Halifax Adventure #2: A Fresh Start

Eleven hundred and forty-two kilometers is a loooong drive to do in one day. Eleven hours, to be exact, not counting stops to fuel up. Don’t mind me, I’ll just be over here fully understanding for maybe the first time just exactly how big this country actually is.

I was supposed to walk across the stage this afternoon to celebrate the completion of my two social media citations. Instead, I found myself 50km outside Regina, belting out lyrics from the Hamilton musical under a beautifully empty blue sky while my dad pretended to nap in the passenger seat beside me.

Okay, a little nerdy. But still: not bad for the first day of a cross-country road-trip, if I do say so myself.

Having grown up in Alberta, I’ve heard my entire life that Saskatchewan is where the land gets truly flat. This is true, though not quite to the extent I had imagined. For the most part, the drive across this province looks much the same as traveling from Edmonton to Calgary… only much longer and without mountains cropping up on the horizon over the last half hour. No, the differences are more subtle: the placement of the communities, the lack of overpasses, the train track that follows our highway like a quiet shadow.

When I mentioned to my grandpa that I was driving to Halifax for school, he told me about the train he took in the opposite direction 88 years ago. Looking out the window, I can almost see that four-year-old boy squirming on the train as it carries him off to his new Canadian life. And now here I am, heading back east.

Which brings me to another theme I’ve been noticing lately: my change in circumstances means a chance for fresh starts! Such as, but not limited to:

* New hair
* New glasses
* New school
* New home
* New friends (I hope!! And NOT that I mean to lose current friendships!)
* New pillow (Mom got me this pillow to take on the drive and, let me tell you, it is the comfiest thing I have ever rested my head on ever.)

Anyway. Is it just me or are changes easier to make when you make a bunch of them at once? I tend to find I’m braver making those bigger life changes if I’ve worked my way up to that point with a series of small decisions beforehand. Anyone else like that?

I would ponder more but it is amazing how absolutely draining it can be to sit in a vehicle and not move. To bed with me! For tomorrow shall be busy with more driving as I continue creeping across this gigantic country.