ahhhhh....i'm here. "home". how sweet it is.
i left melbourne just over a month ago, headed to the land of lakes on a roundabout, let's-stop-everywhere-along-the-way tour. which included places that were not along the way, titled the "sweet home tour". i figured i might as well sneak past some of the people and places i've come to know on my way waaaay down under (like taiwan, california, vancouver, pefferlaw (!?), ottawa, montreal, toronto....and sudbury). little did i know this musical tour would grow to be quite the journey...
the pre-departure period in melbourne was delicious. filled with hearty dinners and heartier conversations, wonderful jams, arty projects, exciting tourganization and much needed calm in my safe space before the stormy unknown of new familiar land. leaving a city i love was as hard as ever, but knowing i'd be back soon and often gave me peace of mind as i took off to taiwan.
so there i was, staring out at the smoggy super-city, back before being home again - in taiwan. a city and home i'd left in a rush, almost two years ago, off to oz, with no looking back. but i was back! crazy feeling to be standing on taiwanese soil again. too good, which surprised me and excited me...and relieved me. we totally made peace. taiwan and i are as tight as ever now, and i love it. so, on with this feeling i slammed into four days filled with three wonderful shows - solidifying the fact that taiwan is, well, awesome. and the people who flock to, are, well, awesome too. the support and turnout were unbelievable. so much so, that i'm already planning my next tour-return. it felt like i'd never left (which is kind of what being back in a place you once lived in always feels like...but in asia it was a whole new level of it. i mean, i was driving a scooter around again - so gooood!). the connections and reconnections made were more than i bargained for on my tiny little tour-stop. i could've stayed another month and it wouldn't have been enough...but i suppose that is the sneaky little spell taiwan is known for.
so i left, unfulfilled, but grateful for so many answers the tiny island provided during my mini-stay. and in california i was, under the sun, basking in perfect-weather-comfy-ness. i was greeted by my fabulous brother and his fiance, with giant smiles and hugs - the first taste of family in two years. ahhhmazing. it felt so good to just be. we caught all the way up, and jammed our little hearts out in time for our first show a few days after my arrival. having neil behind me on drums was like stepping back into your favorite pair of shoes. i can't think of a good adjective for it right now...but it was grrreat. getting over jet lag was grrreat, too. so was checking out the hollywood sights and nightlife, and some fabulous live music (from new friends jen & abby, and oz stunner mia dyson). the second show was lovely lovely. it was great to catch up with some friends and family who made the trek, and have a final stage session with neil before heading north...and closer to home. speding some quality time with the nearly-weds was just what the travelin' muso ordered. soulfood.
landing in canada was an incredible feeling. it felt like a big giant hug. really, it did. overhearing normal, everyday canadian expressions was the weirdest thing. weirdly awesome. i hadn't even realized that some of the strings of words (most) that come out of my mouth are purely canadian...until now. i was literally giggling my way to the baggage pickup, like a madwoman - so insanely overjoyed with being "back home". oh what a feeling.
the mountains, as majestic as ever, are truly the coolest backdrop. and the air here! so thick, and...oxygenated (is that a word?! it must be...there isn't a little red line telling me it isn't. either way, it's definition should read: western canadian air). so i took many a deep breath. and many a deep stare. a good thinking space, vancouver is. after dropping off my bags, i decided to take a nightly stroll on commercial drive...and within minutes, mere hours from touchdown in canada...i ran into a friend on the street. a really good friend, from university. a close neighboor, and one of my favorite people. soooo, canada really IS this small!! sheesh. the reunion was as obnoxious as it deserved to be. too good. needless to say, the show the following night was filled with similarily awesome people from different parts of my life - a sort of reunion for moi. the rest of the week was spent in many a mountainous nook and cranny up in whistler, with an oustandishly super crew. i did not want to leave and cannot wait to get back.
this pattern followed in ottawa and montreal, following an amazing weekend at the eaglewood festival near lake simcoe in ontario - where i was reunited with the rest of my family....and more family(!) who made a surprise appearance, enhancing the whole fab-festy experience. the weekend was a showcase of seriously potent canadian talent. it was an honour to have been in the mix. in amongst this bag of treats, i managed to swindle a little backline drum/bass duo for my gig a few nights later in montreal (the magnifique lyndell montgomery and adam lalonde, who make up two thirds of captain dirt and the skirt), which, apart from a scary sound system was magic. as was my week with besties in ottawa, another dose of homey-ness.
between the special rides and stays with friends, new and old, i had managed to squeeze a whole lot of perspective into my limited baggage, just in time for the last show on the tour - toronto.
this final "sweet home" gig was truly heartwarming. i mean, sure, i've been pumping every online networking site imaginable for like, a decade now (not really), but sheesh - that was overwhelming. the support, turnout, energy and response was just unreal. like a dream (the kind you try to fall back asleep into when you wake up from it). i am so grateful that i will forever have the memory of stepping onto the stage and looking out at that room full of amazing people from all parts of my life. how lucky am i. and to have been able to tell them that i'll be sticking around for a little while...!...not rushing off to make some other far-away-land my home...but here, in fact - "toronto". such super words to spit. a moment in time.
so now i sit, in sudbury, my hometown, where i plan to spend september decompressing, regrouping and reconnecting - cleansing. yesterday, i spent almost twelve hours going through boxes and bins in a closet that contains my life story. so i went through. bit by bit. and relived my life from the moment i left nearly four years ago, backwards to the beginning. letting go of all things unecessary. all things that no longer energize me, bring me joy, or bring me good - nearly half. i realized in doing this, that it was a mere continuation of the thread of decisions i'd been making since i stepped on the plane out of australia. it just so happens that i've been re-evaluating my entire life up until this point, and all things in it. the "journey" home has been littered with tiny signs, answers, realizations, all pointing to a fresh new start. the next chapter.
i knew there was something very special about the feeling i had when the decision to move home was made. home is a whole new set of sweet.
mmm.
to infinity and beyond!!!
f:)
