Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Last week the only tweeting I encountered was on Twitter. This week I can actually hear the birds doing it, real life ones!
Having grown up in the shire, I’m no stranger to the countryside. But as soon as I was old enough I couldn’t wait to escape to somewhere a little more concrete, where public transport meant more than an hourly bus and Spar wasn’t the biggest shop on the street. I wanted noise, cars, concrete, apartment blocks and the hustle and the bustle of somewhere that was home to more than just old people.
But now, having lived in a succession of apartments a stone’s throw from a Tesco or similar, I’ve traded back to a more rural setting. I’ve come full circle. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still only five minutes to Tesco, but my new home sits in acres of shared gardens and it’s an absolute joy to wake up to nothing but the sound of birds tweeting instead of the low hum of nearby commuter traffic.
It’s amazing how a duck waddling past your front door, a squirrel scampering up a tree or a family of rabbits hopping about the place can bring a smile to your face and make you feel uber relaxed. I’m also a keen fan of the hungry carp in the nearby lake with mouths big enough to ram a loaf of bread down and next door’s super friendly dog Dylan.
Speaking of next door, moving house has also seen us upgrade our neighbours. In the old apartment block I rarely saw the same person twice and no one ever really spoke. You’d be lucky if someone held the door open for you and muttered a low hello. Eye contact? Uh uh. Police chit chat? Uh uh. Stolen post? Sadly, yes. In the new place the neighbours instantly greeted us with cheery smiles and introduced themselves. After less than 24 hours we knew their names and had offers of help if we needed it. Nice.
Our new neighbour even rushed out to move her car to give the removal van more space to manoeuvre as soon as she saw it coming. A far cry from the snotty cow at the old place who insisted the removal van move because it was parked in her space. Let’s face it, when lugging heavy furniture down two flights of stairs and through three sets of doors, the removal chaps wanted to park as close as possible to the property. There were a million other parking spaces free and her threat to park in front of the van and block it in and then call the police was nothing if dramatic. And selfish. And just a little bit sad. Some people really were put on this earth to be a pointless pain in the arse and she’s one of them.
Am going back to clean the old place tonight before handing the keys back…. Sooooo tempted to park in her space, just for kicks.
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