Batten Down the Hatches.

The last few months have been somewhat harrowing and we both have a lot more grey hair to prove it. I think we have had enough of change to last a long time - we both just want to settle down, get our house in order, our lives back on track, and start breathing easy again. Living in foreign lands is always a wrench and always presents difficulties, but the Middle East, I think, was what ex-pats consider to be a "hardship placement". I am sure we would never return to live there ..... maybe somewhere else, but not anytime soon! I think our attitude now is going to be "batten down the hatches" and wait out any wild waters in a safe and balmy cove called Burlington.

We are home now - safe and sound. We are going to miss some aspects of life as ex-pats - our solid friendships that we formed along the way, most of all - although we fully intend for them to continue with correspondence and visits now and then. We will miss some of the adventures - walking in the souq, watching camel races, walking the corniche, eating labneh, listening to the calls to prayer every day, the laid back weekends, no maintenance on home, cleaning service and help, and give your head a shake moments. I personally will miss my retirement. The adventures we won't miss - you guessed it - driving in Doha, and also Ramadan rules, no holding hands in public, and .... give your head a shake moments.


A small tidbit:  A bit of baggage we picked up along the way - as those of you who have read the Qatar blog already  know: In the middle of all of the packing up and winding down of affairs, we happened on a little black kitten on the side of a 3 lane highway that we rescued on Boxing Day - just three weeks old. I don't know sometimes.... but how could we leave him knowing that he would be dead within minutes, if we just passed him by? After much ado - State of Qatar certification, vet certification, airline approval - we had an extra passenger with us on our flight. He has already been adopted by his real parents and is living the life of bliss in a warm and safe home in Canada. He is a tiny little thing with very little fur - being a desert cat I suppose. Good karma for us, at least.

We hope to speak to and/or see all of you over the next little while. Thank you for staying in touch with us while we were on our little adventure. With all of our family and friends old and new, scattered across the four corners of the world, I am resolved to staying in touch.  This is the start of my Canadian blog - it may not contain quite so many weird, bizarre, exciting or curious notes, but I intend to try to keep it up. For those of you who live in Canada - some of it will seem old hat, but will maybe give us an opportunity to connect, to think, and certainly to laugh about ourselves and the world we live in. For those of you in South Africa, USA, Europe, Australia, Ecuador and now Qatar - you might hear about something new or weird or wonderful. Whatever it may be, we hope to stay in touch with each and every one of you.

Here's to the future - whatever it may hold.