pre-written posting...

November 17th 2007

Everything is in flux...
It's a strange but fascinating space to be...
I want to write about it, but I haven't had much opportunity yet - I'm still in that negotiating phase, being in someone else's space.
Having 'no fixed abode' is unsettling, but not half as much as I would have expected - considering I've spent such a lot of my life doing my utmost to avoid it... There's something liberating in having cut loose from one life in order to forge ahead with new projects... and of course, being Kit's guest equates far more to living the life of Riley than most semi-nomadic people experience!
I'm a slow typist on a laptop keyboard. Still, it's a delight to have the work laptop at home (?) at all (even if it is justified because I need the practice!)
Only having access to the internet at work is... well, actually, it's surprisingly OK. I thought I'd chafe at being unable to email or post on my blog in my free time, but instead it feels like an integral part of the life changes and reassessments I'm undergoing.
Today is my first day off in Wych Avon. Being Saturday, Trudi comes to do Kit's cleaning, so motivated by the desire to make myself scarce, I take myself off for a hike. (Not exactly a hardship...)
The top of Bredon Hill gives fabulous views of the surrounding countryside... and feels particularly apt as a metaphor; rising above my internal and external chaos to walk the landscape of my new life...

chilly beginnings

from my notebook:

driving away from Frome, I feel light, unfettered...
I wake to a frosted winter wonderland, the sun a white disc shining through mist... papery leaves rustling through twigs louder than even distant traffic noise...

elastic time

Life never goes quite according to plan... (something that maybe politicians would do well to remember?)
The change in some of the variables governing moving, intersecting with practicalities (always a weak point with yours truly, as certain of my friends will testify with vehemence), have extended my new start date from 1st Nov as it was originally, to 5th, 6th, and now 14/15th.
The impatient part of me wanted change as soon as the decision was made, and has lamented loud at my protracted notice period. But the ditzy impractical part is heaving sighs of relief!
Logistics stretched the time it took me just to clear the books culled from my collection - but yesterday, the last of sixteen boxes travelled to just outside Westbury...
Additional time has provided the luxury of unexpected pleasure with friends (Crysse took these
pics yesterday at Longleat, a real gem of a writing/walking date - can't believe I forgot my camera!). I've also had some solitary writing time (an experimental piece for Frome fm) - and the opportunity to sift through my stacks of writing files methodically.
I've found lots of shite, lots of duplicated hard copies that I now have on cd - I do so like to work with the physical manifestation of writing... A couple of my published pieces were literally cut and pasted; I found the original typescripts (and duly dumped them).
I've also found some projects that I look forward to developing once the deadwood is cut away...
There have been some surprises, too - Ath's version of our Dublin trip, and the transcript of his fevered ramblings when he had tonsillitis!


Having frittered much of this sunsplashed autumnal 'shooting' time, I did take my camera out this morning...

Last year around the beginning of October, Crysse, Peter and I went walking round Longleat in autumnal colours - so the season is late this year. I thought perhaps I just hadn't been paying close enough attention to my surroundings - a dog is surprisingly distracting; a bit like a toddler, really.
Ath is taking over the dog's care until the owner's release date on Dec 15th, so I'll be leaving my fosterdog as well as my boy... They'll rub along together OK, I think.
When I stayed over in Bristol last week, I missed my canine companion at the foot of the bed...
Time I started on the 'to do' list again...