600

It’s Day 600 of living without Marco.  Well, technically Marco was home for a short visit at Christmas and I’ve been to Australia now 5 times, but actually Day 600 of our journey. I haven’t posted for some time, I don’t believe I even mentioned our brief trip to Tasmania (although those of you who are Facebook friends, may have noticed my obsession with the Tasmanian Devil).

Well, about a week ago, my house became much emptier.  Last week Marieke moved on to Montreal to do her Masters in Art History and the house just became very very quiet.  The cats and I.  Phew,  am I that woman?  A cat lady by default?  Well, they are lovely, and great company, but I won’t be having 28 of them, so I think I’m okay. But,  IS the house really quiet?  Do I feel very very alone??  Do I yearn for the sound of the human voice???  NO I DO NOT!  Why?? Because of my freaking iPad, that’s why!

So, just an aside – do you remember the Spartans and their 300 men battling the Persians (480-479 BC)?  The Greek force was very small but determined (Marco and I) to make a stand against the huge Persian army (Harper). Imagine a fight so hard there were actually 600 Spartans needed to win, not just 300!  Well, we’ve been battling this separation  just like that!  But the evil is so great (King Darius=Steven Harper) that we needed 600 days to conquer it!! How did we conquer this separation?  We called in the help of the infamous warriors, the iPads!  Okay, I know this analogy is a bit of a stretch,  but Marco was very excited to have it included in my blog.  600 days is a big deal and, in his mind, he imagined us battling evil, while all the while, we’ve actually been having a bit of fun.

So, how are things after 600 days with the help of our iPads? A typical evening at home – iPad buzzes.

Marco:  Hey, I sent you that info on Tasmania that (garble…poor connection…waiting…waiting)

Me:  I can’t hear you.  Bad connection. Oh, I was going to tell you….(Marco interrupts)

Marco: How are the cats?

Me: Why did you interrupt me?  I was just in the middle of telling you something.

Marco:  I can’t hear you.  You’re frozen.  I’ll call you later.

Phone rings…it’s Mom.

Mom:  I tried to Facetime you but you didn’t answer.

Me:  I was talking to Marco.

Mom:  How are the cats?  Is that Paulus purring?  Put the receiver closer.

Me:  (iPad buzzes) Oh,  that’s Marco trying to Facetime me, Mom – I’ll call you back.  Hi Marco.

Marco:  Hi.  That’s better.  How’s Paulus?  Can I hear him purring?

Me:  Yes, that’s him.  What are you having for supper?

Marco: I’m making a salad with an entire cup of tahini dressing on it.  Looks good, hey?  Can I call you later?  Casimir just texted and said he was going to try to FaceTime me.

Me:  Okay,  talk to you later.  (iPad buzzes)  Hi Marieke, how’s Montreal?

…and so it goes, thanks to our friends the iPads. With cutting edge technology, we’ve managed to make it to Day 600!  We’ve stared at the great divide, Mr. Harper, and we didn’t back down…in the words of Sara Mclachlan (Marco wanted this included in this post somehow, a favorite of his – we know that this song is about something completely unrelated, but there are a few words that fit nicely)…

“Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide – voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time – the night is my companion, and solitude my guide.”

Possession – Sara McLachlan

So, I have a love/hate relationship with the very thing that kept me sane over this past two years. Isn’t that typical?  To fall in love with your captor? Don’t get me wrong,  it’s better than writing a letter and waiting 3 weeks for a response.  It’s wonderful to talk to a face and not just a voice over the phone.  It does, however, have its challenges.  Delays,  staring at the ceilings of our loved ones while they cook dinner…misunderstandings because it’s not always easy to read someone over a video that is sometimes patchy…interrupting each other due to a delay in audio…watching your partner’s frozen face, typically we freeze when we either have our mouths wide open, or a grimace, or with a tilted head so the person on the other end can see five frozen minutes of the inside of our giant nostrils.  It is a test – of that I’m certain.

We’ve managed it all pretty well.  Sometimes we just email for a bit because it seems easier to make ourselves understood, it’s a chance to be thoughtful.  But having said all of that, I am DONE.  This has been a great adventure,  we still have our very exciting trip to New Zealand to look forward to in October and I am sad to see my visits to Australia coming to a close.  Two years will have been long enough to live apart most of the time and then intensely close in a tiny apartment for 3 week periods.  I think we’ve done it beautifully, to be honest and although I can’t speak for Marco, I think he’d say the same.  We made the right decision and it’s been a great adventure.

The biggest irritation right now would have to be talking on this freaking piece of technology every day, to the majority of my family (thank you Casimir for being in the city and not a big fan of communication by technology).  Well, glad I got that off my chest.  Have to run.  Going to Facetime Marco!  Oh, and then maybe I’ll check in with Marieke…oh, I hear my Mom calling – she must want to talk to the cats.

Next post…who knows?  Maybe I’ll fill you in on my fascination with the reproductive habits of the Tasmanian Devil…By the way,  this post was written with some suggestions from my partner in crime…across the great divide, but by email this time.