Things I’m Loving… News with a silver lining

There’s a hint of spring in the air this week in Wellington and it’s something to love. This time last year it snowed in Wellington, a once in fifty year event. At Wellington Zoo, vets took care of an Emperor Penguin discovered on Peka Peka beach, a very long way from home. It seems the cold winds of Antarctica sent their icy breath to call home their lost penguin. He recovered to full strength and was released into the sub-Antarctic wilds to try his luck at life again. We fondly remember bidding him farewell and writing a poem to remember him by.

This year there is sunshine, flowers and signs of spring in the gardens everywhere. The lighter evenings are welcomed by all and memories of last summer start to reemerge, with excitement at what we shall enjoy this year.

As a family we have been waiting on news of a fantastic business opportunity for our man of the house, which will result in an eventual relocation to San Francisco for a few years (which we last visited, as a family of four, in 2007). It’s close to being finalised and we are now trying to work out a time line as a family to plan for our future. At first we thought we’d have to move before Christmas, then it was moved to January. Now, due to visa requirements, it is likely we shall be staying in New Zealand till well into next year!

It’s hard trying to live in the moment when the future is so unclear. We were preparing ourselves for sad farewells to our home of over fifteen years, with excitement at the adventures to come. Now we are readjusting our goals and realizing the good fortune of being able to stay in New Zealand longer, to enjoy a wonderful summer together and have longer to prepare and plan for the changes that are coming.

We will make the most of this summer in Wellington and delight in every sun blessed evening, just like on Wednesday evening when the winter day was calm and clear enough for us to linger outdoors till sun down after picking Charlotte up from school.

We wil dance and sing in the gardens on an empty stage, for the pure love of dancing and celebrating life, just like Sophie did this week. She performed an impromptu dance, to anyone that was passing, to celebrate the tulip buds emerging from the ground -soon to bloom for September’s spring festival in the Wellington Botanical Garden. I’ve been almost every year and it’s a special tradition for us to visit the gardens on ‘Tulip Sunday‘ to celebrate spring.

We will enjoy seeing Alice turn from two to three and become nappy free – without the strain of a big relocation to put a spanner in the works! She can run free on our local beach, barefoot and safe with her sisters by her side. We can enjoy sharing her birthplace with her for a little while longer, building memories to tell her about when she’s older.

Charlotte can enjoy finishing her school year and participating in her end of year dance show. We can enjoy summer BBQ’s with friends and good neighbours. We can make use of the paddle board for another summer too (we were really getting into paddle boarding last summer – before the water started to turn too cold for us light weights!). We can save our goodbyes for now and focus on ‘the now’, knowing the future holds adventure – but we’ll be better prepared for it when the time comes.

I shall make an effort to allow for emerging friendships with Sophie’s home-schooler families to develop more – I’d been hesitant when all this news of a seemingly sudden relocation came up. We will let ourselves go and enjoy the company of good people whilst we have it. Those friendships we shall keep, no matter where the future takes us. Sophie and Charlotte will learn the special gift of having friends near and far – they will learn to hold on to those further away with e-mails and Skype. They will enjoy reunions in the future and sharing news of different adventures.

I am so grateful for the life we have now and the opportunities the future holds. I cried and sobbed this morning when everything that I’ve had to keep quiet, until now, overwhelmed me. Finally, the news is out and I can explain the weight of uncertainty that’s had a grip on us since April this year. It will be a huge relief to have some level of certainty and real goal posts to work toward.

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