Thursday, January 12, 2006

Dislocation in progress

Went to the market this morning to get some boxes. It's strange to go there not for food. Couldn't help it and brought home a small sack of chestnuts. But mainly boxes in all shapes. It's packing up time.

House moves are good for shaking up your life and getting you out of corners. But they're also unsettling and dislocating. It's not easy to simply relocate and to pick up things where you left them. I have this fantasy of living very simply, with just a few clothes, a sleeping bag, a computer, a bicycle. This way I could live anywhere, as long as I have library to work in. But I always acquire things, I always make a home of the space I live in, always build up my kitchen. And then it's hard to leave, even harder to start again somewhere else.

This time it's not an eviction. Things are less stressful as a result. It's not that evictions come without notice: you usually get 4-6 weeks. But one of the most difficult (and liberating) things about squatting is that when you move in, you don't know how much time you have there. Well this time we knew. We were housesitting for a friend and we had five months. Now they're over. We're going away, coming back to London end of Feb. Where to? and for how long?

* * *

My longest ever London home:
The Villas - 12 months

My shortest ever London home:
Limehouse - two weeks

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