Moving On

Bonnie tries to delay our packing by sitting in a box.

Despite practicing non-attachment and impermanence with the Sand Mandala, it was still very difficult to leave Mt Tiger and move on to our next housesit. The steady cold rain intensified my gloom at leaving Bonnie, cosy book-lined rooms, organic garden abundance, peace, quiet and general rural idyll. As is usual for me when making a move like this I barely slept, just enough for disturbing dreams to add to my anxiety.

So, I wasn't surprised to arrive in Hukeranui and realise that it sucked! Fresh paint and polyeurathane fumes filled the house. Once I'd unlocked 42,000 windows and doors to let the damp icy breeze through, the smell wasn't quite so overwhelming but by then Al had a terribly headache so I did most of the moving in that afternoon. In retrospect, my snarling temper of that evening was almost inevitable given lack of sleep, fumes and coldness. Though if I was a more advanced bodhichitta I'm sure I would have handled all these changes and challenges with grace instead of grumbling.

Two days later, the sun is shining into almost every room including the lovely space I've claimed for yoga and art, I've managed to connect to the net some where other than at the kitchen counter and I've decided I quite like it here after all. It's a ridiculously big house, especially for two people. The owners have had it rented out but are now getting ready to put it on the market so it's not really furnished which makes it feel like a motel unit (albeit a 3000 square foot unit).

I've managed to make at least one corner seem a bit more
homely by lining up my library books and
displaying some of my artist's books.