New Environments

Over the weekend – and on other occasions recently – I’ve been taking Hound out for walks around the place we’ll be moving to, and I have to say, it’s going to be a massive difference from either Bracknell or Attleborough.

The new place is really quite rural – we’ve got fields within 50 yards of the front and side of the house – and we’re precisely one house from the end of the village. When I take Hound out round the fields, there’s no traffic noise, and hardly any noise of other people. All you get to hear, really, are the occasional tractor, a lot of birdsong, and the occasional peacock. (There’s a colony of them somewhere in the village) When we’re walking, we usually get to see pheasants, partridges, loads of rabbits, and various less interesting birds. On occasion we’ve already seen jays, hares, and a green woodpecker.

In some ways it seems amazing to me, the way I’ve changed in the last couple of years, having lived in Manchester for five years, then moving to a far smaller town (Bracknell) at the start of 2006, then to a market town (Attleborough) at the end of ’06, and now to a village that has – at most – 100 houses all told. And all in the space of eighteen months.

Truth be told, I don’t mind at all. Manchester was great for the life I had at the time, particularly being able to go to concerts pretty much when I wanted, with no real need for planning, and for general access to stuff, it was never somewhere I could see myself staying long-term. If I’m honest, I think even five years was a bit of a shock, and went past the expected timescale for being there. As for Bracknell and Attleborough, they’ve both always been more ‘stepping stones’ than places to make into a home. Again, I didn’t mind – I’ve never had a problem with being a bit transient, and knowing I was going to be moving on again.

In fact, in some ways the new place is more of a change for me than anywhere else has been. It’s more permanent – it’s the first place I’ve owned (well, joing owner, but you know what I mean) as opposed to renting, and because of that it means I don’t have to see things any more in six-month installments. We’re making massive changes to the place, and that’s good – it’s a lot of work at the moment, (as my back is telling me this morning) but we’re definitely getting there – and in the long run, it’ll be worth it.

As always, there’s still a long way to go. But with the current changes, things feel like they’re beginning to settle into the way they should be, and into the way I/we want them to.

And of course, with walks like that all round us, and the expanse of garden in the new place, there’s no way Hound’s going to object, either.