On travelling North

This past weekend Janet and I took a day trip up to Aberdeen. We arrived at lunchtime and spent the entire day in pubs/beer gardens, followed by a nice Chinese meal. It was great to meet up again with Craig, Tosh, Steve and his girlfriend Kerry. The conversation flowed like the beer and it was just like our student days again, though with less Monty Python quotes.

A trip to Aberdeen always produces a mixture of emotions. On the one hand it is always nice to get back to familiar territory and meet up with old friends that I don’t see enough of. On the other hand the territory becomes less familiar each time as bars and shops are replaced with new ones that don’t have links to important times in my life.

However, if life has hammered one thing into my head repeatedly over the past few months, it is that change is inevitable. After many years where little changed other than my employer and (less often) my clothing style, 2008-09 has seen a massive amount of change. Firstly there were the kind souls who burgled our flat last June, enabling us to change all our electrical goods. Then there was the renovation of our flat in preparation for its sale. Just as that sale was being completed our beloved family cat Pyewacket died after contracting cancer. Finally the move out of the old homestead came in late June and with it a complete change to our daily lives and routines (mostly for the better!).

Change is something that should be embraced and despite my sentimental nature I am really enjoying the opportunities these changes have provided to break out of old routines and start anew. Soon enough we will be doing it all again and the cycle will repeat. I will aim to take the positive aspects from each cycle and apply them to the next in some sort of lifestyle samsara.

Aberdeen’s changes have been for the best. Old haunts have gone, but they were for the old me. The new ones will do fine for me now. And as with all things Aberdeen’s face may change, but the heart stays the same.