Getting some more practice going with the flow

We had hoped this week's post would include pictures of our new apartment. Perhaps next week's will. After numerous phone calls and an eternity driving from one housing prospect to another all we really have to show for it is sufficient knowledge of Victoria to qualify for a job with one of the local taxi companies.

The transition to our new life in Canada has never been what you'd call smooth. In spite of that, we still can't seriously consider for more than a moment or two giving up. We are, if nothing else, living more intentionally now than ever. The challenges, as frustrating as they are, also perversely feed the hope of a large pay off at the end of it all. At its basest most fundamental level it's the same emotional pull a gambler feels waiting for his slot machine to come up '777' or a surfer feels waiting to finally catch that truly giant wave. It's tempting to cast it all in a nobler more romantic light, but the exhilaration one feels after any notion of security or significant control is given up, even briefly, is the same for the poker player pushing all her chips into the centre of the table as it probably was for Charles Darwin stepping onto the Beagle to sail around the world or, in our case, two lovers chucking it all and trying to make a go of it in Canada. The consequences of the relative outcomes may be different, but at the individual level the emotions and motivations are essentially the same.

So we wait and redraw our plans a bit more as needed with each passing day. Unless someone calls tomorrow - and they might - it's into a motel with a cheap weekly rate while we expand our search to include apartments not available until September 1st, or perhaps even a bit beyond. Zeus will be glad to not be spending so much time in the back of the rental car next week at any rate. He'll be even happier if we can find him a place close to a park or the ocean, though he may have to settle for regular walks and the chance to just sit on his futon again while chewing a bone. After all, all of us can always use more practice just going with the flow.