prelude to a life change

Hi, guys. I'm mostly doing this as a point of reference for our loved ones who want to know what we're up to in Canada, but it might turn into a sort of vault for memories for me as well. These things do happen.

I chose the nomad title because that's how I feel at the moment, although we'll be settled in one place for a little over three years, so that's not exactly nomadic. But this is dictionary.com's definition:

–noun

1.	a member of a people or tribe that has no permanent abode but moves about from place to place, usually seasonally and often following a traditional route or circuit according to the state of the pasturage or food supply.

2.	any wanderer; itinerant.

Vagabond is a beautiful word, I think, but implies a person a little more rough around the edges than we are; let's be honest. Although I do like the carefree bit:

–noun

6.	a person, usually without a permanent home, who wanders from place to place; nomad.

7.	an idle wanderer without a permanent home or visible means of support; tramp; vagrant.

8.	a carefree, worthless, or irresponsible person; rogue.

And gypsy, which I mostly like because it could account for my husband's myserious ethnic heritage:

–noun

1.	a member of a nomadic, Caucasoid people of generally swarthy complexion, who migrated originally from India, settling in various parts of Asia, Europe, and, most recently, North America.

2.	Romany; the language of the Gypsies.

3.	(lowercase) a person held to resemble a gypsy, esp. in physical characteristics or in a traditionally ascribed freedom or inclination to move from place to place.

But back to nomad, the idea of moving seasonally in accordance with the 'pasturage and food supply' appealed to me. One of the things I am looking forward to in Hamilton is the apparent interest and involvement in raising, buying, and eating local produce. I've done hardly any reading on this, but what I've found gets me excited, such as this blog: The Hamilton Eat Local Blog.

How fun is that? There's so much I would love to take part in when it comes to environment and community and local business, but I'm the first to admit I'm terribly passive and frugal to a fault sometimes. But I have a feeling Hamilton is going to make it easy for me to participate.