Hi everyone,
have read back through the last few pages and chuckled away. You guys are probably nuts, you know. (Which makes me wonder what I'm doing here.
Ummmm... Maybe that means I'm also...
)
No. We're not nuts. Yes, hungry-looking squirrels follow us around, but -- no. No. Not nuts.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, I'll fill you in very briefly on some of the reasons why I've been so absent lately.
Short and sweet, I'm rearranging our affairs so my wife and I can get out of the rat race and live a more peaceful life. Namely, live in our cottage
in the country.
We're going to sell our Prague flat and pay off its mortgage -- the flat's worth five times what we still owe on it -- then use some of the proceeds
to have our cottage fully renovated so we can live in it year-round. While that's going on we'll live somewhere nearby. But once the cottage is ready
we'll move in and then, that's where we'll be: in a little village in the Czech Highlands, in a region with lakes and forests all around,
fantastically clear skies at night and gloriously fresh air. Crystal-clear spring water on tap in the cottage (the village has its own private
springs), a cosy home with a little garden out front, a small courtyard and barn in the back. No parking problems, no mortgage, no debt at all -- and
our monthly overheads less than half of what they are now. So, I will be able to take my pension and retire, which is a lot better than working til 70
just to pay a bank.
We'll be able to live in peace and quiet among friendly neighbors. That will be great for us both and
especially for Dada. This big change will
also give us the funds for any extra specialist medical treatment she might need that is not covered by insurance.
That's the story in a nutshell. So, I've been very busy lately with preparations to get the flat ready for sale, while also packing things and
beginning to move smaller items out. All of this while managing regular day-to-day issues like cooking, cleaning, washing clothes etc. To say life has
been hectic would be putting it mildly.
Today I got an email from a friend and she gave me some advice distilled from her years of life experience and pure wisdom: "pace yourself". And she's
right. I've been almost frantic lately with all this, so I'm taking her advice. Pacing yourself means that sometimes you need to have breaks. So
tomorrow morning, Dada and I are heading off to the cottage and will just have weekend free of any concerns about all of the above. There is nothing I
need to do that cannot wait a few days, so it can darned well wait. She needs me and I need her, and we both need some peace and relaxation.
Once we're all settled again in our refurbished cottage, I'll also probably have more time to be here on ATS and hopefully get on with writing my next
book. But even if I am not here much in the next few months, at least you all know why. It's for a good reason and for a better future.