Well, it all started one dark and slightly chilly night in October 2001. Having left my husband, I had moved in with my new partner, Pip. The only thing was, he had recently ‘gone nomad’ and was inhabiting a mutual friend’s double garage until something more permanent came up.
It was a very well appointed garage, with en-suite facilities and broadband internet access via a CATV cable under the garage door. Pip had even vacuumed it out (to get rid of the spiders), installed a bookcase and put a bit of carpet down to make it more homely.
Having spent a few nights becoming accustomed to my new life, we decided to visit a friend of Pip’s who at the time was living in Watford. I was somewhat nervous as this was to be our first ‘public appearance’ and the first time that I had met ‘Bear’. However, I needn’t have worried as the Ursine One was a superb host who made me feel very welcome. After an evening of pure raconteurism, my sides ached from laughing so much and all too soon it was time to go back to the delights of a garage in October.
The following morning I awoke to aching ribs, not caused as you may think by the draughts whistling under the garage door, but rather as a result of using muscles that hadn’t been used in years … it would seem that laughter is indeed the best medicine. I decided to send a text message to Bear, thanking him for the previous evening and for my aching ribs. He duly replied …
… ‘No worries. Respect to the garage pixies.’
And thus the Garage Pixies were born, with Pip adopting the moniker of GP#0 and me becoming GP#1.
Since that day ‘Garage Pixie’ status has been awarded to a select few that have endured, sorry, enjoyed, the delights that can be offered by spending a night or two in a garage. Their reasons for doing so have been varied and often noble; some have chosen to spare others from the sound of snoring at a party, whilst others have slept with their bikes to protect them against thieves and n’er-do-wells. Whatever their motivation, whatever their circumstances, they have demonstrated that they have the strength of character deserving of the Garage Pixie title.
