A rolling stone gathers no moss, as the old saying goes. It says nothing, however, about all the cracks, abrasions and general erosion along the way.
I can attest to this. I have moved more times than any law-abiding citizen should. (There are different reasons, which I won’t go into here because the story is a long and not very happy one. Maybe I’ll tell you over a beer sometime.)
The thought of living in an RV has started to sound more appealing, as I’ve made education, work and relationship stops in Saskatoon, Toronto, Edmonton, Regina, as well as Grand Forks, B.C., and much of the Lower Mainland.
My first home was Chilliwack, also a beautiful place, though it does come with an occasional odour, the inevitable product of life as a farming town.
Now I find myself in the lovely community of Squamish as a reporter at The Squamish Chief.
Honestly, when I told people I was moving here, the general hue of their response was envy-green.
I started my news career a little late after a number of odd jobs, including working in the central warehouse of a well known Vancouver record chain that has since gone belly-up.
The experience did inspire a novel, or at least 12 drafts of one; I’ll say no more on this unless something actually happens with the beast. Please though, if I turn into one of those people wearing an “Ask me about my novel” button, you have permission to kidnap me for deprogramming.
During my early, more idealistic years, I even served as a managing editor at Adbusters. It’s not as cool as it sounds. If you ever watched Seinfeld, it was a little like Elaine’s job for Mr. Pitt. If I wasn’t literally buying socks as part of my duties, it wasn’t far off.
Over the years, I’ve written and edited papers, covered every beat in the newsroom and talked to a wide range of people, including convicts, activists, developers, athletes, elected officials and Evel Knievel – yes, that Evel!
Again, I’ll leave that one for a beer sometime.
As to what’s next? I have no clue, but I hope I can unpack for a little while. It’d be nice to grow a little moss, as all those cracks and abrasions can take their toll on a middle-aged rolling stone.
