These past few weeks – Part 1

The past few weeks have been an emotional roller-coaster ride for a number of different reasons. The roller-coaster highs have indeed been high, and the lows … well very low! Let us start with a definite high.

A few years ago, a lady in India decided to “hit” the Follow button on this Blog. As is my usual response, I visited her Blog and found it sufficiently interesting to reciprocate the Follow (link below):

https://anarmchairperfectionist.wordpress.com/

I would suggest that our Blogging relationship was typical of the Blogosphere until February 26 2018. On that day, I received an email from her.

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“We are looking to move to Toronto by July when the weather gets warmer. We don’t really have a lot of family and friends so we just reaching out to people who can help us in getting to know the area a bit.

Can you give any recommendations about the neighbourhoods and tentative costs of living? Any useful local resources that we can refer to? Presently we relying on the immigration forums and talking to the few people we know.

Thanks a lot 🙂 I hope sooner or later, I get a chance to say hello to you and Ray!”

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I was as helpful as I could, and so Prajakta and her partner duly arrived last Summer. Their time was quite naturally focused on them both finding work and, of course, a place to call home. They were also very enthusiastic about exploring their new country whenever feasible. I would get periodic emails updating me on their progress, especially with regards to our climate. July to November is no time at all when one is trying to settle in a new country, but they adapted very well and Prajakta was introduced to the art of making snow angels!

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“And I ended up making snow angels. Whoever thought of it in the first place was a genius. Getting out is something that takes an effort – but once you are out – it’s worth every bit of it! Plus you have the perfect excuse for loading up on hot chocolate :)”

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Winter turned to Spring and, in May, our restaurants and bars set up their outdoor patios. As we cannot go anywhere without our beloved Ray, and as we have a local pub that will allow him on their patio, it was decided to meet (for the first time) there on June 3! They would be looking for an older couple with a large dog, and we would look for a young Indian couple. It worked!

It was an absolute delight to meet Prajakta and her partner. She is the first Follower of my Blog that I have met, and it was such a wonderful experience.

The world really is so much smaller, and offers so much potential, thanks to the internet. It just takes some time and the will to “dip one’s toe in the water”, to really appreciate that we are all so much more alike than we are different.

To Prajakta (if you are reading this), The King’s Arms is still open for people with dogs … and we’ve not been there for a while … and we’ll get the bill this time! 🙂

49 thoughts on “These past few weeks – Part 1”

  1. I kind of met you when I had that weird dream about your horses running away and came all the way to the US and stopped in my local grocery parking lot where you came to pick them up with just a car and I asked how you would fit them in the backseat and you said “oh we do this all of the time.” 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Nice story to read about you and Prajakta, as also have been my blogging friend for some years.
    I haven’t met any of my blogging friends yet, but one day….. I hope.
    We have a nice and encouraging blogging universe in here and to meet some of the others, must be a joy.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. How nice that you met one of your followers, and she turned out to be the way she represented herself, rather than a hatchet-wielding serial killer. I hope you’ve established an enduring friendship.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Hi TG. An enduring friendship? Given the age and the cultural differences, together with their priorities as they establish themselves here, we’ll have to wait and see. A long term friendship at some level would be very nice though.

      Liked by 2 people

  13. A wonderful story. Love her joy of making snow angels! Made me smile to see it from the eyes of someone that had never done it before.
    Very great that you had the chance to meet her and her partner. Blogging definitely opens the door to great adventures, doesn’t it. 🙂
    I am sorry about the low moments but very glad that at least you got to bask in the rainbow moments of life as well!

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  14. I’ve met two bloggers so far and both have been exactly as I expected based on their blog. (It’s not like a dating site although I technically wouldn’t know that.) Looking forward to more stories!

    Liked by 3 people

    • Yes it really is. I had no idea what she looked like, which tends to be the first thing we “process” when meeting somebody. I had no idea what she sounded like having never had an audible conversation. I had no idea whether the person I was meeting was anything like the personality portrayed in her Blog. Given the abuse of social media by so many individuals for their own self-centred quests, was I even meeting a young couple?

      My faith in my own assessment of her (and presumably her assessment of me) produced a delightful meeting. Yes there are individuals “out there” who should be avoided, but I have always believed that the greater proportion of people are not much different to me. Meeting Prajakta and her man simply reinforced that belief. 🙂

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