Some years ago we visited various places, and lived in various places around the globe, before returning to the city we had left - and found it changed for the better in that the new enforced measures had reduced vehicle fuel pollution, so breathing was much better. We had booked an apartment in a relatively remote area and the surroundings were quiet with trees covering most of view, and too the road to the place was shaded with trees flowering in summer with deep orange large blossoms.
Then came swift paced development, with widening of road and building of more homes around. Which was somewhat good in that travel was perhaps faster once the road was finished, but in my heart there has been a steady lament for the trees that I saw being felled with growing horror, as the felling went on and on. And the more the trees in this surrounding went the more I began to hold on to a wistful dream of some day living in a home with trees surrounding it, trees with blossoms and trees with deep shade, trees with fruits and trees that will nest lovely chirping birds. Cherry, apple, peach, pear, apricot, plum, mango, magnolia, and more.
I have now stopped thinking about it, at least on conscious level, and stopped making pictures and drafts of the house and garden. The couple of architects we saw wanted to build us a house as disgusting as one could never in one's worst nightmare have seen, what with bathrooms facing main entrance and the general design looking like a crossing of roads with little huts that had no connection to one another without passing through the crossing of the roads. Perhaps they did not wish to design something so humble as a home, what with the development in the area raising ambitions all around to building large and expensive hotels, commercial buildings, et al. Or perhaps someone spooked the whole thing, not wishing us to have a home of our own. An apartment in this region counts as a bit beggarly, no matter how luxurious one makes it and how poor the house of the person that is telling you "I have a house, we don't live in an apartment".
And my dreams of cherry blossoms have retreated to memories - and a wish to leave to where we can live amongst the surroundings right for our hearts.
