My Moonah Life

Halcyon Days
After her husband was shipwrecked, Alcyone threw herself into the sea and was transformed into a bird. Taking pity on her, the Gods calmed the weather so she could safely birth her chicks in winter.

My Moonah house is named after a mythical kingfisher, and an idyllic peace, that can be conjured in the midst of turmoil. Preparing to leave, This Girl is thinking about the many ways my Moonah home has been my calm during a storm.  

Difficult times are often exacerbated by turning over and over the past and racing into the future before it as arrived. My calm comes from finding ways to ground myself in my Halcyon home.
My sea green bathroom is covered in Italian tiles of various shades of green. The two 1950s fluorescent tubes on either side of the mirror cast a mooted light into the room. It makes soaking in the bath a little more soothing. For many years I’ve made sure it’s part of my weekends and on weeknights, after big days at work.

The little deck off the back room has space enough for the recycle bin and two chairs. It’s where we sit on warm afternoons, looking over the suburb to Mount Direction. We sit and enjoy the outlook and the quiet of being in the moment.
In its seventh decade, my walnut tree never ceases to amaze me: its branches reaching out to the property’s boundaries, full of a flock of cockatoos, or its leafy cool on a warm day. On a nice afternoon I climb into a hammock and swing from its massive limbs.

The knowledge that someone has your back is powerful. There is space for two on my lounge which has become cuddle couch central. Date nights are sacrosanct and they always finish on the lounge with the Lovely Deputy’s arms around me. The worries of the day no longer matter.
“It’s almost like wearing that asbestos suit – you go through the fire but you’re not going to be burned because someone loves you, you are complete, you are together.”
Paul Keating in interview with Kerry O’Brien 

I’ve always loved walking down the hall, seeing the light streaming into my bedroom through the voile curtains. On those afternoons, the bedroom is the most peaceful space in the house, and I love to lie onto my bed and dwell there awhile.
These are some of the ways my Halcyon home has provided me a place of calm regardless of what has been happening on the outside.

How is your home a calming influence on you?

Other posts on Moonah and the move:
Gonna eat a lot of peaches – Moving to the country 
On deciding to paint your house before you move out - Moving to the country # 2 
#Countrylife in Moonah 
5 things I love about whereI live