Early this summer, robins painstakingly formed a nest on our back deck… tiny twigs, sprigs of grass straw and plenty of pine needles weaved into the little home. Soon, three newborns awaited, their beaks endlessly agape, parents nourishing them with garden-sourced worms and unsuspecting bugs. As is nature’s way, a few teal-blue thrush eggs had sadly tumbled out of the nest, their glorious colour adding a striking accent to my garden blooms. I gathered the eggs gently, laying them next to my late father’s impossibly tall and vivacious hollyhocks.

We witnessed the fledglings take their first tentative flights. Then as they chirped away happily in our garden into the cool days of autumn, I mused that they too had a good home to return to. It seemed to reflect our journey of finally claiming our vacation home as our forever home. I find it hard to believe that its been seven years since we departed India and returned from overseas. I recall what I wrote in the late summer of 2018 in my co-authored book Monday Morning Emails, while home one summer. Still living in Bangalore, I was pondering my reluctance to return to Canada, yet always appreciated what this then-vacation home meant to us.

“I write from the deck of our home in beautiful British Columbia. I peer through tall pines out to the ski hill and watch deer munch on my parched grass. I gaze at the lines of our home’s tall timbers… just newly varnished, their knotted wood is rich and strong and stable. Perhaps they represent what this home means to us; warmth and stability. Perhaps this mountain town of Kimberley was meant to anchor our global lives and soothe our often fragile souls.”

As I write this Sunday afternoon with a view to crimson and golden trees, the ski hill beyond is dusted white with early snow. I muse with gratitude for these past twelve months, for the endeavour of re-imagining our Kimberley home to our forever-home. The renovation is complete… another nest that embraces and nurtures life.

The home is now painted a bold black, solar panels gracefully blending in, taking advantage of its south facing position. More landscaping was required as the deck was enlarged with new stairs to access my beloved mountain/covid garden. This ‘outdoor living room’ has already become a vibrant gathering and dining space – a place to savour a good book with a glass of wine, to Happy Hour with laughter and chatter, to gaze out as the robins explore and the deer and neighbours stroll past. As of a few days ago, the garden has been dug up for the season, the palms moved inside, the deck cleared in anticipation of winter… snow shovels stand at the ready!

The renovation also included substantial indoor improvements and oh my, how it has changed the way we gather with family and friends. There is more light and life in the house, and I can now fully imagine the pitter-patter one day of our grandchildren’s tiny feet. Yet there is even more to be thankful for as our youngest son married his beautiful bride in the mountain town of Banff this summer. A few days later as we welcomed friends and family to our expanded home and neighbourhood for an After Party celebration, I knew that the decision to return to Canada when we did was the right one. We have sunk our roots even deeper into this vibrant community. We have given ourselves a place that is truly home and with our immediate family also living here, our nest is rich and full.

The view from the new dining room is ever-changing today. The weather is variable.. rain, then snow, then rain again with dashes of sunshine. Another season is on its way, but of autumn? It’s about spectacular colours, about plump pumpkins backdropping family visits. It is ethereal, golden infused walks with our granddog Captain. It’s that first fireside evening with a game of Scrabble… of gratitude for the year that has already been before the anticipation of the Christmas season. However for Bruce and myself, a wee sojourn to Europe is coming up… a little work and play between Scotland and Spain. Stay posted and a warm hello in whichever season you’re reading from!

Post Script… from Bruce

I felt that Terry Anne had left something vital out of her piece on nest-building and I asked her to let me add a footnote.

I like to think that I got on nodding terms with the Robins nesting atop the speakers on our back deck. There was a certain flair to the nest’s construction, with a long sprig of grass lodged jauntily at the edge of the nest. But they are not alone in being prolific nest builders and so I thought to include a small appreciation of one of the best there is.

We have been fortunate to live and work and grow in many countries in the almost three decades of our international life. With no family close by and invariably living in rented or company-provided homes, life could feel a little devoid of that sense of home, and with that, the quality of our lives. But human nest-building instincts run deep and I look back on a life in which Terry Anne has made every space warm and welcoming, and ours in every way.

From our tiny ‘Japanese Mansion’, adorned with little treasures from the temple markets, to the elegant interior of our Dutch row house, the coziness and hygge of our Scottish and Norwegian family homes – she instinctively knew how to bring warmth, style and comfort to our dwellings. She imbued our lives with meaning and memories, anchoring us in our place, creating new roots.

In each new location Terry Anne started from scratch – new place, new schools, new friends, new home – bringing our growing inventory of furnishings and ornaments, the comforting fabric of our lives. In each, she lovingly, painstakingly created a nest, a place of safety and of familiarity. When all else felt new and strange – at times even threatening – she made a place to come home to that made everything okay.

I’ve lost count of how many homes she has created across these fabulous years together, but fifteen sounds about right. So as the glow of fall fades and the flurries of first snows swirl around us, I am ever thankful for my wife, partner in travel, and consummate nest-builder for how she has shaped our lives… one nest at a time.