Last Christmas tree

We started working on the Christmas tree on Friday night, but didn't get around to completing it until today. I can't believe it's going to be the last Christmas in the house we now live in. In a bit more than four weeks we'll move to a temporary home, built on the town's edge. Several neighbours have already moved and the street is getting darker at night. A security company now patrols the street a couple of times every day, to avoid vandalism.

After we move out, demolition will start. The house seems to sense its end is nearing. About a week ago, the glass door in the shower cabin fell out of its hinge. Yesterday, a loud bang brought an end to the bathroom ventilator. It short circuited and now we will have to take our showers without a cabin door and, I guess, an increased humidity. I hope the lights won't fail before we actually move...

For me, the reality is now sinking in as well. We already did some preparations, but somehow last week, when the first neighbours moved out, it hit me that this is actually going to take place. Natural gas extraction in the entire province of Groningen has made our houses unsafe and after more than three years of uncertainty, we are moving out so our house can be demolished. A new, earthquake-proof, house will be built. We will probably spend one Christmas in the temporary house and move back to a new house in our current address in 2021. It's real and unreal at the same time...