After a
lifetime spent living in towns and suburbs, a move to a small village nestled
in the countryside has certainly brought a few changes.
I’m used to
living in a location that has a Tesco store and a branch of Costa within
walking distance, a bus every 10 minutes and just about anything within easy
reach. I’ve now traded all of that for a location that has a small village
shop, two pubs and a church with a clock that chimes every quarter of an hour.
Buses run hourly at best, but sometimes two-hourly or not at all and most
things now involve travel of the four-wheeled as opposed to two-legged variety.
All that
said, it’s amazing how quickly you do start to adapt. I don’t feel the need to
dash off to so many places, revelling in my new view and surroundings, and have
soon started marking the time of day by the chiming of the clock. It got a bit
awkward last week therefore, when I realised the clock was running somewhat
behind, chiming the hour some 15 minutes or so late. Fortunately, it’s now
running – well – like clockwork again!
Our first
Tuesday evening here, I was stopped in my tracks by the sound of bell-ringing wafting
from the church. It seemed quite a novelty and I soon got used to listening out
every Tuesday evening for the dulcet tones. So I was quite put out when another
Tuesday evening arrived to the sound of silence. What happened to the bells?
The fact that the chime of bells was never part of my life before just didn’t
matter; I was quite perturbed that they had failed to ring! Thankfully normal
service has now been resumed.
Bit by bit
we’ll no doubt start to integrate into village life. Now all we have to do is
convince family and friends that we haven’t disappeared to another planet, just
a country village where they can still actually come and visit!
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