Although today is not THE big day, it is still a very big day. In some ways, the biggest of days. Today Kath begins her leave of absence. After diligently serving the Queen for twenty-some years, today she hangs it all up to go sailing for a year. And while it would be great to let a week or two pass to unfold a bit before switching gears, that is, unfortunately, not at all what is about to happen. Instead we are pressing on the gas and jamming immediately into high gear. Because today is also the first day that our house will be rented. And that means that today is also the first day we will be living on the boat. How’s that for a sea change??

We didn’t really want all three of these watershed moments to happen at once, but…what can you do? We’ve just rolled with it. Kath has been working furiously to wrap up her job. And I’ve spent the entire week in the house, moving, deleting, scrubbing and vacuuming, vacuuming, vacuuming! I’ve listened to every podcast imaginable as I’ve worked my way up the house from bottom to top, removing every trace of history, every book, every bit of clothing, every vitamin and comb. It’s now all packed into the attic, the basement or the garage. Or, it’s heading for the boat.

This morning, before heading off to work, Kath looked at me and said “You’ve got that look that you get when you’ve been by yourself too long.” No doubt. Though, I expect it’s a face she won’t be seeing again for some time! But what face am I going to see? Kath will be experiencing so much change all at once, it will be very disorienting, I’m sure! What can I do to help her acclimate? Perhaps tea will help. I’ll put the kettle on.