Back home after a wonderful sabaticle in Paris. So many memories. I spent my day unpacking my bags and working in the garden and going through e-mails of the last two months. But mostly unpacking memories.

What will I miss most of the time in Paris? I think the great advantage of living in the moment. We live in a small space crammed between the past that constantly reminds us about our faults and our failures and the future with all the demands of what we need to do. We forget that this moment is all we will ever have. That is what I will miss most. I will miss stopping to watch children play in the parks, smelling the coffie and the smell of the bread at the boulangier, stopping to look at the lines of a building or listening to the few notes drifting from an open window.

I know one can not only live in the moment, but to be aware of our surroundings is where happiness lies. We are bombarded by news and adverts and information all day long. But it just makes us more hurried and and less focused. And less happy.

My big decision is to live in the moment more and to take life more in my stride.

I started today with my new garden. My beautiful paradise is no more after two years of drought. I started my cutting back dying trees and shrubs and watering them and removing dead plants. I hope something will be left when I am finished. Then I would like to plant more plants from our area as well as water wise plants.

Any good advice for me?