We have big news around here -- we are going to be moving to Montreal in August so that Dave can attend McGill in the fall. Unless we are very, very lucky this is going to be our last summer with a back yard for quite a long time. We will dearly miss our wonderful patch of grass and trees and sand. But on the upside, we will enjoy having all the challenge and action and adventure of the city.
Its funny, because Dave and I are just kind of city people -- one of our favorite activities is people watching, which is hard to do in a town where you know everyone. But as a crunchy sort of person I feel like that is somehow "wrong". Like everyone who is sort of crunchy should dream about having a farm and living completely off the grid. But we care about buying ethically and making our own things and living frugally and leaving a smaller environmental footprint, but we also want to live in the middle of lots of other people who are thinking and talking and engaging with one another and expressing their cultural similarities and differences all around us. I don't think living conscientiously is exclusively a concern of people who enjoy rural lives.
And I do think its still possible to get your kids outside and enjoying nature in the city -- there are lots of big parks to explore, after all, and lots of walking to do. And in the city we can also explore different cultures and kinds of food that we wouldn't encounter in a smaller town. I think that can be part of learning to think globally and care for others, too.
Anyway, all that to say that we will miss our back yard and our freedom to have the kids run in and out of the house as they please. So Dave has built a tree fort for the boys to enjoy this spring and summer while they still have a back yard.
5 comments:
Congrats on the news of a move! Montreal sounds very exciting!
We'll have to get together! We're in the Montreal area fairly often to see my parents, and will probably be there a bit more once baby arrives, so they can enjoy their grand-parenting role! They live about 45 mins North of the city, so it's easy to travel either way. There's lots of interesting things to see, too, in an outside of Montreal. You might want to check out the book "Exploring Montreal with Kids" (http://www.montrealwithkids.com/). All the best!
Wow, such a Jill post with all the big words, you can tell already that you are moving back to a city
oh that is nice! You guys have been wanting to get back to the city! Hope you guys can stop in on the way by so we can each meet each others new addition & catch up on news!
Wow, that's great! It very briefly looked like we could be making a move to Montreal a few years ago and I was getting excited looking at all of the interesting opportunities to explore there! Sometimes shopping ethicially and leaving a smaller environmental footprint seems easier in a city. We've got a surprisingly good farmer's market and opportunities for ethical meat, cheaper organic food in T.Bay, but still more limited than a larger city that can sustain a daily farmer's market etc...
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