Home and away

Since I changed jobs some time ago (about 21 months in fact) I have been away from home on a regular basis. It has been less easy to find time to write posts for the blog, and I find myself missing the simple pleasure of taking the time to think about the things that matter to me: family; friends; the contentment and privilege of living in a place I love.

Long days and weeks spent in a hotel room or travelling to and from offices have been tiring, and the demands of the job have been significant. Don;t get me wrong, dear reader, I do love my job, and for that I am also grateful. I also love to come home, to our little village away from the noise and excitement of urban living, and to sit looking at the garden and listening to the birds while enjoying a cup of tea in my very English home.

What has struck me forcefully is that I need this quiet to recharge. In the modern era of electronic gadgetry, I can imagine a little icon above my head of a battery flashing as it drinks up mains power until eventually a message appears letting me know I can unplug myself and return to normal operating service.

Today is a day off. I am using it to catch up with housework and to soak up the peacefulness of my environment - often interrupted by farm traffic or children on their way to school, but peace is not the same as absence of noise after all. It's a sunny day of the October kind, with a chill in the air after last week's unseasonal excess, and I have work to do of the nourishing kind; tasks which feed the soul and warm the heart because they make our house a home.

And tonight is the Village Quiz which we need to finish writing, so no more time to chat for now.