It’s been a long, exhausting week. Having only been here three weeks, it feels as though everything has been dropping all at once.

This week my family and I said goodbye to my uncle Doug, known to me as the Candyman. Doug owned a candy shop in Saint John, NB when I was little – any child’s dream, right? Every time I’d visit, he let me fill up a brown paper bag of penny candy. Or, later, when he owned a malt shop off Loch Lomond Street, he supplied my addiction of chocolate malts. Each year at Christmas, he sent a box of candy to me in Michigan, and something sweet on my birthday in August. My own personal Willy Wonka.

Sadly, I couldn’t make the trip home to Canada for his funeral, which took place today. I’m told it was a lovely service at noon time and there were many in attendance who loved him. For my part, I sent home a poem to be read – “Dirge without Music” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Sometimes another poet’s words are more eloquent than your own.

Added to that is, naturally, the muddle of getting to know a new place, meeting new people, missing home, missing family, and getting used to a new university and a new way of doing things. Luckily, my haven has been my course on Wordsworth. Each Wednesday, I get to sit in a small classroom at a table with eight others and, for three hours, discuss the marvels of one amazing poet.

I’ve also been dealing with the stress of finding a new apartment. The one I’ve had my eye on is currently being renovated and it was only today that I put the paperwork in for it. Hopefully the contractors will push to have everything ready by October 1. My current situation is a strange mixture of comfort and inconvenience. I’m a social person who likes to be within walking distance of coffee shops and street lights. Here, I’m surrounded by dense forest and darkness. I’ve had to walk home from campus each night with a flashlight. It’s a beautifully finished basement apartment, but in an isolated location. Plus, we have mice. Oh, yes. The mice – my little friends in the ceiling. So, there is the stress of waiting for confirmation on the new diggs.

While on my way to put in the paperwork this morning for said new diggs, I got in my car and learned the hard way that all the rain we’ve been having lately has washed away half of the make-shift driveway in the woods where I’ve been parking. The ground is now just a pile of loose dirt and too soft to get any traction. Penelope slid and got herself stuck on some bizarre angle. Her left tires were spinning and her back right tire wasn’t even touching the ground.

I called Brad, who will soon (hopefully) be my new neighbour in Dover. He picked me up and took me to his building to meet with his landlord (soon to be my landlord). I left Penelope in her pickle until I could devote ample time to call AAA and get her out. She was patiently waiting for me when I got back. I called for roadside assistance and a large flatbed came to haul her up to paved ground. It wasn’t easy. Each time they pulled, her back left tire sank deeper into the loose dirt. Finally, the guy got out a shovel, dug her out around her tires, and placed a wooden plank to give her a sort of runway. At last, Penny is free and I’m planning on parking in the street from now on.

There are still things to stress over, of course. I’m still working out the kinks with my scheduling (my students, classes, homework, etc.) , still figuring things out financially, and just overall adjusting to a new life. But my optimism hasn’t run dry. I think it’s going to be a good two years here, once things finally settle.