Most people seem genuinely surprised when we tell them we just packed up everything and moved to Newfoundland. They are really surprised when we tell them we have no connections here, no family, no roots....nothing other than we just like it here.
I was asked today, what my favourite thing about Newfoundland is?
Oh my....how can I possibly narrow it down to one thing?
There is the amazing scenery....the icebergs (betcha didn't know that we like the icebergs....did ya?? ;0)), the whales, the ocean (or should I say 'the water'), the massive amount of rock, the clean air, the wide open space, things are not over crowded, the beautiful drive into town (well...it's really the city but everyone here calls it 'town'), the way our garbage is handled (yes...it's treated as garbage here. One does not need a Ph.D. in garbeology just to figure out how to put their garbage out).
But also....there is the people. It's hard to put their friendliness into the proper words...one must experience it first-hand to really understand it. I'll try though through some examples....Today we were in a parking lot, sitting in our van waiting to exit our parking spot. A woman in a car was driving along and when she saw we were waiting to leave, she stopped and motioned for us to back up...which we did. Larry proceeded to back out figuring she was waiting for our spot. Nope, she was just being nice and letting us get out.
I am still amazed at how we can be waiting on the side of the road to cross to the other side. Cars will come to a screeching stop in order to allow us to cross the road.
When you hear a car horn here, it usually means somebody has saw somebody they know. The tooting of the horn is followed by a big smile and wave "Hello".
Then there is the weather. I dunno.....we just haven't experienced any of those year-round 15' snow banks we were warned we'd encounter here (by people who I'm sure don't even know where Newfoundland is, let alone ever been here.) Today it was 16 degrees (61 F)....on December 2.....amazing!!! The summers are beautiful....no humidity and no smog.
I guess if I had to narrow it down to one thing I like about Newfoundland, I'd have to say it is living life here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
7 comments:
I just read your post to my dh and the first thing he asked is what kind of work is there in Newfoundland? He'd move in a heartbeat! lol! People already think we're strange for leaving "everything" and moving to a small town even though it is where our church camp is and near where dh's parents live (therefore, having a connection!). I can't imagine what they'd think of us picking up and moving to a different province!!! Not that we really care what they think though!
Hi Shannon -- Good questions, for sure.
I'm not exactly an expert on the state of the economy here lol but so many places here have "Help Wanted" signs out.
I heard it takes about one year to have a house built due to the shortage of carpenters.
NL is a "Have" province for the first time in hmmm 50 years? With the off-shore oil industry here, things are booming. I also heard the radio DJ say the other day, the economic slow down did not hit here at least during the last month they have stats for. But...I'm guessing it's all because it just hasn't filtered here yet? Although I don't know for sure, I would think it will be hitting here soon and slowing things down.
All that long-winded response to say I'm not sure what the future for work is here. (sorry...not much of answer to your question lol)
I've seen the pics on your blog of where you live and it looks like a beautiful place. So peaceful looking. I guess I'm just big-citied (how's that for a word? lol)out.
I love the quietness of the country.
Ahh, totally agree with the big-citied out! I don't think anyone could pay us enough to move back to the city. I love the pace of life here...much less stress all around and not everything feels rushed.
We live in town, have kind neighbours and I don't worry about the kids playing outside, even if I can't see them right away. Our yard isn't even fenced and neither are our neighbours' yards so all the kids just use the area as a big common playground. A huge difference from the city where everyone has their own little piece of land fenced in to keep everyone else out!
Dh would still love to be even further out. His ideal would be to live so far away you'd have to ship daylight to him! lol!
Oh, you went and done it again.(shame on you). I will have to keep hubby away from here today forsure. He would be dragging me out the door to move to Canada.Hubby finally quit looking for our "new home in Canada". Now you made everyone reading want to come to your wonderful place;) Sounds Great there and I admire you for being able to just move there like that. It seems like a place where no matter how long you live there, you can always find something new.
It still amazes me that Georgia is colder than Canada. I thought I live in the "south".
Thanks for sharing I enjoy your posts.
Ooopps...sorry Becky lol. ;0)
I think because this area is so new to us with so many new things to see (last spring was the first time I'd ever seen an iceberg)...we are just in awe. Same thing about the ocean....people here refer to it as "the water"....but we're like...WOW! It's the Atlantic Ocean!!!. I remember sitting in school with my map of Canada, trying to remember which ocean was on which side of Canada...Atlantic on the right, Pacific on the Left....and now I live here. Some days we have to pinch ourselves. I think it's the same with anything though, once you've been in an area for a certain amount of time, things become common place. I've had more than one Newfoundlander tell me it's interesting to see their home through the eyes of a newcomer.
Also, I'm sure (like 200% sure) we will be getting our cooler temps and lots of snow. In central Canada, where I am from, they already have snow and their temps have been colder than here. I guess the ocean has an effect on our temps, not too hot in the summer and not too cool in the winter
I just experienced the opposite with the parking space LOL ...I was backing out - in my cousin's HUGE truck, which I can drive just fine but parking or unparking is a different tale entirely - and this guy stopped for me....I thought "aw, thanks!"....y'know, nice guy blocking the other traffic (traffic everywhere in this town) so I can get this big thing out of here....
Um no. He was impatiently waiting for my parking space and zipped in barely the second my nose came out and looked at me odd when I waved. LOL
ah well. :-P
After so many years being right by the ocean, it's strange to not have it out here....
mmm, I suspect your year wait to build a house is because your caprenters and electricians and labourers and such are out here. :-o
I have to watch the whole oil thing there....we're happy out here, but beleive me if there was a way that dh could have the same job (with the same or close to it rate of pay) back there, we'd move back....but not unless both can happen.
Molytail -- ack...that's too bad about the parking thing...I can just picture what you mean though...because that's the same way it was where we used to live in Ontario.
I think you're right about our workers being out there as I know a lot had to go...no choice. But also on top of the fact our workers have moved out there (or many of them), there is also a boom going on here....we have oil too *grin*...I'm sure not as much as Alberta (although I don't know anything about either provinces oil and shouldn't talk like I do), but nevertheless there is a boom. I can't believe the number of new houses and buildings I see going up all around the area where we are.
Glad you like it there and it is really nice that you are all back together again. It must have been difficult being apart.
Post a Comment