Dave, this is whyGood things about living on an island can be many, safety for one. We joke here we live in a time warp. Well who wouldn't want to live in the past a little when today's UK crime rate is at it's peak(despite how they massage the figures)and you still know names of local police, you can walk streets home at night, you do not fear sitting upstairs on public transport. You know your neighbour. Your house will be watched over when you are on holiday. It's quiet. Quieter than big bustling cities. People have time for each other. The scenery in places is stunning. Beaches, woodlands, parks. We have local shops, local produce. Smaller schools. Our news is not dominated with bad things, but community spirited events. Laid back. Time enough as they say here, but of course there is a flip side.
It can be cloying. Everyone knows everyone. It can be hard for new people to integrate into such tight knit communities. Sometimes you want to splurge the cash, or you really need something for the home that is not provided on the island. You need the Internet for these, but the net is not always reliable. Transportation costs to get off the island are astronomical. Cost of living, housing too. To be an artist, a photographer is hard. The market is small, and if you come over like us then the help, the buyers, the clients back away. We need the worldwide market, but as I said the Internet can be erratic. It can be hard to survive, financially. It can be hard to survive emotionally isolated. I am lucky, I did not come over alone, I have the artist. Sometimes you just get cabin fever and crave the anonymity of the suburbs, the big neon garish city Then you see the beach, the woods, breathe the fresh air or take a walk chasing rabbits to photograph by the river and it passes.
Dedicated to my long lost friend Dave. That's why and not why.
For more of others My world's clickety click here
32 comments:
Very interesting post. The snap of the lake is very beautiful.
God B, I've got a little tear in my eye (don't tell anyone), you realy hit the nail on the head with this post.
Loved the photo -- peaceful. Thanks for telling us about life on your island. Island life is definitely different and we lived on one close to *land*,but it was always *insular*.
Marvelous post, beautiful place, terrific photo -- as always, Babooshka!
Have a great week!
Sylvia
Beautiful photograph showing the peaceful side. I think your post makes a lot of sense to anyone who has lived in a small town anywhere and being an island adds to it. Not that I've lived on an island or small town but family members have and do and I've considered the pros and cons for myself. This was a very thoughtful post.
You made me cry again, B.
Still, I'm sure despite the cons, the pros outweigh them and each time you hear silence you're glad you live on the island.
Lovely post, Babooshka, and great photo. I understand much of what you write, although my island is not so 'isolated'. We get the highs and the lows but not so pronounced I guess.
Janice.
Having lived in a remote little village, I get what you're saying and being on an island could be a bit too much for me - I have learned that I like city life, viewed from a little distance, but not too far.
Great shot though!
I think I'd still like island living, even after reading about the downsides. You're lucky to live in a beautiful green and watery place, lucky you can go out and mingle with men AND women. I'd take your time-warped community any day over mine... Wanna trade places?
Babooshka: We all have the positives and negatives in our lives. Your island does offer a wonderful place to raise a child.
Island life is not an isolated life when we have friends as you had Dave.
You became a poet for him.
Beautiful your World.
Luiz Ramos
Island bliss ... but a spot like that would be blissful anywhere. We just don't get those intense greens in this neck of the woods.
Hello Babooshka,
Knowing you I can see the appeal of island life. Knowing you I also know it could get you down. Didn't mean to pry and pick the scab.
Long lost friend regained, Dave. Least it's not Blackpool. Ha!
This touched me deeply. I'm originally from an island - Newfoundland, Canada. And, while it's much bigger than the Isle of Man, so many of the island quirks apply there too. I've been living away from my island for 21 years and still go home every chance I get. Thanks for this wonderful post.
You always tell it like it is, Babooshka, and I always enjoy it. Great post.
Your life sounds so interesting. I too would like to be stranded on an island like you...lol. Far from the madding crowd. Would be nice for a change.
I guess it´s what you are used to. I have never lived in a small place and it would be strange at first. I want the big city.
You describe the ups and downs of island living as only us island folks know it.....
aloha from Oahu
Comfort Spiral
I have always wanted to live in a small community, where I can walk the streets home and where everyone knows everyone. I love the pictures that you take. It makes my desire to visit the Isle of Man more and more.
this was such a beautiful post...
I like the effect of green on the eyes. I used to live in a close-knit community, much like the one you described. I miss the comforts.
Great post and photo and thanks for sharing your bit of island life. I would love the peaceful life of an island.
Great photo and post.
Welcome back, missed you while you were gone. Aye it's hard to have it all. Right now I love the big smoke. Some days it is so hard though. Just battling the people in the street can be wearying. Luckily I can get away regularly for a bit of a country fix. Maybe you just have post holiday blues. We all get those.
I was looking for your web site the other day. Couldn't find it. Do you still have it?
If it makes you feel any better, it's a cold, wet and grey day in London today. That blue sky shore looks inviting.
I love getting out to the islands off the coast here to decompress, but I'm not sure I could take living there full-time. I imagine I'd just spin down and finally stop moving altogether. And die. But for a good getting away, it's hard to beat a setup like that.
And the photo ops are to die for.
Have the faerie folk unionized there too? I swear, it's so hard to get good help these days.
Lovely photo. Sometimes I think that I want to live on an island or at least in the country, but then I find myself enjoying the city life too much for that. But at least living in Hamburg gives you the option to find nature almost on your doorstep (or with a short train ride).
Living in an isolated village I can empathise with this!
YES I understand the love for the Island life, I also have my "magic island", I enjoyed very much visiting your blog, looking into your lovely images and texts, will be back MANY TIMES,
HELENA
I found your blog quite by accident while looking for the name of a fish and chip shop in the center of Ramsey. I'm from the US, and lived on the IOM from early 2005 until mid-2007 and back in the states now. I miss the island incredibly and loved reading your blog. It's brought back so many familiar memories and emotions. Thanks for that.
Ellen
So glad I found this blog.
We visit the island a lot and in between visits I build up a longing to get on that seacat..love that journey out of the Mersey..( although one of our crossings this year ..was somewhat terrifying in a huge storm..but quickly forgotten ) I feel like a different person whenever I'm there, much more relaxed somehow.
Great to see all your pics.
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