You can't go home again... or can you?
The short answer is "no", or at least "no, not without some changes". And change has been the very constant of the city I've grown up in. Since 1960 or so, Richmond's gone from "mostly agricultural land with an airport in the northwest and a fishing village in the southwest" to a constituent city in the increasingly ready to amalgamate Metro Vancouver region in its own right. And the pace of that change has only gone faster since 1990.
So it's with some mixed feelings that recent events have compelled me to start a move back to the very neighbourhood I lived in from 1.5 to 14 years of age. The house I grew up in, of course, is long gone, replaces with condominiums. The meadow in the centre of the block was all developed as well. But a half-block south, at Bennett and St. Albans, an intersection I knew quite well from school commutes and comic-book pilgrimages (back when one bought comics at 7-11, rather than at specialty comic stores), lies an apartment complex with a space that feels just right for growing into. I love our current space and will miss it a great deal, but the truth must be faced -- for a while after baby's arrival (expected November 7th or so), things might still work, but once the little one starts crawling.... more room to explore the world will be needed. So we've started the process of getting notices and agreements files.
June will be a tense month for logistics and finance, but Jenn is nothing if not a skilled organizer. Herding me and our stuff should not be too hard. So, I'll do my best to follow along, and be less jumpy than the last time we moved. It probably helps that it was only 1 year and 5 months at the current locale, as opposed to 7 years and 4 months at Seafair. Less time to put down roots.
It will be interesting walking around this area, seeing ghosts here and there, no doubt. But as long as I can still commute to work (mine's longer, hers should be a bit shorter) in good order, I'll take my time with that. Interestingly, the half-block south of St. Albans seems to have changed less than the way north to Garden City. Oh, and it's a longish walk from Brighouse Station -- so paying us a visit from the Canada Line should be easier for all our Vancouver friends. More to follow as I can (as always, 'net time is at a premium for me....)
So it's with some mixed feelings that recent events have compelled me to start a move back to the very neighbourhood I lived in from 1.5 to 14 years of age. The house I grew up in, of course, is long gone, replaces with condominiums. The meadow in the centre of the block was all developed as well. But a half-block south, at Bennett and St. Albans, an intersection I knew quite well from school commutes and comic-book pilgrimages (back when one bought comics at 7-11, rather than at specialty comic stores), lies an apartment complex with a space that feels just right for growing into. I love our current space and will miss it a great deal, but the truth must be faced -- for a while after baby's arrival (expected November 7th or so), things might still work, but once the little one starts crawling.... more room to explore the world will be needed. So we've started the process of getting notices and agreements files.
June will be a tense month for logistics and finance, but Jenn is nothing if not a skilled organizer. Herding me and our stuff should not be too hard. So, I'll do my best to follow along, and be less jumpy than the last time we moved. It probably helps that it was only 1 year and 5 months at the current locale, as opposed to 7 years and 4 months at Seafair. Less time to put down roots.
It will be interesting walking around this area, seeing ghosts here and there, no doubt. But as long as I can still commute to work (mine's longer, hers should be a bit shorter) in good order, I'll take my time with that. Interestingly, the half-block south of St. Albans seems to have changed less than the way north to Garden City. Oh, and it's a longish walk from Brighouse Station -- so paying us a visit from the Canada Line should be easier for all our Vancouver friends. More to follow as I can (as always, 'net time is at a premium for me....)