Sense of an Ending
It has been a very busy September.
We have, for most of the month, had a fairly full house with guests throughout the month and as a result we have sort of found ourselves hurtling towards October and wondering where August and September actually went.
The 1st October is a momentous date as it marks our first anniversary of living here in Spain. It is with huge relief that we can say that it is just an anniversary, suggesting a continuance, rather than the end of something. However, changes are still afoot.
Firstly, our year-long tenancy of Casa Magdalena comes to an end, and we have loved living here. The owner will be coming out for 2 weeks in October to reach a few of his own decisions regarding the house, and the likelihood is that we should be able to move back into the house for another 6 months or so, from 1st November. However, it means that we have to physically move out for the month of October. The plus side of this change is that we get to spend a month in Granada City Centre, and we have found a small apartment right in the heart of the centre just below the Alhambra, so we will be able to walk everywhere and enjoy some city life! Change, however, is always slightly unsettling.
Secondly, we are becoming aware that summer is on its way out and is slowly, but rather beautifully, being replaced by a golden autumn. I don’t know if it is due to the fact that my birthday is at the beginning of September, but I always associate this month with rather melancholic moments in my life - getting older, returning to school after the summer holidays, the end of summer and so on.
That said, I did have a wonderful birthday, spread over two weekends, with the children arriving for that second weekend. We wined and dined and had huge amounts of fun!
The long weekend that the children were here was filled with tapas tours in Granada, walks in the country and a fabulous sailing trip along the Costa Tropical. This was a treat indeed and will live long in our collective memories. I think I mentioned in a previous tweet that the problem with having family and friends to stay is having to say goodbye, and this was something we didn’t have to consider when we lived in London. Now, though, whenever we have had guests we do find that there is something of a void when they leave and now, in this month, that sense of departure does little for the spirits. I have to admit that I am still feeling post-children-visit blues and they are hard to shake off.
I should add that one of the fundamental aims of this year (and beyond) was to see more of our friends and family and we have certainly met that objective. Without exception, we have loved having guests to stay, and it has been an unadulterated pleasure to share experiences, catch up, relax and enjoy great company.
Third on our list of changes is that now we have to start serious employment. That’s not to say that we have swanned around for the past 12 months, living the Life of Riley. On the contrary, we have worked hard to set up various options that will generate income - essential now that we have decided to stay here indefinitely. We have sorted out our official residency status, developed business ideas, found work, and from October we will be earning regular incomes and paying tax and social security - all adult stuff.
On top of all that, we do have other developing plans (more later) and these involve some considerable paperwork - getting pensions transferred, filling in forms etc etc. Tedious tasks that have to be done in the hope that we can embark on another exciting phase of life here in Spain.
These are niggles. Changes, when they all come together, can be rather daunting and we feel sightly at that stage when the cumulative effects of change overshadow all the blissful elements of life. In the scheme of things, these are not big issues. I think though, for both us, these changes coming at the end of our first year here feel slightly like some sort of ending when, in fact, they represent the beginning of something much longer, more fulfilling and far more exciting.
