Back from Paradise...for a time.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.  Truer words were never spoken.  Leaving our most western province on Sunday was exactly that.  It happens to me every time.  I fall in love with the beauty that is British Columbia over and over again.  The mountains fill me with awe, the smell of pine and spruce needles drying on the forest floors, the pristine waters of the lakes and rivers and that west coast attitude never cease to grab me. 

And then I start to question why.  Why do I live in Ontario?  Why don't I move back to B.C.?  Please don't take this as a criticism of Ontario.  There is much to love about it.  I was born in this province.  It is home to me, but the first time I cast my eyes upon the Rockies when I was a young woman of 20 or so, it was love at first sight and I don't think I have ever gotten over that first crush.

I lived in Banff for a time, Vancouver on two occasions and have spent a bit of time in Kelowna and Mabel Lake where my brother lives and summers.  I don't think my association with B.C. is over yet.  This last trip left me with a deep yearning to return.  It almost feels like running away.  Maybe that is part of the appeal.  It is vastly different from Ontario - like another country really.  I miss my brother and he is there for life - no question about that. 

At this stage in my life, it is almost a question of "why not?".  What difference would it make to me now?  In less than a year, my daughter will be off to university.  Does it matter where I live?  Between air travel and skype and all the other instant access technologies, what difference does it make if I am here or there?  I would even consider taking up skiing again - something I gave up a few years ago when a knee issue was plaguing me - but it seems much better now - maybe it could take it. 

I have some choices to make over this next year.  And as they say, change is good.

And inevitable.