What looked like a pin prick of light at the end of the tunnel has hurtled towards us. My great fear was that cancer, hypertension or renal failure would pull me under before I could reach the shore. Now I await the removal van in the morning - (Monday). The removal co. asked if they could clear the house in two lifts. We agreed; so they started yesterday. To quote Bernice, it is hard to believe we could accumulate so much shit. Seventy-odd boxes (2 cubic ft each) were taken away yesterday plus all the furniture except the bed.
As our new home is sans electricity we are leaving all the kitchen equipment - fridge/freezer, microwave, cooker, washing machine etc. Nonetheless our two bedroom cottage had sufficient odds and sods to fill the truck. Moreover, when they return tomorrow morning for the bed, there are another six boxes of clothes and afterthoughts to go.
The house seems a little eerie now, even a bit echoey. I had not realised how much character pictures gave a house. We had accumulated so many pictures between us that the house was awash with them - the sittingroom walls displayed no fewer than eleven. Now the whitewashed walls look anaemic and devoid of life.
Moving house, for most people, involves mixed emotions - nostalgia, sentimentality and some sadness.
For us, the pain is minimal. The one factor that makes the move so utterly positive is the relentlessness of the long Scottish winter. It grabs hold of the country about Halloween and never releases its icy grip (apart from the odd callous false dawn) until May. There may be one or two days in between when the wind drops, the rain stops, the sun breaks through and Scots start talking to each other in the street. But Gabriel at the Lord's elbow immediately whispers "Dinnae spoil them Lord - they'll be enjoying themselves next".
Despite the warmth of so many individuals plus their sincere and kind wishes any regrets pale into insignificance at the prospect of the life ahead.
Blog now suspended till we start again in Spain in about a week
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment