I have had several goes, well more than that actually, in writing a post, posts. But time has been limited, other pressures more important. kvd once said that I could (would) write under wet cement. I fear that's not true.
Lunch in the sun, Armidale, with Rod and Becky Holland. Tobias inside watching TV. Armidale was cold, up to -5 at night, but out of the wind in the sun it was very warm during the day.
The photo was taken a few weeks' back. I was in Armidale looking at houses. It will be no secret that I have been thinking of moving, I have been for some time, but now the move is actually taking place and in the near term.
Because of my continued involvement with Armidale and the broader New England, people still equate me with the area. Indeed, some people including locals think I still live there! It's just that they haven't seen me down town recently. However, the reality is, to use a politician's phrase equivalent to the facts are, I left Armidale early in 1996, so haven't lived there for some 23 years.
The world changes. Many years ago Rosalba Gustin, a friend in Canberra, lent me a book on English expatriates living in Italy.They had fallen in love with the place, but in the end found that they did not belong there or in a changed English homeland. I have never forgotten the key message of that book. The Armidale I knew no longer exist beyond people's memories. .
I have been working hard over the last few years digging back in while recognising that I won't know the real texture of life until I get there. I should write about that at some point as a case study, For the moment, I just note that people have been kind and welcoming. I don't expect to be lonely, something that has occurred in Sydney.
Sydney's a funny place. I am fond of the city, I have known it for a long time. But it's also a place where you need money and structure, money because of distance and costs including entry fees, structure because so much of life resolves around the phases of life such as family, immediate friends and work.
I now have a house in Armidale. It's further out than I would like, very near the uni when I wanted something within easy walking distance of the CBD, but it's better than what I have now and $215 less per week than I am paying now.
Some of my friends remarked on its apparent size. It's actually smaller than it looks, but in any case it's big enough for me to have family and friends stay and to store my much loved books. and papers while I continue to sort. It has space for me to have friends round, I have really missed this recently, and a small but adequate garden bed for a kitchen garden including herbs.
I haven't moved yet. I am going though the painful process of trying to sort. There is so much stuff! I also want to get back to Queanbeyan either before i move or soon after.
In all this, while I have tried to maintain my writing the process has become harder and harder when I am trying to manage basic change. There is some writing I must do including the columns, but otherwise I am stopping. I may find some time for more columns here. but if not you will hear from me after I am settled.
Because of my continued involvement with Armidale and the broader New England, people still equate me with the area. Indeed, some people including locals think I still live there! It's just that they haven't seen me down town recently. However, the reality is, to use a politician's phrase equivalent to the facts are, I left Armidale early in 1996, so haven't lived there for some 23 years.
The world changes. Many years ago Rosalba Gustin, a friend in Canberra, lent me a book on English expatriates living in Italy.They had fallen in love with the place, but in the end found that they did not belong there or in a changed English homeland. I have never forgotten the key message of that book. The Armidale I knew no longer exist beyond people's memories. .
I have been working hard over the last few years digging back in while recognising that I won't know the real texture of life until I get there. I should write about that at some point as a case study, For the moment, I just note that people have been kind and welcoming. I don't expect to be lonely, something that has occurred in Sydney.
Sydney's a funny place. I am fond of the city, I have known it for a long time. But it's also a place where you need money and structure, money because of distance and costs including entry fees, structure because so much of life resolves around the phases of life such as family, immediate friends and work.
Some of my friends remarked on its apparent size. It's actually smaller than it looks, but in any case it's big enough for me to have family and friends stay and to store my much loved books. and papers while I continue to sort. It has space for me to have friends round, I have really missed this recently, and a small but adequate garden bed for a kitchen garden including herbs.
I haven't moved yet. I am going though the painful process of trying to sort. There is so much stuff! I also want to get back to Queanbeyan either before i move or soon after.
In all this, while I have tried to maintain my writing the process has become harder and harder when I am trying to manage basic change. There is some writing I must do including the columns, but otherwise I am stopping. I may find some time for more columns here. but if not you will hear from me after I am settled.
