Sunday, August 3, 2014

Passing Through …


Ever since my house sold last year officially I’ve been of No Fixed Abode. Of course, one of the joys of being a writer is that you can carry out your chosen profession almost anywhere. In the past I’ve done just that, managing to scribble away while on planes or trains, or indeed in automobiles.

In fact, I once sent this pic in when asked by those fine folks at The Kill Zone for a shot of my workspace:



Judging from the comments, people obviously hadn’t quite cottoned on to the fact that in the UK we drive on the left-hand-side of the road, and therefore the right-hand-side of the car. I only ever worked on my laptop when in the front PASSENGER seat, just so you know, but these days I’m the driver anyway so that option is no longer open to me.

I’ve been looking for somewhere new to write – and to live, come to that – for almost a year now. As I said, it really doesn’t matter geographically where I live, so a lot of it boils down to personal preference.

Almost a case of lots of choice being too much choice.

At one point I would have said that I definitely was not a big city kind of person, but in recent years I’ve spent more time in both London and New York, and I’ve come to like the former ... 



... and love the latter.



But having lived in a very rural location for quite a while there’s something rather appealing about having views from every window, and not needing frosted glass in the bathrooms because there’s nobody to look in but a bunch of sheep. (Who, I soon discovered, are not easily shocked. Very easily amused, but not easily shocked …)



Of course, when I was younger I spent years living on a boat, and doing that again definitely appeals.



And last year I was lucky enough to spend some time in the Jordanian desert, which was a fabulous experience. This shot is now my desktop wallpaper:



I confess I felt more at home in the desert at Wadi Rum than I’ve done in years and I promised myself I’d go back. Of course, since then events have slightly overtaken Jordan and staying clear until things have settled down seems like a Good Plan.

So where does that leave me?

Well, at the moment I’m borrowing spare rooms, meandering around the country scrounging B&B from friends in return for doing the odd bit of DIY wherever I go – have tools will travel.

And the truth is that the longer this goes on the less I feel as if I belong quite anywhere.

So, given a choice, where would YOU live, and what’s behind your particular choice?

This week’s Word of the Week is argle-bargle, which is copious or meaningless words or writing.




13 comments:

  1. Funny, Zoe, I'm in the midst of the same sort of pondering at the thought of more deep winter months in the US. No doubt that sort of wistfulness puts me among umpteen million other endurers of last year's Northeast deep freeze. :)

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    1. I don't mind extremes of weather, Jeff. In fact, I'd love to spend part of the winter in some snowy mountain kind of place, but it's this dull, dismal, neither-on-thing-nor-the-other climate that I find so depressing. We are so ill-prepared for our weather here in the UK.

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    2. That's precisely why I winter at my farm in northwest New Jersey--but with flight schedules to CA, AZ and TX always at hand. ;)

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    3. Clearly blogspot disapproves of my less-than-serious rejoinders, as this is the third time I've tried to post a reply and it keeps eating them.

      What happens when the NJ airports are locked down because of snow ...?

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    4. I freeze my very disappointed buns off.

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  2. If sheep are not easily shocked, and are easily amused, what makes them sheepish?

    And I live where I live because it's where I want to live, the best place I've found to live, and the place I'll most likely die. A boring fellow, me. If you're ever in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., we'll be happy to spot you a night or two of B&B.

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    1. What makes sheep sheepish? Baa-becues ...

      And you want to be very careful issuing such rash invitations, Everett. I often have the bad manners to actually turn up!

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    2. :-) I don't make such offers unless I'm serious. The same offer stands for the other author-bloggers on MIE. We'd be happy to show you around, or just provide you with a snug rug and a real meal for a night or two on your journey from there to elsewhere.

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    3. You may be inundated by peripatetic authors, then :))

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    4. Just as long as they're not pathetic authors... :-))

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    5. Oh, we all of us suffer from a certain pathetic-ness from time to time. Be warned!

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  3. Ever since I started travelling, I've found it difficult to settle in one place - nowhere has all I want. Everywhere has some of what I don't want. So I flitter between Minneapolis, with its magnificent music and theatre and, surprisingly, exquisite sushi, and Cape Town with its breathtaking beauty, wonderful wines where a fine bottle costs less than a Starbucks or two, and the vibrancy of a third-world country. Of course, I have stops en route - in the bush, which is indispensable to my well being - in Denmark, where my lady friend has a home. Actually I probably spend more time in airplanes than any of those - something I enjoy both because I'm a pilot and because it a place without emails, cell phones, and obligations to indulge in polite talk. And because I've become addicted to airline food!

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    1. Exquisite sushi in Minneapolis, Stan? I'm there! Travelling from one place that has what we need at the time we need it, to another -- different but equally suitable -- definitely has its appeal.

      And no, I don't think anyone could become addicted to airline food ...

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