All this past week and even earlier I have been walking the property saying good-bye to all the little people that live here. For I am leaving Windgrove. Tomorrow. My first trip out of Australia in six and a half years.
To be honest, despite the hugh joy and real excitement in my heart at the thought of meeting up with my partner, Sally, there is, as well, a wee bit of trepidation and a few butterflies built into the leaving.
Is this because I am now 60 and am losing my sense of adventure? Is this because I’m turning into a grumpy old man, set in my ways and content to just potter in the garden? Is this because my last trip was before 9/11 and travelling is now, if not dangerous, more tedious with long security checks?
No, no, no to all three questions.
The simple fact is that Windgrove is a place where I have sunk deep roots into the landscape. Leaving one’s home and one’s family is always hard.
When I returned from my last journey in 2000 (to England and America), I was living a fairly simple life in the Peace Bus. Now, however, a substantial home has been built. There is a domestic familiarity with the place that makes it easy to want to just hang out here, forever.
So where am I going? China for one month. More or less staying in the relatively small city of Jinan (population, 5 million); southeast of Beijing towards Shanghai. Sally is there already at a university hospital studying traditional Chinese medicine and I miss her enough to want to leave Windgrove behind for a few weeks. During weekdays, while Sally is at the hospital, I’ll be engaged in learning a new language. The spoken language of the locals, for sure, but also the silent, unspoken language of the customs and culture of this fascinating country. During weekends, we’ll be exploring any number of “tourist” spots.
My desire is to be able to keep writing my blog while away and share what I am experiencing. If internet access is easy enough, maybe even twice per week. Stay tuned for Windgrove in China: stories of flailing chopsticks.
Lots to do. Need to get packing.
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