Getting ready to go on a big trip is like going into the case room to have your baby. Suddenly the question occurs to you: Are you sure you want to go through with this?

I finished the last of my pressing chores and errands this morning and now I’m ready to pack. Oh dear. All the decisions, irrevocable for the next month, lie ahead of me. Maybe I should just stay home. Or go.

But then there’s homecoming to face. The last week or two, I’ve been putting things off. Oh, I’ll do something about that when I get back. Oh, that can wait till I get back.. Oh, I’ll have so much time when I get back. Sure.

That feeling of time to spare, time to relax, time to squander, lasts about an hour or two when you finally do get back, before reality sets in along with unanswered mail and the laundry.

In the meantime…in the meantime I really am going away and I must pack.

Anon, anon.