So I'm just coming to the end of a really quick trip to NZ - it was a trip that wasn't absolutely essential, but I'm very glad I made. The back story was that our house was finally rented and there was a list of minor tasks that would be more easily completed on the ground than by remote.
So with the a bit of juggling to make sure I had a full business day in NZ that was unlikely to be used for job interviews (Tuesday and Wednesday are holidays for the Queensland public service - Tuesday is the equivalent of show/anniversary day) and that I was back for the public holidays cos Nick wanted to do some trips - I booked some cheap flights on Tuesday and was here Saturday at midnight.
As a couple of friends I visited with commented - most of the tasks were about closure. It was about seeing the doors were painted, the carpet cleaned, the tiling and plastering finished - but it was also about catching up with good friends who'd been away when I left, taking my mother in law out for the afternoon tea I had to bail on my last day in NZ, and closing off some final bits and pieces that had been preying on my mind.
Probably the funniest detail was the little bit of plastic that slots into the freezer door and connects it to the cupboard door (it's built in). I had broken it away from the screws on the Monday I left Wellington and had been unable to track down a replacement (and not for lack of trying in Christchurch) It was still lying on the floor of the car and when I reached over to pick it up to put in my bag, it suddenly occurred to me that all I needed to do was turn it around and drill new holes on the other end. I actually didn't do the drilling - that was Ana's new BF (a builder) who was putting the door handles back onto the door they'd painted for me - it took all of five minutes to resolve an issue I'd been fretting about for almost seven weeks!
I was pleased when I walked into the house yesterday afternoon that it still "felt" (and smelled) OK. This morning it was freezing and the first thing I did was turn on the heaters for fifteen minutes. It was lovely to walk in from checking something outside to a heater warmed room - the weird things you miss in the land of perpetual summer. This evening it was getting dark and I decided to do the thing Nick hates and turned on EVERY light in the house. Then as I did a final cupboard check, dust and vacuum I turned off each light, and so our house gradually went dark. I'm not convinced we are quite finished with this house yet but even so, as I turned off each light I had a moment to remember the memories for each room and say goodbye. The kitchen took three goes - and one of the very last things I did was polish the bench.
And when the last light was turned out and I shut the outside door - there was a sudden squall of heavy rain which kind of matched my mood.
Over pizzas at their place the girls commented that it must have been sad given how perfect it all was - the new paint, the new curtains, the door etc, and we didn't get to enjoy it. As you can imagine that hadn't even crossed my mind - the sadness was about leaving a space where people had lived and closing the door on over seven years of memories being made.
I had to stop by again on the way to the supermarket with Toby, as I had needed a torch for the final gas reading. And already a couple of hours later - the closure of a task completed had set in and I was focusing on my trip back tomorrow to a place I already can begin to think of as home.
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