It has been a year, more or less, since we moved north … to a more temperate climate, one that sees us picking lemons, figs, feijoa, oranges, blueberries and all kinds of vegetables too, in their seasons.
It has been a year of silence from me. I was discombobulated by the way social media was being harvested for information, saddened by the polarisation being pushed down here in New Zealand, on the back foot about how to go forward and so, I silenced myself.
Perhaps this is the beginning of me finding my voice again.
Who knows, I thought I was beginning to speak again, back in January.
I have watched as friends round the world, have struggled then, oftentimes, fallen silent too. The old Chinese curse could be applied perhaps … May you live in interesting times.
Perhaps we need an instruction book on how to live through interesting times.
Live till you die was the best I could come up with.
Live every moment you can manage … deeply and richly, taking pleasure in the ordinary, in Nature, in the smallest of things … if you can.
I have learned a few new skills. Had some old and tired teeth removed by a dentist who I talk of in hushed tones of reverence. When it became clear that my teeth needed work, I simply wanted to fly back to Belgium, to my beloved Antwerp-based dentist called Marleen. But it’s a bit far, and Marleen might not even be practicing now. And I thought about flying further north, down here in New Zealand, to an incredible dentist I met upon my return however, I should have known … the universe delivered me to the most remarkable dentist’s door, after a long and miserable year in the land of denial.
When I go to her now, I bounce in the door, like one of those enthusiastic labrador puppies, overjoyed to see her again, despite her job. But she is a bit of a special being, living a life that seems straight out of the most luscious novel, one that makes use of magical realism.
She, unlike me, is extremely grounded but her life …
Summer is on its way now, after an interesting, and very wet, winter and spring. We were all feeling the greyness, and the relief of spring’s arrival is being well-celebrated, in this place where they drum by the light of the full moon every month, and hold events like the recent Abundance Festival.
I missed Genova for a long time but finally, my mind caught up with the actuality of my body being back home, and I don’t imagine leaving New Zealand again. I was always a woman in love with the beaches, mountains and forests of home. It’s good to be back, in a place where I live between both.
And there is a hill, between the rest of NZ and here, and when you drive down from the top, the view reminds me of how it was to land at an airport. More than that, The Hill acts like an old city gate, back in Europe. I will never forget how it felt to be enclosed by that beautiful old Genovese city wall, built to repel Emperor Barbarossa … it made me feel safe. I loved walking home, through Porta Soprana, back in those days when Genova was Home.
These days, there are two dogs, and a lovely man, in my life.
A wee rental cottage, with a view that makes it simple to appreciate the ordinary everyday life that I’m living.
Snow Patrol remains a major love.
Sometimes, in the evenings, I make attempts at devouring good books but I fall asleep, so much more easily than ever before.
It is a smaller life but I love it, so much.
