In medieval times, most people lived and died within 8 miles of their birthplace, unless they were Crusaders (great travellers) or enslaved to peripatetic masters. Anyway, the average person had little opportunity to expand his horizons, I guess even less if he was a she. We take it for granted now that we can have friends in other cities, even other countries, and expect to see them, keep in touch. I know people, both married and un-, who maintain a close relationship for years at a time, sometimes without even seeing each other in the same room, or bed. Phone sex, of course, has been around for quite a while; I remember one movie (The Truth About Cats and Dogs) in which the pivotal base of the relationship hinged on a phone sex scene. I suppose these days Skype would make it more fun, certainly more graphic. I'll think about that later. I want to tell you about a dear, close friend who is gone now, out of range of the phone or Facebook or Twitter or Skype, and who was never close geographically or otherwise, not close enough. Our relationship had a great potential that was never realized. It was like that song with the line about a promise to see each other: "I know we'll have a great time then." But there was never enough time or space for us to fulfill the promise. It's not fair. I met someone on a trip who was realistic about long-distance relationships. We met on a cruise and spent a lot of time together talking, walking, eating, enjoying each other's company. At the end of the trip when we parted she thanked me for being her ship-friend and adding to her good memories. Ship-friend, not friendship.

I am still in a strange-to-me house, functioning, that is, working well, and settling into a routine. Pause while I remind you of Alvin Toffler, a best-selling n-f writer in the 60s and 70s, whose book Future Shock was helpful to me and a lot of travellers. If you have to be away from home a lot, or even a little, the trick is to create a familiar environment for yourself so you can keep functioning as normally as possible. So I bring my Irish breakfast tea with me (sipping it now) and wherever possible I swim early every morning, which I am about to do now - nice pool here. That's not what I was going to tell you. You tell me first: which way do you install your roll of toilet paper? When you put it on the spindle is the paper coming from the top of the roll or out from the bottom? I've actually had this conversation with one other person who was adamant about which way she installs toilet paper, even going so far as to change its position in other people's homes. I don't do that but when I have to put in a new roll, I put it in my way. That's fair, isn't it? The less you have to think about things like that, the better it is for your inner core. I actually woke this morning, that is, came fully awake, writing. I think it was worth a blog but it will have to wait because I'm going to swim now. Anon, anon.