Such a familiar sight and yet it continues to uplift me every time I see it. I've lived in the shadow of Salts Mill's chimney for over twenty-four years now and it has become an old friend that says 'home' to me. There is something about this shot that speaks to me. We have reached a liminal time of year. Nature doesn't know if it is winter or spring: bright sunshine promises warmth and doesn't quite deliver, a biting wind harks back to winter frosts, bare trees have leaf buds only just appearing and yet there's the occasional flurry of early blossom. The cherry trees on the main road have yet to flower but there is apple blossom in our gardens and blackthorn blossom in the hedgerows. And that blue, blue sky... a clear blue that does suggest a certain crisp cold.
I am becoming aware that I'm reaching a liminal point in life too. Without really consciously deciding, I know it is time to prepare to move to a smaller and more easily managed home. I've loved living here in this old, solid, stone terrace, full of echoes of previous families who've lived here (I sense very contentedly), to which I've added my own story. It's been a real haven and is wonderfully located, in a good community. But these old houses take some managing and the steep stairs (though they allow the high ceilings that make the rooms feel spacious) will one day take me some managing too. They're not a problem yet but having Covid over Christmas underlined to me that the gap between 'coping' and 'not coping' is actually surprisingly narrow. I don't want to be forced out by ill health of one kind or another (though there is no sign of that yet) so I realise I need to prepare for and make a willing choice to downsize and future-proof (as much as one is able) before I am forced to do so by circumstance and before the undoubted stress of moving starts to look too daunting.
I've an idea of where I'd like to move to - and it's not far away. Beyond making sensible preparations to get this house to a saleable point (tidying and decluttering mainly) there is little I can do except to be ready to jump should a suitable property become available. I am, of course, already wishing it to happen, even before I am really 'ready'. Just as no-one can speed up the seasonal changes and there are false starts and it is frustrating 'waiting' for Spring, I shall have to wait and trust the process. I have to place it in God's hands. He hasn't let me down so far!
