Being home
on Sally in Namibia (Namibia), 08/Jun/2009 11:12, 34 days ago
It's funny how being away from home makes you appreciate things more when you are home. I just had a fabulous month catching up with family and friends and thought why not blog about the UK for a change.First things first– the smell! I didn't realised I missed the smell of the UK but I do – May was such a perfect time to be home with the smell of spring in the air, the hawthorn blossom, the lilac (apologies to people with lilac growing outside their houses who had a crazy woman running in to stick her nose in the blossom), freesias in mum and dad's garden – I sniffed them all. Even when it started to rain I was happy – the smell of earth! Sand doesn't smell, or if it does it smells of wee – either animal or people.Second the colours– everything was so green and fresh looking. The trees were all newly in leaf with none of the tarnish of dust that accumulates over the summer. It just doesn't compare to the trees here which have a greyish green hue. Suddenly Browning's poem 'Oh to be in England' makes perfect sense – if I wasa poet I too would be rhapsodising over England in the spring.Third the flowers– I hadn't realised how much I missed flowersFourth the birds– just to watch the profusion of birds at the feeders in mum and dad's garden was a pleasure. And to add to that there is the soap opera of Scraggy the blackbird. I will try and add a photo to this post for those who haven't met this intriguing combination of blackbird and chicken. All mum wants is for him to find a girlfriend but so far there doesn't seem to have been much luck in that direction.Fifth the food– it was so exciting to be able to look at a menu and know that I wasn't condemned to eat greek salad. Going to shops was a bit overwhelming – so much choice and so many nice things to eat, I didn't manage to cram them all in but I had a good try. It's simple things like cheese on toast and houmous that I find I miss.Sixth the internet– when people find you're going to the uk they give you all their personal shopping lists. This is fine in theory but in practice it can be a bit of a pain hunting around for random things that you've never heard of. So I rediscovered the joys of internet shopping, and linked to that the joys of afast reliable postal service. One of the things that is supposed to happen when you are living in a developing country where people exist with so little is that you reevaluate the rampant consumerism of the West and make a vow to live using only what you need. Not me – the only barrier to my consuming was the suitcase test – sadly there is only so much you can carry with a 20kg weight limit.Seventh the fashion– we often don't notice changes in fashion as we live through the change. Having been away for a year it was a bit of a shock to discover that the 80s are back. I chose not to indulge in black leggings, ballet slippers and a puff ball top – I suspect by the time I come back flares will have returned. The diversity of fashion is also striking – I wandered around Covent Garden for ages just enjoying all the different looks.Eighth the fitness– I only managed one ride when I was home but was proud of a respectable 22km even if it was at a slow pace but it was a perfect day and I loved cycling through all picturesque villages and of course the ultimate reward of roasties at the Tap. And the bonus that I'd forgotten, cheddars and cheeseon the bar to keep us going til the roasties arrived-yum. Mum also took me to the gym a couple of times – overenthusiastic squatting in fitball rendered me incapable of going down stairs for about a week afterwards and I couldn't even pretend to keep up with her during the power walk – she'd disappeared into the distance in the first five minutes!Ninth-TV. Ok I don't really miss that but now I'm nearly at ten I thought I should make my observations into a nice round number! I will miss sitting with dad on the sofa trying to do better than average on the word puzzle in the telegraph.Nine and a halfth– how could I forget? Washing machine! Oh my god I think that has to be the thing I miss the most – I HATE hand washing. It was so nice to feel that my clothes had had a proper wash and rinse.Tenth- Friends and family. Coming back to visit for a short time is great because it's a feast of catching up with everyone. It was particularly wonderful that George and I managed to coincide being home at the same time so were able to catch up properly.So there we go– next time you're walking down a country lane or on busy street take a pause to appreciate the sights, smells and sounds which are surrounding you. And when you chuck some washing in the machine think of me with my rubber gloves and laundry sink xxx