Seasonal change

Autumn is definitely here.  All too often we seem to go from summer straight to winter but I like this lingering of summer during the day with just a hint of winter in the mornings and at night.

Alleycat seems to like the weather, too.  She's spending more time than usual snuggled up sleeping.  It may not be the weather, it could simply be that she is now more settled living here.  She has finally got the other village cats to understand that she is not their friend and that they are not welcome near her or her home.  She has a small area around our unit where she obviously feels comfortable, where she knows the residents.  She still scarpers the minute she sees or hears a male but she has some nice (human) lady friends. 

In her own way it's taken her a while to find her place in a new environment.  Maybe she's been people watching the same as I've been doing. 

 

I've always been a people watcher, I have an innate human curiosity to understand how people tick, I've wasted many a long hour idly observing people.  And living in a retirement village is the ideal place for someone like me who likes to watch others' behaviours, mannerisms and interactions. 

 

Here we have a community of people who are strangers when they arrive and may have little in common and who now live at reasonably close quarters.  In this village the residents coordinate voluntary social activities to encourage neighbourly bonds, such as group outings, hobby groups and interest groups.  Fertile grounds for personalities to come out to play. 

I have relatively strong instincts when it comes to people and have learnt to trust them, especially when I meet someone for the first time.  So it's been interesting, after living here for about 9 months to reflect on how well my instincts served me when I first moved in.

I'm happy to say the ones who instantly attracted me are now my group of friends.  We are all getting to know each other better, little by little learning each other's life stories, becoming familiar with each other's families.  It's been an enjoyable process, unlike anything else I've experienced.

 

And I haven't seen anything that has changed my opinion about the other residents.  The ones I was instantly wary of, I'm still wary of.  The ones that interested me then, I still find interesting, they are on the 'long term' observation list. 

One of the things that has kept me out of blogland recently is this nearly finished shawl to keep me warm in winter.  The idea was to use up all the bits of wool from finished projects over the years.   I'd better get on with it, winter could arrive any old time now.