little bitty girl

Did I mention that my parents sold our family home and are now living near us? Not, just living near, so near that if I didn't make a stop to buy crappy gas station French Vanilla coffee, I could be at their door in seven minutes in a snowstorm, walking.

It's a bit of a bittersweet moment. I didn't feel as traumatized as my cousins whose parents also just sold their family home. I think the move from one country was traumatizing enough when I was young. I am sad, though, because there were so many memories in the other house. But I am sure we'll make many new ones in the new place.

There are so many reasons why I am glad they made the move. First of all, my parents no longer drive so it's so much more convenient for them to be downtown. Secondly, they walk everywhere now. My parents (not that they were by any means fat) now boast slimmer waistlines and a renewed joie de vivre. Most importantly, I get to see them whenever I want.

This is just a sidenote about my parents and their thoughts about green living. I must say I am very impressed and proud with their ability to adapt to new ideas and make it part of their own life. Living in Asia back in the day, one wasn't always conscious about living an eco-friendly life. Then when I was in grade 9, I went to a conservation camp for a week as part of my geography studies and learnt so much about being conscious and responsible. I told (more like lectured) my parents about how we're so wasteful as a society and we needed to do more. My parents did their research and have tried ever since to be responsible about their living. So much so that being ecologically conscious is simply now a part of their lifestyle. They always like to say that there is no way in hell they're leaving this earth in a mess for their future generations to clean up.

I always wondered how one could live ecologically in a condo. I am not a big condo living fan, something about being surrounded by strangers on all sides gives me the heeby jeebies. But my parents managed to find not only a condo that makes an effort to be green but has won awards for being built that way. All the lights in the building are the energy saving ones, the parking garages lights are off unless you enter it, the toilets have a one flush (for pees)/two flush (for poops) system reducing water waste, and the cool air in the summer will be provided by cool air being pumped into underwater pipes from the lake. The building has three recycling depots - blue (cans, bottles etc), grey (paper) and green (for wet wastes to be composted). That's just some of the groovy eco-features the condo boasts.

My mum has even offered to take some of our semi-composted waste for her outdoor planter as we've been exploring the options of Bokashi composting. I would consider worms but I am not a natural gardener and find the idea of worms in my apartment creepy. What if they were to get out? Mindy would eat them in a second.

So all in all, the move has been good on so many different levels. As much as I do get to see them more, at least it's never long enough for them to drive me insane (as all parents are wont to do) like all other previous visits. And this Sunday? My mum and I walked hand in hand to the market to do our weekly shop. It was bliss.