Resolutions and redirection

Another year has slipped on by, and not much blogging has been happening for me. Too many other distractions and life in general keep getting in the way. 

It is holiday season though, so I have been trying to win that war with paper and other accumulated nonsense again. I think I am getting there. If only I could make some of the big decisions in my life as well.

I've always talked about packing up and taking off and living somewhere else for a bit, but life takes over, or I let myself talk myself out of it. I'm "okay" with my little life, my job is alright (not anything I am particularly passionate about though) and I like where I live (apart from the wind and the ever present earthquake potential). I keep thinking though, that if I do just stay in this little box and go along with the ride, will I regret not jumping off and doing something adventurous later - when I'm too old to do it ? Being a fortune teller would be a great help with this dilemma.

Should I sell my house ? Or rent it out ? I need to get some money from somewhere if I am going to jump off this path and get some adventure in my life. A few more years and the mortgage will be gone, but can I wait ? I could have already been mortgage free had I not made some of the other decisions I have in the past. Like give my daughter the opportunity to have holidays and do extra curricular activities like her friends, when she was still at school. Support her while she was studying because there were no other monetary support systems available. 

I have pondered the idea, over the past few years that home ownership is not really an option for single people. It doesn't feel like it makes good economic sense to me. Would I feel so conflicted about this decision if I didn't have a mortgage ?

Life certainly seemed a lot simpler when you just decided to move and gave notice - none of this house sale rubbish, preparing and planning. Other people do it though - my parents just have. Sold the house and begun building another. That decision really unsettled me though as it came out of the blue. I have become used to it now although I will miss having them so close to me. Sometimes I feel as if I am trying to live other people's lives instead of just my own.

So where to go, and for how long and when ? 

I met an acquaintance the other day and she said when faced with questions like this you should replace the "buts" with "ands". I think I should try this, as well as a list of pros and cons...and keep working through the other list of things to do - like talk to some realtors about my options and tidy, tidy, purge, recycle and set a date.

Hopefully 2014 will reveal some of the answers to the questions and doubts that 2013 has raised.

Wonderful Escape From Injury By Lightning

After my post  last week, I have been looking to see what else I might learn about the Graham family from Garryowen, near Queanbeyan. I came across this dramatic report of a lightning strike. The title of the article says it all really.

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954) Tuesday 26 November 1872, page 4

Rebecca, from last weeks post will have been about four years old at the time of the lightning strike, her brother Robert though was about twelve.  I'm not sure I'd have referred to him as a little child, though I do wonder if I had a career in newspapers in a former life, because I seem to write in very long sentences just as they did !

 I have discovered other bits and pieces about this family which I will save for another time. But I have included the article immediately before the lightning strike report. Living in the Shaky Isles as I do, I like to read about how earthquakes were reported when there wasnt a great understanding of their cause, or how the shockwaves travelled, and how they were often reported as separate events in different locations, as if they had happened in isolation and werent in fact the same shock felt over a wide area. (It's a morbid fascination I have) 

 What a fortnight they had had in Queanbeyan though,  earthquakes, lightning strikes - I wonder if there was anything else out of the ordinary.

This post forms part of Trove Tuesday as suggested by Amy, from Branches, Leaves & Pollen.