 |
| Our village in winter |
It might be somewhere you travel past every day, or maybe somewhere you glimpsed on a road trip.
Christmas (sorry, yes, I mentioned the C-word) I find particularly intriguing. We used to drive along a particular road on the way to where my Black Country family live and often people would have curtains left open to give pride of place to giant sparkly lit Christmas trees. You could see parties, dinners, cosy gatherings with families watching TV....
And whenever I see this it makes me feel the enormity of the world. I will never know these people, in all likelihood never see them again. I'll never know their names, their joys, their sorrows. The world is enormous.
Today I went with some friends to look at a property for rent in our village. One friend had mentioned she was thinking of moving into it and invited me and another friend to come with her to view it with her.
We jumped at the chance through sheer nosiness!
This is a building I walk past daily, often several times a day. I have lived here over 20 years. I have seen lights in the windows, even seen people looking out of the windows. I have never known any of the tenants, never entered the property before.
The three of us were like kids in a sweetshop peering out of the windows - we marvelled at what and who we could see, humdrum landmarks we see all the time but from a slightly different perspective.
I may have mentioned before I am a bit of a shorty and my two taller friends were amazed at a view from one high dormer window - bless them, one knelt down and left me climb on her back so I could see too!
 |
| Christmas lights on tree inWashington DC (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
We came out of the property and looked back at it. And although then it was the same view I had taken for granted every other day, today I could see myself looking out of the windows, imagine the fun we would have in the living room with the grandstand views if my friend moves in, picture it with Christmas tree lights glowing in the windows later in the year....
So I might never meet any of the thousands of people I pass, and maybe exchange a few words or a smile with every year in shops, cafes, the streets, the shopping mall.
But I can tick off the house I visited today from the list of "Places I'd Like to See Inside."
