Here I Am again!

Now I'm visiting, before I was living -- interesting change of dynamics. On the one hand, looking out the kitchen window a little while ago, it felt as if nothing at all had changed. I still know where everything is, the details of day-to-day life are the same -- the weather is as grey as last March, the boys are a few months older, but not altered very much, and so on. But now my life is in England and this is but a brief sojourn.

In May, if all goes according to the plan, I will be in France again, after missing a year. Last year was the first year since we bought the little house, that we didn't get back and I missed the annual renewal of my psyche. There are many others who also spend the warm months in Aynac in the Lot and then leave it to return to cooler climes and their other lives. When the summer is a good one with lots of sunshine and regular evening showers -- after midnight -- the Lot is Paradise. Our little fermette, with its small orchard and cosy fire, not to mention a sumptuous terrace that bathes in the sun and cools in the shade is perfect for us and a pleasure for those who share it with us.

In the meantime, there are suitcases to pack (and re-pack), a birthday to celebrate, family to see, banquets to share and money I don't have to spend! I look out the window here and see buds on the cherry tree starting to open. Yesterday I could see the yellow promise of forsythia on Cooper Point Road and remembering the loveliness of last year hope I might have just enough time to see it again before I leave.

I am not impressed with myself -- over a month since last posting. Since then I've been to the US and returned. Big changes for us. The plan is to spend a year, at least, in Olympia, Washington. It's odd that I feel so at home whether here or there -- I just sort of meld into each nationality, both seeming familiar.

It will be very interesting to live on the west coast, which to me is so very different from the East. I'm looking forward to the new adventure and the exploration into that difference. The people in Olympia seem very nice, very warm and friendly. It really is the land of the car and more wide open spaces than I am used to. I love the mountains, especially the majesty of Mt. Rainier; and the freshness in the air, despite all the cars and highways. Olympia's location at the southern-most end of the Puget Sound, is perfection -- it has all of the charm of a small town, yet the sophistication of a discerning, well-educated population.

The present is very tenuous both in the UK and the US. We are lucky to be retired and to have our home almost paid for and a steady, if not enormous income. I look at my children and grandchildren and wonder if retirement will be a thing of the past by the time they are my age. Life has been good to the children of the 60's and we have consumed it, which is probably not so good for everybody else.

But first it's Christmas. More about that anon!