20 Years

[ggreig]

Comments

[silverwhistle]

I now realise that the 13 years I've lived here in the turret-flat is the longest I've lived at one address in my whole life. Yet it still feels temporary, more so than other places I've lived. I don't fit in anywhere, but least of all in cities like Glasgow or Hull (where I grew up). As the song says, "She didn't know how to live in a town that was rough". "Rough" is everything I hate and despise. At least where I am, I can pretend it's a separate university town that's been plonked down on the edge of the city. Old university towns/areas are my country: St Andrews, the Latin Quarter in Paris, Bologna, Trento...

[ggreig]

I still have a bit of that in Kingsbarns, after living here for 22 years (my longest address too); to some extent it's a place to stay rather than a home. And of course in 20 years at Insights there have been times when I've applied elsewhere, and none of those times have resulted in a change. At the moment I'm OK with that; but of course there have been times when I've really wanted things to work out differently. Some things just don't work out the way we would like.

What I would say is that I admire the way you stand up against your disappointment, maintain your character and interests, and keep adjusting to new challenges. The fact that some of that is driven by unwelcome necessity doesn't make it any less admirable. If anything, more so.

I'm glad there are some good bits and that they can act as some compensation for the bits that aren't so good. Hope the Alphonse Mucha exhibition is one of those things. (I'm specifically not saying anything about how to view the balance between good and bad - personally I hate being told that

[silverwhistle]

Thanks. The economic insecurity is hard; so is being made into a political football. I know you're still a Nat, so I won't say what I think of them. It's not very ladylike, anyway

[ggreig]

Best wishes for your Dad, and fingers crossed.