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January 01 2008 - The Longs and Shorts of It
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The fact that I am no longer writing my blogs to Felix, may be greeted by some of you with a certain sense of relief! I've decided to keep my Felix writing separate from my writing to you guys. Not that I'm continuing to write letters to her, but she has certainly been the inspiration behind my decision to get my act together and write a book! I have organised my time to that effect, so that I write in the mornings, and hangout with the monkeys in the afternoon. I finally have the perfect environment in which to write! I sit at my desk, in my cottage in the woods, completely alone - apart from the ever faithful Candy - and I'm starting to feel like a proper writer! I enjoy the discipline of writing at a certain time, every day; unfortunately I only get two hours on my laptop, before the battery dies, and I would like double that amount of time, but I suppose if you choose to live in the bush, without, electricity, gas or water, a few sacrifices have to be made. Not that I really consider them sacrifices, I can, and do, live without all of the above quite happily, but I would like to avoid the schlepp up to the house in order to re-charge. (My laptop that is, not myself.) So with this in mind, Indy and I are going to look into the cost of buying a small generator. This will supply us with enough power to provide us with fully charged laptops, and enable Indy to also charge her eyepod, so she can have music. So there is a chance that I will be able to increase my writing time in the not too distant future. I'm finding writing a book so exhilarating: 'From Byfleet to the Bush' is finally finding it's way into print, this journey which I've avoided exploring for so long; now that I've finally got the bit between my teeth, so to speak, is proving a great joy, and giving me enormous satisfaction. Things are looking good guys..... The weather has been extremely hot, over 30 degrees for most of the past two weeks, and despite threatening rain most days, it still has yet to come. Although, I've just been told that the weather forecaster said this morning on the wireless that we have an 80% chance of a major storm today. It's overcast at the moment, and slightly cooler than it has been, but I yearn for a super, heavy downpour, masses of thunder, and a really cracking electric storm! The heat is so enervating when it's combined with humidity; it sucks my energy and spits it out, leaving me a gasping, red faced, mindless shambles, in a puddle of perspiration on the floor. Roll on rain. I find the way that the girls here hang on to their pre-bush life come hell or high water very endearing. Indy recently bought a pair of outrageous shoes; bright red, patent leather, peep toes and heels at least 8 inches high. Being with her when the purchase took place, I said, 'Ind, we live in the bush, where are you going to wear those mothers?' She looked at me as thought I were mad and said, 'in bed of course.' 'Silly me,' I replied, 'why didn't I think of that?' Her toenails are painted every Sunday, her legs gleam with moisturiser, her feet are relieved of anything approaching dead skin, and foot lotion is applied with an almost religious reverence. Respect Ind..... I find I socialise far less since I've been back, and I think it's mainly due to the the sheer volume of people we have here now. Tent village, is now referred to as tent town, and it's become much more difficult to get a vehicle in the evenings, so the 'long-termers' can go out together for dinner. This causes a problem for the 'short-termers' who feel excluded, and voice their complaints to 'management.' Management gets pissed off at the long-termers, seeing it as their duty to ensure that the short-termers have a good time; go back, and tell their friends and urge them to go themselves. (Fiscal reality being the name of the game.) Long-termers feel that having spent their working day with 30 odd people, most of whom they will never get to know properly due to time constraints, - some short-termers stay for only a week or two - they have a need to spend time with their fellow long-termers in the evenings. They are the ones who do in fact 'live' here, and living here is very different to visiting for a finite amount of time. So I rarely venture out now; I'm completely happy in my cottage, with my books, my - battery operated - wireless, and Candy. If you guys are half as happy as I am right now, you should be enjoying a very good time! And I do so hope you are. I'm off to play with Skunkey and Adouncy now; and I know they send their love, as do I. xxx
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