is the general maintenance of cleaning, which Lucy takes care of, gardening, which Peter the Farmer is happy to look after, and cooking and laundry which are my chores. But other jobs do pop up, or fall down, like the time, as many readers remember, when the kitchen sink fell through the counter onto the floor. Then there was the winter, the coldest on record, when the furnace broke. Three times. And there are the many escapades of Peter trying to tame the backyard trees using a wobbly ladder and a rusty hand saw. Or a time during the pandemic when we ordered a new coffee table, mostly for diversion, and then spent hours, mabe even days, trying to assemble it because 2 of the legs were shorter than the other 2.

Mostly we have tried to stay away from renovations or even major decorating. Our plan seems to be that we’ll stay here until enough things break or need work, inculdng our bodies, and then we’ll move. Meanwhile we’ll put up with the little things: the stained carpet in the den, the tiny crackcs in the bathroom sink, the ugly light fixture in the dining room. And we’ll continue to enjoy all the experiences our new life in the city has to offer.

Sue