The Round O

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain

I tweeted the other day about my fascination with circularity. Not only ends being new beginnings, but things ending at the beginning. It's a recurring (it would be, wouldn't it?) theme in my writing. I'd like to label it post-modern, but that's either probably just plain wrong or inherently pretentious. Or both.

Yesterday was Mathew's old gran's funeral, and I don't know what could symbolise the end of a relationship more than a burial. Last nail in the..? No, let's not go there. I was a little sad this morning though, thinking that it may be some time until I'm next in Arbroath, and it will never be the same. I have friends here, and family that I consider my own, but it seems to me that I'll be back now for events and by invitation, not "just because." And things will be interesting when there are plus-ones to consider.

But is that such a bad thing? I believe relationships are like energy. Maybe they are energy. They never disappear, they just change form. I've been known to give up on tasks and situations, but never on people. I like to hope it's a quality that others see in me, and respond to. They won't give up on me if I don't give up on them. Distance means nothing, time means nothing, and nobody's giving up.

So long, then, Arbroath. I'll be seeing you again, so dress up pretty and put on your dancing shoes.