That's right, I am now a bum with a job.
Starting on November 7th I'll be working as a Communications Specialist for the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. This means writing/compiling/editing a lot of their reports and documents, keeping media contacts, some fundraising and a bunch of other things. The Authority works with municipalities and the provincial government to protect the Maitland Valley watershed. Visit their website at www.mvca.on.ca to find out more if you like. I'm pretty excited because I'll be able to use my writing skills for a green cause. I don't have too much media relations experience but I like the challenge of being the go-to guy for the organization.
The ironic thing in all of this is that the KW area supposedly has the second best economy in the country (after Calgary) and that jobs are plentiful here...but this job is an hour's drive away in Huron County. At first I thought this was going to be an insurmountable barrier, and had actually told them that I couldn't take the job because of the distance. But MVCA is flexible, and we've worked out an agreement where I'll be in the office three days of the week and working from home the other two. Though I don't think I'll like the early rising, I like the drive, as it goes through miles of flat farmland that makes me feel like saying 'This is Ontario'. Many of the farms are Amish or Mennonite and the road shoulders are extra wide for their horses and buggies. The office is in a community called Wroxeter, whose welcome sign at the village edge informs you it is a former ghost town. The building itself is in a nice grove of mature trees, with some stately homes across the street. Coupled with caffeine, driving usually makes me pensive, so I expect I'll get some good writing out of the landscape and the town.
So, when you're hanging on to those last few minutes of bed warmth and semi-somnolence, if in your final dream a black horse pulls a carriage and its hatted driver out of the fog and you feel yourself tiny in the cold palm of a field with scattered husks lying about like fingers held up to stop a blow of hail, be static, not a moving point on a map, not a daytripper in a place of abandon.
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5 comments:
Hey Ryan,
Congratulations on the job! That sounds like a wonderful place to work. It's interesting to hear you describe Ontario as farmland. I grew up in Southwestern Ontario, an hour from where you now live, and I've held the same image in my mind from countless family trips. What I want to point out though, is how often you hear people in the Maritimes (watch out--I feel a rant coming on) say "oh, you're from Ontario" or "You're an upper Canadian" as if all of Ontario is one unified landscape overflowing with endless Torontonians. Go North! Go West! Go South! Each part of the province couldn't be more geographically varied. Grrr.... Whew, got that off my chest. Again, congratulations on what sounds like a fantastic job. I'm so proud of you:)
Hey Nancy,
Thanks for the congrats and the pride. Finding a job is good for the self esteem.
Yes, I'll admit that Ontario is surprisingly agricultural, and I certainly didn't expect the southern part to have this much farmland. But it makes sense; if you have massive cities, you need substantial crops to keep them going. I'm glad that KW isn't too big, though. A ten minute drive here and it looks like we're back in the Maritimes. From Toronto, on the other hand, it seems to take forever to escape the steel, glass, cars and advertising. I think the city is expanding its borders in real time while we're not looking, much like a large, living mud puddle that might have come from Robert Munsch's imagination. You look to the left on the 401 and then you look back and where there was a cow pasture there is suddenly a suburb. Called Frampton, or Kississauga or some such.
Congrats, dude. It sounds like a sweet job, and right up your alley. I'm right happy for you and such. And maybe now you can start saving up for a special "trip" back home to the "Maritimes" for "Christmas"??
Or you could always spend your extra cash on some sweet rollerblades or nunchucks...
Thanks, Janny. I don't know if the trip home for Christmas is going to happen, though. Shauna should have plenty of time off, but I don't yet know what my work demands will be around that time. The major concern is the pets. We don't really want to saddle someone with the burden of taking care of them for that long, but bringing them with us isn't easy, either. I dunno. I can't promise I'll try to come home, but I'll try to try to come home.
And dude, anybody with skills knows its numchucks, not nunchucks. ;)
Hey man, just catching up, reading your blog. Congrats on the job. The drive sounds great--it is a pretty part of the world. Only three days a week is managable, and it's not like you've got to go from Mississaugua to Scarborough or something. That said, give the T-dot a chance (you don't have to give the hockey team a chance, I know you are beyond help there). Downtown there are some very nice places. My parents' hood (College West) is pretty cool, and High Park is great. I will be there this weekend if you are up for a trek to the big city.
Congrats again on the job.
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