The Ride Home.
A #crewlife story. Four Days, Three Countries. And a blinding two and a half months.
A Couple of Turkey’s
Blink.
I did say, “you’re going to blink and this deployment will be over.” Holy hell. It seems like 30 minutes ago we were just moved in and excited for a better go at Prague this time. They say time flies when you’re having fun. Bam. I can’t believe how fast this summer has come and gone.
But we have memories! So many memories. Some have been shared already, many more are to come, and I mean MANY.
Katie and Declan headed off to Toronto yesterday. One great perk of being the base supervisor was that I could come and go to each aircraft as I pleased in order to facilitate paperwork collecting etc.
Yesterday being an office day, I was able to help Katie get the stroller and Declan on board while collecting paperwork. I’ll be seeing them soon, but more on that to follow…
What follows was written in late September while on vacation in Antalya, Turkey.
A non-fiction narration more than anything else. One week in Denmark to visit my wife’s family along with my parents who chose to join us all, a day in Prague to regroup, then a week in Turkey to unwind. So far so good. From Scandinavian precision to Czech practicality and now here in Turkey, I’m finding the place a well-seasoned blend of Middle Eastern culture and European laissez-faire. The private poolside villa on the outskirts of the rural tourist beach town of Manavgat is the cherry on top. Like once you’ve travelled business class, you struggle in economy, this is no different. Private. Neighbourless. Our own swimming pool and yard. I’m impressed Turkey, you have me intrigued for more.
The Whistler Writer’s Festival is fast approaching which has me suitably excited. I’ve met some great friends here in the past (Michael Carin, Stella Harvey, and Sarah from Armchair Books). The dates are immediately before a planned holiday so I’m going to strike-mission the events and then peace for a quick family vacay to ???
As in all vacations I’m coming to the end of it and finally feeling relaxed having hoped to achieve this feeling when it started two weeks ago. Le sigh. We have lots on our plates upcoming; Katie is leaving with Declan for the UK the day after we arrive home in Prague, I’ll be staying back to work and finishing packing up our bins. Yes, the summer is over and we’re heading back to Canada. I feel like I blinked and the deployment passed me by. But I have photographic evidence that it didn’t. Then the big move home via YYZ, a quick visit with Declan’s grandparents, and then the usual cultural whiplash involved in leaving one society and their norms for another. It’s always weird and never the same.
I’ve written about getting the work done in the past, the writing work I mean, and I find I sort of dismissed the family obligations as owing me an hour 3 or 4 days a week to get this work done. And I maintain that in a time-challenged environment, a team must prioritize one individual over the other – not forever – but for an allotted time period in order to accomplish any task. In this iteration of Declan’s development however, I’m finding that it is I who is unable to fulfill this requirement because with my free time I without question choose to spend it with my son, and my family. They are that much fun. And I can teach him, shape him, encourage him in a positive way that drives that smile of his wider. It’s invigorating but it’s also important to me.
We were at Hadrian’s gate (arch?) in Antalya, Turkey yesterday and I didn’t know much about it so I said, “I don’t know” to Declan with my palms up and he immediately replicated me. Shrug.
The Run
I’m finally back to running, like 20k a week. I have found over the years that in my moment of zen, in the run-state, whether listening to a podcast, or metal, or the silence of my Nikes pounding on pavement (watch Without Limits it’s a fantastic runner’s movie), it is in these moments where I dream big. The confidence to pause and write down those thoughts is only the first step. Getting those epiphanies into concrete and relatable words to be edited later is critical and difficult.
NYC Midnight
I got a Ninth place finish in a NYCMidnight flash fiction competition recently with The Last Spell, a fantasy story. I’ve been struggling of late to place in the top ten of any of their competitions so this was a welcome result. The story will be available under “The Short Version.”
That’s a Wrap
I can’t possibly hope to summarize an entire summer in a single post, especially a summer such as this. Highlights included air conditioning (!!), parklife, travel, running (in three different countries), and an odd feeling that I will miss this place, these experiences, this moment in my life. I sit on this couch one final time, in gratitude. Thank you, Praha, you’ve given me a lifetime of memories all wrapped up in a single summer.
