On the second attempt my sister and her kids finally made it home, well I hope they did, I haven’t heard anything to the contrary yet, so they could be camping out at the ticket desk for all I know.
On the car drive back from the airport I felt very tired, sad to see them go and joyous to have my space back to myself. Although I am a very social creature, love the company of my friends, family and sometimes strangers I do need to have time and space to myself. Moments to be me, think and sort through my emotions.
Maybe that is why I always wandered off as a child, far enough away from my parents to still be able to see or hear them, but hidden away so that they couldn’t see me. I also loved to hide away in our large garden, climb a tree and read, out of sight but with a brilliant vantage point. My favorite tree was right on the border to the next property and it had this lovely curved branch that I could snuggle down into perfectly. Sadly my love affair with said tree only lasted one summer as the next door neighbour saw me up on the branch on day and thought I was spying on him while he was sunbathing naked. He took a hose and a spray of cold, hard water surprised me in the middle of a page, making me yell, drop my book and scramble down the tree as fast as I could and run back to the house with a naked angry neighbour yelling after me. I was allowed to go back and retrieve the book, but not to climb the tree again and I lost that special space forever.
However I still love to hide away from the world every now and then, seek out some space in-between work, friends and just generally rushing around with lots to do. A place to take a deep breath and recharge my inner-self. A solitary walk on the beach or a stroll through the woods works too, but I have to admit that lowering the blinds on my windows, putting on music and curling up to read, write or just be, while ignoring the phone is the perfect fit for me.
So with my family gone and the luxury to be able to post-phone the load of work on my desk for a bit I think I will spend a few hours with myself today. Well, after I have put my home back together as the German invasion has left their paw-prints everywhere. I can’t wait to find that moment of in-between space and just be me.
jensinewall 