In January 2020, my Events page listed 18 author events, everything from local libraries, military book clubs, and outdoor fairs, to Left Coast Crime San Diego. And then COVID-19 hit in March and one by one, every event was cancelled.
As authors, we learned to pivot. Zoom became our platform of choice, and book launches and conferences went from in-person to virtual. What can I say? For the most part, we’re a resilient bunch, a quality strengthened with every rejection or not-so-nice book review.
COVID-19 also made me realize that my 8-hour drive from Southern Ontario to our camp/cottage/waterfront home (what you call it really depends on where you live) was even less pleasant when stopping for a quick break meant finding a nearby woods, public bathrooms closed. Let’s just say that Gibbs and I had a bonding moment on one of those trips!
Fast forward to 2022, and having spent more time in Northern Ontario than Southern Ontario, we decided to sell our house in New Tecumseth. I’m not from there (born and raised in Toronto and lived a few places since) but I’d grown to love the area. Even so, it was time to move on…which meant moving. I donated, sold, gave away or otherwise disposed of many of our possessions, stored the rest (we all know how that turned out…and if you don’t, here’s a link to It’s Been a Heckuva Summer) and moved to the camp/cottage/waterfront home on the lake.
Lake living is fabulous. In the summer. In the fall. In the spring (if you can miss “bug season”). Not so much in the winter when the nearest town is 45 minutes away and you’re talking Northern Ontario. One winter there had me convinced I needed a place “in town” — in this case, Sault Ste. Marie, O
ntario. It took some doing, but we finally found a lovely bungalow in a nice part of the city, only a 10 minute walk to the St. Mary’s River (which also serves as the Canada/US border). The close proximity of both places allows us to split our time in both places, though my husband tends to spend more time at the lake, and I tend to spend more time in town. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all of that.
I’ve adjusted well to life in the North, made a few friends, established different routines, met some wonderful authors and artists. Every day offers a new beginning, and I’m grateful for each one.
And yes, I’m still writing. Stay tuned…the best is yet to come.
PS: Be sure to check out my EVENTS page. I have a Zoom presentation for the Barrie Public Library coming in April (free, and you don’t need to be a BPL patron, but you need to pre-register) and I’ll be going to Killer Nashville in August.
It does take courage and conviction to change. I found that leaving the ideal ‘area’ and ‘home’, gave me the time, the freedom, to do more of what I really loved to do. Distance to travel for necessities and the work to sustain the ‘home’ cut into each day so much that I actually would use vacation, get-away time to write. Didn’t want to do ‘vacation’ activities at all. How ideal is that? Now it’s apartment life with a grand view, a well-stocked grocery store at first level, needs and wants all within walking distance. Sometimes I think about the lake life but not enough to go back to ownership labor or the perils of deep freeze winters. Less is best for me.
Less is usually more! Sounds like you have a great place.
Change takes courage. I’m glad yours was a change towards happiness, Judy. ( ;
Pamela, I never thought of it as courage!
I’m preparing to do the same: live at the cottage/camp/ on the ocean. Change is in the wind. Many have either relocated or in the thinking stages of it.
I wish you well in your new home.
Great to see you here, Diane. Glad you are well and planning the next adventure.