Mark This Down: We Have A New PERMANENT "Home" Address!

Clair and Carole Anne Hochstetler
PO Box 827
Mawson, ACT 2607

No, we're not really living in Mawson - just establishing a convenient "collecting point" in an environment where we are keeping "light on our feet"...at least for a while.

This week I am moving all our stuff out of our home for the past 5 1/2 months in Duffy, most of it into storage. I'm moving myself, my unicycles, my recumbent bike, and a few other "essentials" into a small independent flat in Chiffley connected to the home of the Keith and Ruth Blackburn, a generous couple from our congregation (Canberra Baptist.)

It's just the right size for one person for a month or so... The Uniting Church in Weston needs their manse back. The arrangement has been fabulous for us while it lasted - and we had it three months longer than originally promised.

This morning I took Carole Anne to the Canberra airport whereupon she flew to the Sunshine Coast (near Noosa, in Queensland) to spend 6 weeks with her sister Linda and brother-in-law Graham, who have been living there the past five years. This is all part of our "grand scheme" for coming here to Australia; Carole Anne will be going there from time to time -- but only at the "best" times of each year - and she will be house sitting and taking care of a dog that whole time, just a block away from her sister. And that free rent in Noosa for almost six seeks can't be beat!

I hope to fly up there and back to join them all for a "long weekend" after Easter, April 16-20. (To drive a car from Canberra to the Noosa area is like traveling the full length of California, requiring about 18 hours of road time , and completely out of the question!)

In any case, on the 2nd of May Carole Anne and I will meet up in Sydney and fly to the States together during my annual leave/holiday time. We will have been gone from "home" - Goshen, Indiana - for 11 months by then; hard to believe! We'll be "taking care of business" and visiting family and friends in Indiana, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, then after three weeks I'll need to fly back here to work at The Canberra Hospital.

Carole Anne, however, will stay on with her family in MA until mid-June when she returns to join me in house-sitting for two months in Griffith, right across from St. Clare's College. It's all saving us HEAPS of money (as they like to say in Australia.) Plus, we are getting to really know the city and making lots of new friends this way, as well. By mid-August, though, we'll want to find another "still point" to provide some balance in our flexible lives.

It's all OK - home is not a specific piece of real estate for us, at least not yet, it's mostly where the heart is. And as long as Carole Anne and I have each other, hey, we're happy. And learning to live with a lot less "stuff" has actually been quite freeing, and feels kind of nice! Although it's required some creative thinking and initiative on
our parts, God has been so good to both of us: We have literally never had to worry about where we'll be living, or having friends or things to do...

I'll close off with three special messages for my Canberra-based friends:

In the short run, I'm going to have some extra time on my hands, especially weekends and evenings, so if you wanted to find some good "informal" opportunities to get together, i.e. go walking, biking, camping, or visiting nice places around Canberra together...whatever...well, here it is! I'm game.

I'm also seeking a sheltered spot to park our car while gone the three weeks in May...there is not a good place at Blackburns. Any suggestions?

Last, but not least - and I'll just put this "out there" - if a person or two feels inclined to lend me a hand on Thursday or Friday late afternoons or early evenings THIS WEEK moving some bins into storage using our cars (or have a truck available to do so) just let me know!

Looking forward...
Clair