The Citiot is back ... with a vengeance!

          Well there you have it. Time has passed, life has been lived, relationships have transitioned and lessons have been learned. But I’m back. And unapologetic for my absence. There are plenty of reasons for my “radio silence”, but in the end, do any of them matter? 

In the summer of 2012, I came the closest ever to becoming a local – by spending almost three months in Collingwood full-time, while we underwent a complete first floor renovation back in Toronto. I learned not to drive as fast as I did in the Big City, and not to mind the slower pace. I learned how to become a weekend wife. I made do with hitting the mute button during television commercial breaks, rather than pausing the TV and fast forwarding through them, like I do in Toronto with my beloved PVR. I learned how to time my dog’s walks so that she wouldn’t ask to go out in the middle of the night, or very early in the morning. In Collingwood, it’s not as simple as opening the back door. At Lighthouse Point you have to walk your dogs, on leash, to get them to do their business. But I managed.

The most important lesson I learned in the fall of 2012 was that some people would rather hang on to hurt and anger than to confront the reason they feel that way. A friendship that I had treasured for a decade and a half came to a screeching halt one fateful Friday afternoon. I won’t go into specifics. Like the Blue Rodeo song says, “After so long, nobody’s wrong. After so long, nobody’s right”. Do I miss the friendship? Yes. Of course I do. But (and this is the only time I’ll refer to the event, what led up to it, and the fallout afterwards) you don’t get to talk about and to me that way and expect to remain friends. It just doesn’t work that way. 

And with that, I take a deep breath, slowly release it, and move on. I’m sitting on my deck at Lighthouse Point, enjoying the unseasonable warmth, occasionally picking up my binoculars and watching swans and sailboats on Georgian Bay, and writing. Most importantly, I’m writing. 

The Citiot is back, baby! But with a twist. Rather than deny my ties to the Big City, I’m going to embrace them. I love Collingwood. But I also love Toronto. Many people hate T-Dot. They hate the town without ever having lived there. They hate the people who live there, without even knowing them. They’re wrong. 

Time to get moving. I want to get in a quick run before I get ready to meet my Collingwood gal pals for our monthly WoW dinner. (Women of Wordstock – I’ll have to write about that some day.) 

Oh, and happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day, everyone!