A Moving Tale

Well in more ways than one my life is a moving tale. We have been busy de-cluttering. It is a mammoth task that can only be done in dribs and drabs owing to my spouse's ill health. It is traumatic and stressful for us both. We are thinking of where and when we should next move. There is still a part of me that wishes to move back to my old home county of Surrey. In fact when I was up there in December I did have a cast around looking at various locations. I even went as far as going into a few estate agents. In one I found them busy with a painter/decorator in the middle of refurbishing their office. When he heard where I lived (he himself commuted from Stockland near Honiton), he wondered whether I was 'taking leave of my senses' to want to move back to the mad hurly burly of the south east.

By the time we had finished talking and reminiscing about Devon I felt quite homesick. I'd only been away from home for 4 days! The pull of the south east is the family network. I would enjoy being near my sister, sister-in-law and the rest of the family for emotional support when things are tough at home. But having left Surrey over 37 years ago I have a feeling that I will find it difficult to settle there.

We had an uncle who emigrated to Australia in the 1960's. After 25 years he returned to Cornwall where he did nothing but moan about how cold and wet it was and what a beautiful life was his in Australia. Then he'd return to his daughter and grandchildren in Western Australia where he couldn't wait to get back to the lush green fields of Cornwall again. So he was forever discontented and unsettled in both locations.

I wonder whether those of us who have left our home counties are forever doomed to be footloose and rootless.