On the morning of May 8th, 2011 (a Sunday), after a mostly-sleepless night of packing and scrubbing floors, I. and I closed and locked the door of the too-cold and too-damp Tower Flat for the last time, stumbled, (nine) suitcases in hands and on backs, across two streets and to the bus stop, and then took the bus to Leuchars, the train to London, the tube to Kensington, another tube to Earl's Court, and a foot journey to our hotel. This exhausting burst of energy was followed by more tube and train journeys, a short stint in a taxi, and eventually a week-long holiday on a boat steaming across the Atlantic ocean.
On the morning of November 7th, also 2011 (a Monday), I signed the lease for our fourth married flat, this one a spacious and well-lit abode in the bustling neighbourhood of Leith, the northernmost bit of Edinburgh, where we will spend the next six months (and, hopefully, a little longer). The past six months have been an exhausting but wonderful adventure. Homeless for the entirety of it, I. and I have been blessed by the hospitality of friends and family in Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Albuquerque, California, Nevada, Illinois, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and various small towns in Scotland, as well as the fellowship of friends and family in an even longer list of places. Over the course of our homeless "summer," we visited more than half the states in the United States, had a coffee date in Canada, and put more than fifteen thousand miles on Kate T., our faithful Chevrolet.
My travels ended yesterday, with the signing of the aforementioned lease and the discovery that our wonderful landlord (whom I have never met!) had left us a fully functional and well-stocked kitchen. I. joins me in the UK this coming Sunday, after staying behind in America to attend the wedding of some dear friends (I was unfortunately required to return before the wedding date, in order that I might keep my student visa). It has been a wonderful summer, and I am so grateful to the numerous people who generously allowed us to sleep on their beds, futons, couches, and floors, but I am absolutely thrilled with the stability of this flat: for six months, (some of) my clothes will be unpacked, living in wardrobes rather than suitcases, and I shall have a kitchen of my own, whose drawers and cupboards I shall be able to navigate without the previously requisite enquiries about the locations of obscure kitchen gadgets (while there was a certain pleasure to be gained from making German chocolate cake, which is possibly the most complicated thing I know how to cook, in a dear friend's kitchen, there is also a certain pleasure to be gained from knowing where to put the ingredients away when the baking is finished!).
In addition to the delights of unpacking, I'm thrilled to be living in a proper city with every conceivable amenity easily accessible. Within half a block of the flat are a bookstore, three charity (thrift) shops, a pub, several cafes, a textiles shop, a butcher, a fishmonger, two fruit markets, and a number of smaller establishments. Just around the corner--not quite within spitting distance, but only because I can't spit in a curve--are a discount supermarket, a drugstore, two discount shops, and a few other establishments I have yet to explore. Within a quarter mile are three more pubs (at least!) a half dozen charity shops, and the largest Tesco's I have ever seen (seriously, I think it runs the entire length of a city block). I foresee many ridiculously lazy days of staying in the flat to write all day, then dashing down to the fishmonger's just before closing to buy something fresh and wonderful for supper. (And while we are on the subject of food, down the road a little further--on the path of my daily commute--are more bookstores, a Chinese grocery, a middle eastern market, and a Polish deli. I am in culinary heaven).
At this point, I am really supposed to be finishing my first (and final) thesis chapter, which was not so satisfactorily manages yesterday when I spent most of the day shopping for housewares (you know, the important things, like sheets and soap and books). My chapter, not quite half written at this point, is due in ten days (and my beloved husband arrives in five!) so, all things considered, I should meander back to the grindstone for a while. Photos might come eventually.
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