Home.

G'Day,
Here is my little addition to the Sunday Scribblings prompt "Night"
Gazing at the night sky is a way of getting your place in the universe into perspective. Have you ever stared at the stars and though how minuscule we all are in the universe. A mere speck of dust on a tiny planet in a infinitely huge universe. The stars in the australian countryside are clear and bright and beautiful when you look up at them away from the city lights.
In the mid 80's we lived in a tiny town of about 400 people out the back of no where called Urana. We lived there for 6 years. While there we used to make a fortnightly shopping trip into Wagga and visit family. Traveling home across the plains to Urana late one winter's night Pete woke me to look at the sky. It was amazing. There were beautiful flashes of coloured lights across the sky. Aurora Australis. Very very rare in our part of the world. Something I had never seen before and am unlikely to ever see again. We woke up some of our neighbours and they went out of town away from the town lights to have a look but by the time they got out the lights had already gone. We also watched Halley's comet pass over head in clear view while we lived out there. We used to get up in the early morning after setting the alarm clock to the best reported viewing time to watch it. Something I will most probably only see once in my life time.
O.K. the rest of this post is about where I am up to now.
Tonight we had a phone call from Cynthia, the real estate agent who is selling our Junee house. Cynthia is also married to Pete's brother's best friend and I am friends with her Mum who is a ceramic artist in Wagga, we have known her for a while now.
There has been an offer made to buy our house and after a few phone calls back and forth we have agreed on a price. So, subject to all paper work going through smoothly my beloved first home is gone. I know I should be happy or excited, but I'm not. I feel sad and as if I have lost something special.
The very first place we ever owned and the only house that I have spent more than just a few years living in during my whole life.
The place where my children grew up.
I was happy there.
The soil that I fed and dug and planted and which I took such pleasure in the outcome of.
I am being sentimental but I miss it.
The good side of the sale is we can now move forwards towards getting a new home and not renting. I am a bit nervous about that too, because the price of homes in Canberra is much more than in Junee and we will probably never get our new home paid off, but have to look at downsizing after retirement. But that is O.K. I guess.
The person who is buying the Junee house is someone I know, and I am pleased to have her bring up her little boys in it. I got to cuddle her boys when they were tiny babies just a few days old, she bought them in to work to show them off. She worked at the hospital as a nurse while I was working there, I didn't spend a lot of time with her but I liked her anyway, she is a good person. I will still miss my house.
I guess what I am doing here is rationalizing, weighing up the pro's and con's of my move here to Canberra. I have always tried to move forwards and never go back for things I have left behind. You get like that after a lifetime of moving around. Junee was where I lived for the longest I have ever stayed any where in my whole life, 18 years. I loved it because I wanted my kids to know people and not solve problems by moving away throughout their childhoods. To not live in the city, but in the country and have the freedom to roam about a bit where it is relatively more safe.
Since moving here I have seen a big improvement in my sons outlook. I told him today that I was proud of the progress he has made in just a few months. He has suffered depression for many years. He has now gone to the doctor and is taking medication for depression which is a big step for him as it was a struggle to get him to even go to the Dr before here. The medication has taken effect and he is moving forwards, he is hopeful in his job and wants to get his drivers license soon. Which is all positive.
My husband was also hating his job. So far so good in that department here also.
What else is good about here.
You can get medical help quickly. I got into a dentist with one days notice last week, in Junee there was a wait of 2 months or more. I got into a doctor with a few days notice when in Junee there was at times a 2 week wait to get an appointment.
There are lots of shops to choose from here and look around in, but I am not sure if this is good for the bank balance.
There is more wildlife here than in Junee as it was a farming area. The bird population is specially more noticeable. It is great how there are birds everywhere right in the middle of the city, some of which are rare, like the Gang Gang cockatoos I saw at the Anzac day march in the city, or the black cockatoos I saw flying above my house or the tiny bright blue fairy wrens I saw today in the shrubbery around the office where I was cleaning. There were fairy wrens at Junee but they weren't often seen in town, no gang gangs or black cockatoos.
My new boss seems keen to hold on to us as his employees, in Junee the supervisor was a power pussy.
The house here is newer and bigger than the house in Junee, but it is not mine. Ah well, maybe soon I can remedy that.
This weekend is a long weekend. The Queen's birthday. We get an extra day off work anyways. On the Queen's birthday long weekend they let off fire works. It is funny but, it is illegal to let them off at any time other than this weekend and you have to have a licence to do so, but you can legally purchase them in this state. In N.S.W. you can't even buy them and have not been able to for any years. The Queen's birthday weekend sees many poor puppy dogs in terror and running away from home getting lost and hit by cars because of the fire works. Reminds me of the children' s story where the animals are scared because the sky is falling down.
My daughter and her boyfriend are coming to visit tomorrow, after I go and get them and play Mum's taxi service. Annie has a dentist appointment over here. She had orthodontic work done over the last few years and now her wisdom teeth are threatening to push her teeth back to where they were before, so they have to come out. I miss my baby and can't wait to see her and give her a big hug. Last time I saw her I discovered she had a tattoo. I wasn't impressed, but now I am used to the idea, even if I don't like it. It is her body. It is of a fairy with a devils tail. I guess it is quite artistic, it was just a shock seeing it for he first time.