As my blog name implies I am new to country. My husband and I made the decision to relocate our family from the GTA (greater Toronto area) to the country. Manitoulin to be exact. In our opinion we believe that a rural setting has more to offer simply because it has less to offer. We wanted to slow things down as much as possible. At least as slow as it can get with having three children in tow.
Some of our friends and family think that we are crazy to leave everything behind and move to a place that doesn't have a Starbucks, 24 hr grocery, or even small mall. This is exactly the reason among others why we chose Manitoulin to relocate to.
It has been three months since the move and I am discovering that it was the best decision we made and that there is also a lot that I have to learn and to adjust to.
My first impression was OMG there are so many bugs! My vacuum has become my best friend for ridding my home of unwanted six legged creatures. Shad flies are something new to me. Down south I had never experienced this occurrence of shad flies everywhere that you can see. They stick to every possible surface. Use your imagination.
There are also four legged creatures that have made their presence known to me. Within the first week am mouse made a midnight appearance in my family room. My two lazy house cats had no clue what to make of the tiny visitor. Eventually Cookie finally got up and chased the mouse back to whatever hole it had crawled out from. Pest control is now on my speed dial just in case. The next week maybe the same or a close relative of this mouse found his way into the exhaust system of my van. $250 later my van is smelling much better. Lesson learned, no more food in the van.
My next impression was how dark it is. In the city the environment is so artificial. We don't really experience the night. Manitoulin is designated a dark sky community which means it is really dark. My first time driving at night was an experience and do I need to mention how many deer live on this island? For every person there are three deer. I kept seeing glowing eyes by the side of the road. At least they weren't on the road.
On a positive note another first impression is the beauty of it all. My family has visited the island in the past and have always know how special this place is. Whenever it was time to leave we tried to hold on to the Manitoulin feeling as long as we could. That was a hard task considering we were living in crazy land (the suburbs). I am in awe of this island. It is an extremely beautiful place and I am so fortunate to call this place home. When all is still I can hear and feel the island. The "spirit Island" I get it. I do however know that everything is not going to be perfect. I don't have the rose coloured glasses to view life through. My three months here have been successful in removing any notion I may have had of country living being ideal. I know it isn't. The grass is not greener on the other side. It will be what we make of it.
This blog is going to be used to document my experiences with this new chapter in my life. So far it has been an adventure and it is just beginning.
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