Missing The Holcombs? (News from Windsor)

Hi all,

I am sure an update is in order. So here goes... so much has happened in the last two months. We have enjoyed our first two months in Windsor, though we have done some traveling. (More on that below.) We have been really surprised by how welcoming and friendly everyone has been -- people from church, neighbors, workers in stores, random people we meet, the random driver in the car behind us at Starbucks who saw our Oregon license plate and bought our drinks because they wanted us to feel welcomed. Maybe we shouldn't have been surprised, but it has definitely been encouraging. 

Another thing that caught us a little off guard was the frequency of thunderstorms and the prevalence of fireflies -- at least for July and the first part of August. This has been a little like living back in Georgia or North Carolina. We adjusted pretty quickly to the afternoon/evening storms, the fireflies just after sundown, and the humidity. (Okay, maybe the humidity will take more time to get used to again!)

We have enjoyed being near so many bodies of water. The Detroit River (5 minutes away), Lake St Clair (15 minutes), and Lake Erie (40 minutes) are ones we have visited. Lake Huron is around an hour north and is on our to-visit list. There is a calming beauty in watching the river water flow by, or the lakes gently ripple or crash against the shore. 

We did settle into some small routines in the house where we have been living. However, we have known it was temporary, and we have also been traveling. This has made routines challenging, but both the temporary housing and the travel will be coming to an end soon. First, about the travels. After we arrived in late June, around one week later Clara was off to join the PMC MYF at MennoCon in North Carolina. The rest of July was fairly settled, but August has been anything but. Clara and I traveled to Georgia on August 1 to spend the weekend with my family. (My dad had just returned from a hospital stay due to congestive heart failure. He is now at home in hospice care, which is a good thing given his ongoing health challenges.) Clara stayed for another week, while I flew on to Oregon, where I was near Mt Hood for a few days with my work. From there, I drove to Seattle (long story) and then flew to Vancouver, BC, to spend a couple of days visiting Peter before flying back to Ontario. Meanwhile, back in Ontario, Lucy took a flight to Vancouver to see Peter and to stay with some good friends from elementary school for a couple of weeks. (Lucy and I did cross paths briefly in Vancouver.) That two-week stay for Lucy turned into three because of the Air Canada strike last week. Now Lucy (and Peter) will ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, BC on Saturday where they will join Sarah and Clara, who are, as I type, currently in flight from Detroit to Seattle. (I am home with the cats.) Tomorrow morning, Sarah and Clara will ferry to Victoria from Port Angeles and prepare for Clara to move into the dorm at UVic for her first year of university. Move in day for Clara is Sunday. Next Tuesday, Sarah and Lucy will fly back to Detroit / Windsor, and we will enjoy some downtime. Whew!

Except, we are buying a house, and the closing date is September 25. So, we will be thinking about what we need to do to move in. Remember all that furniture we did not move with us from Milwaukie? Now we will need replacements. We are also wondering about any renovations before we move in or early on. Plus, the three of us will spend a week in Georgia in October with my family. We looked at a number of houses in Windsor over the past few weeks with our realtor and at various open houses. The one we chose is one we really like. Even better, three families from Windsor Mennonite live within a 10 minute walk! And we did not know this before we visited the house, so the proximity to others is a real bonus!

A constant over the past few months (actually the past 5+ years) is my work-from-home with Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest. While I will travel to Portland twice each year for work (August and sometimes in the spring), working from Windsor is no different than working from the house in Milwaukie. Our employees are spread across the US (and me in Canada), so this constant has been good (and not just because of the income). While Sarah's old job ended in June, since mid-July she has been working half-time as a contract worker with a mental health company in Oregon. It is a small company started by one of her former bosses. She can continue with this through November. This work has been a gift -- able to work from home, flexibility, reconnecting with former colleagues, etc. God has been good to us all.

It would be a mistake not to mention our Milwaukie house. All of you had some part in helping us move out, for which we are forever grateful. We are also grateful to Tim Manickam, who helped us sell our house quickly. We had three offers in the first few days, and the closing was around three weeks later! Also, thanks to Ed for help with many projects around the house, and also to Bruce and Fernando for cleaning and staining the decks! Totally a group effort.

Enough for now. We are so very thankful for your place in our lives and in our hearts. Peace to you all!

David (for the family)

P.S. Notes on the photos:
Clara, Lucy, and Sarah at a park along the Detroit River
The Tourist Tomato in Leamington, Ontario (on Lake Erie)