roots

Being very pleased to get camera back finally, complete with new replaced lens I took this instant view of the road ahead; this is where I have lived [well nearby] for the last couple of decades.

Strange where we end up, settle down, even when we don't intend to.

I think in the recent past women tended to move following their partners employment. That can be difficult, the man has his job to provide structure and links, quite often the women had to look around and start all over again, difficult with small children.

There was an poll or something that said women are unhappier now than they used to be, in spite of the advances made in equality. Men were happier. Whether there was rigour in obtaining these answers, how the questions were posed, whether women are more likely to admit to being fed up these days - I don't know.

I do wonder if the moving about has something to do with it. The loss of the close contact of the extended family may at times be a release but probably leaves women with kids much less supported than I imagine they used to be, in say - the fifties. I know I didn't feel unequal or vulnerable until I became a mother of small children, relying only on my husband for all kinds of support.

My parents didn't move much until I had left home, both worked, but my grandmother, although not particularly maternal, was keen to take me and my cousin out to interesting places and provide a place to stay even when I was on holiday from college and my parents were far away.

My grandparents hadn't strayed far from East London and their forbears [as mothers delving in the family tree showed] moved around a lot amongst rented houses but all within the same area.

When my kids were small we made some dramatic [long distance] moves and each time I was set down on a new island. Now my off spring lives on a different continent which seems a bit strong.

When we moved to this area I was back at work and RP was commuting back to London. The kids were upended [again] but I thought the ambiance of a small rural market town would be safer than N London, who can tell what would have happened.

Most of my school friends have hardly moved at all, they are a small minded lot IMO so maybe that has it's drawbacks, Thinking of some of them that did move and travel they are still a small minded lot. I wonder if their offspring benefited from the security, I wonder if they moved away.

When one travels one it is presumed to broaden the mind, but one always takes oneself on the journey, maybe some minds are always closed.