Monday 11 February 2013

A Note after the Break.

The last five days have brought an unusually high concentration of troubles: some technical, temporary, and therefore merely irritating; some perennial, corrosive, and increasingly debilitating. My continued dwelling in the beloved Shire is on the line, you see. The benefit and beauty of living here is being counteracted by increasing discomfort, and so the balance is shifting.

Today I put in train the only prospective plan I can think of that might solve the worst of the problems. It’s risky. It might have the desired effect, it might have no effect, or it might even make matters worse. But I have to try. The magic that was once here has become buried by the mud of shifting fortune, and I want it back.

3 comments:

Wendy S. said...

Ugh! I'm sorry that The Shire isn't the sanctuary it was once for you. How distressing to have a beloved place where we live turn into such discomfort. I'll light a candle for you that the best situation happen for you whatever the outcome. Not trying to say I'm religious but a little good intention that is sent to someone else never hurts.

Anonymous said...

Goodness. I do hope you find some relief, Jeff. Unfortunately, I think I can understand your discomfort, as I feel continually distressed about both the golf course they're putting in just at the foot of our hill and about what it's a metaphor for. The outside world encroaches ever further, and what are we to do? Have hope, of course. My fingers and toes are crossed for you.

JJ said...

The fact is, Wendy, nearly everything I've valued in life has stayed with me for a few years and then been taken away by circumstances beyond my control. I'm not complaining, of course, and there's no self-pity involved. There's no such thing as the road not travelled, and in retrospect I see it in terms of it being 'my lot this time round,' or some such. But while the retrospective losses evince merely a shrug, the current one never fails to distress and needs to be fought for, if at all possible.

Ah, Sara, a golf course of all things. I sympathise. Reminds me of Mr Trump and his plans to improve the Scottish coast! I lived on the north east coast of England once, and I was struck by the fact that some of us want to experience the wildness for what it is, while others want to turn it into a mindless playground. I remember it causing me great concern at the time.

Thank you both for candles, fingers and toes. What a picture!