There have been plenty of “lasts” to go around in our final week in Chiang Mai, and now we are down to the final day. Disassembling our life here and getting ready to reassemble ourselves back home. We are all really excited to return, but Louis and I are feeling pretty nostalgic and taking note of all the things we’ll miss. Fresh fruit at the markets, Pad See Yew, bike rides around the mooban with Trixie, the helter skelter mai pen rai of the streets, the endless possibilities for discovery of a new corner, restaurant, food, or custom, heated tennis matches followed by dips in the pool, and the ducks in the rice paddy. I am sure the kids will miss it as well, and I think we will all experience some disorienting reverse culture shock. Time will tell.

It turns out that my chapter theory of life will be proven to me today — lately I console myself in leaving people and places by saying that we are writing the stories of our lives every day, and that just because a chapter including someone or some place important ends doesn’t mean that the place or the people wont reappear again later on down the line. We said our tearful goodbyes to Laurens, Heidi and the kids who returned to China a few months ago but they are popping back into our novel today for lunch because they had to make a visa run back to Thailand. Bam! Just in the nick of time.

Really looking forward to a summer of fun in the sun and loving my client roster as well — Canadian Civil Liberties Organization, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Earth Rights International, Sum of Us and Goodweave. Life is good!