Peripatetic? Me?

I have been called a variety of things in my life. It is hard to make it to 60 without having that experience unless you spent your entire existence under a rock but yesterday a colleague asked me how I managed to survive my peripatetic life - moving seamlessly back and forth between Calgary and Newfoundland. I was a little surprised at the question. I had never really thought of it as something that needed explaining or even thinking about much. I have lived this kind of life since 1969 when I first headed off for a very short time in Labrador City. Since then I have lived quite a few places, with the longest stay being 10 years in St. John's between 1987 and 1997.

Yet I never imagined myself to be peripatetic...or as dictionary.com would have it:

–adjective

1.

walking or traveling about; itinerant.

2.

( initial capital letter ) of or pertaining to Aristotle, who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

3.

( initial capital letter ) of or pertaining to the Aristotelian school of philosophy.

–noun

4.

a person who walks or travels about.

5.

( initial capital letter ) a member of the Aristotelian school.

Based on the actual conversation I had with George I suspect he was referring to my gypsy ways though he also called me his favourite academic.