Sea to sea

For the last few years I've lived by the sea - in a likely futile attempt to stay anonymous I won't name the areas, though I'm sure if you follow these entries you'll likely be able to piece them together.

Escaping to Scotland has been on my to do list for what seems like most of my life, even if it's only been the last seven years or so. But anything beyond five seems nothing more than a distant memory.

Finally though, after numerous failed attempts, house sales falling through, and then of course a global pandemic, I've managed to move half way across the country, from one coastline to another.

For those paying attention and trying to figure out where I am now - if I face one way I see the sea, a literal stones throw away (OK, being fair, it would have to be a pretty good throw), and if I turn around I see a mountain. That's got to help narrow it down, at least a little...

The biggest change, geography aside, is the people around me. Where I came from I knew the people who lived below me well enough to say hello, but little more than that. Those either side? I'd be lucky enough to recognise them. Here everyone seems to already know everything about me, or at least everything I share with one person seems to permeate through the village at quite the pace.

I guess I'll have to watch what I say?

In some respects it's lovely - people are nice, I've been invited around for drinks - I'm certain that if someone needed help that someone would offer it. It almost sounds idyllic. That is until you think about privacy. Part of me does, and probably always will, miss the anonymity of a city, or even a big town. I'm not saying I'd go up to a random stranger and swear at them, but at least I knew that I could have done so, if I had ever been so anti-socially inclined. Somehow it was nice to have the option, no matter how unenacted upon it would have remained. Here though, it feels like that would be the quickest way to be ostracised. In some ways it's like school, gossip spreads quickly and everyone knows everyone's business. Thankfully at least people are, on the whole, adults.

So as the days start to go by, and I have to get used to the life in a small community I wonder what I'll like and what I'll miss, I'll be careful about what I do and don't share, but regardless, I'll keep staring at the sea.