A Year Ago Today

This time last year I made a mercy dash to rescue a daughter having emergency surgery in the middle of a book tour of the USA. She'd got as far as Portland, Oregon when disaster struck, and that's where I ended up too, days away from moving into my new home. It was a stressful, frightening time, to say the least, made worse by my usual travel nonchalance, aka stupid carelessness. It was all a bit sudden, but I had time to get American dollars at Heathrow airport. Why didn't I? Who knows. By the time I got to the States late at night the currency shops were all closed and the ATMs refused my plastic. I didn't know the bank needed to be told of planned foreign travel. In the end I remembered an old, little used Barclaycard tucked away in my wallet and took a chance with the taxi driver. The code was good and he accepted it. Phew. It was better than the last time I went to the west coast to join her. Then I had no note of the hotel we were staying at, and a mobile phone that didn't work in the USA. I was fairly sure I'd remember the details when I got there, but who knew Seattle had so many hotels? I'm not sure what I'd have done had she not decided to come to the airport to meet me, unplanned. Does all this make me a good traveller, laid back and easy about arrangements, or a complete idiot? I think I know the answer.

Only weeks before this the sellers of my new house had pulled out of the deal leaving me reeling, floundering. They had objected to pleas for information from my solicitor, and weren't forthcoming. At the time, a shared septic tank in my neighbours' garden, a piece of land that technically belonged to the adjoining farmer, and some loose slates on the roof, seemed to be huge issues that needed clarification, but in hindsight they were trivial, especially since pursuing them was nearly catastrophic. The flaky sellers were brought to their senses by the experienced touch of the other daughter, a negotiator par excellence whose charm could deprive donkeys everywhere of a leg. For me excitement and joy turned terribly sour before climbing up to relief, but it was traumatic and shocking.

Heavy frost quickly melting

All's well that ends well. As I look back on a year in this incredible place I marvel at how I found it at all, how I nearly lost it, and what a very, very great deal it means to me now. Good old house.