City v Country, Part 2

We have been fighting the urge to move back to the city. Okay, so the urge is more mine than RR's (my partner), but I think he misses urban life as well.

For instance, on Friday he took a whole lot of politicians out shooting. They do this bonding thing once a year. My mother, who is a former school headmistress with a work ethic stronger than anyone I know, is horrified by this flagrant display of skiving, but RR loves it. He shoots, he discusses politics and then they all have a beer or ten at the end. It's a testosterone thing. The thing is, if he lived in the city, he could do more of it. Ironically, there are more opportunities for target practice in town, at the International Shooting Club, that there are in the countryside. Out here, he's not allowed to produce his guns, much less let them off. The darling old dears at the Ferny Creek Horticultural Society would have a pink fit.

Lately, I've been sneaking a peek at the online real estate for property in town. Yesterday I found a house in Toorak for $700,000. Okay, so it only had two rooms and the front had fallen down, but it could have been a good buy? We could have moved all our furniture into the back room, installed the two dogs in the 2m x 2m back yard and then found second jobs to pay for the extra mortgage. I'm sure we would have been very happy.

I think it takes a while for country life to grow on you. It's like newly planted wisteria. It takes a few seasons for the flowers to appear. We love country life but we love city life too. It's a dilemma.