This and That. . .

I've been feeling betwixt and between these days.

While the weather is getting more beautiful every day, and we had a lovely meal at The Phoenix on Sydney Street last night, I'm unsettled. We're more than halfway through our time in Australia, and I'm feeling a little lost. We have four weeks left here in Melbourne, one in Palm Bay (close to Cairns, where we'll visit the Great Barrier Reef), and then on to Auckland, NZ for a month, and our last stop will be the South Island of NZ.

By the way, the little guy in the image is a local: The Superb Fairy Wren. That's versus the iridescent blue Splendid Fairy Wren that I showed you previously. Aren't those great names? It seems that many official Australian names include superlatives. . .The Great Ocean Road, The Great Barrier Reef, blahblahblah. These guys are tiny. . about sparrow sized, but less plump, and they're abundant in the Royal Park. They are unbelievably pert and unafraid. Nice not to have predators, though there ARE snakes. All poisonous, I'm told. Language difference abound, and sometimes leave us helpless with laughter. I mentioned the "no promenading" sign, but a large set of restrooms in St. Kilda has the words "Public Conveniences" etched in stone over them. "Give Way" is yield. And sometimes the newscasters will say something that leaves us looking at each other in confusion, especially when talking about "sport". The "s"s are dropped from many words, and added to others. . . . there are no "sports", only "sport". There is no "math", only "maths". Interesting, isn't it? And I suspect mostly British. And for the censors, I'm in no way suggesting that American English is in any way Superior. Just different enough to let us know that we are, indeed, in someone else's country. Sometimes The States feel that way too, when we see the news. .  .

Her Majesty and Samson inside on a rainy day

Anyway. I would probably be dying to get home right now if we had a house to go to, so I'm oddly grateful that we don't. I want to be Here/Now. But undoubtedly, some of the novelty has worn off. And John and I have undeniably come to the conclusion that We Are Not City Mice. Too much noise, not enough dark, too many people in close quarters. Suddenly, I'm realizing that White Flight in the '50's wasn't just about getting away from black people. It was a movement toward more space. . . for the individual as well as the family, and less noise noise noise noise noise. I know it's unpopular and ultimately impractical for everyone to have their 1/4 acre of space, but I'm having a hard time believing that we evolved for the density we're now experiencing. Or maybe it's just me.

The clay work is necessarily winding down: Firing schedules are such that I need to be thinking way ahead on that. And while I love riding Her Majesty everywhere for oh-so-many reasons, not having a car is a major hassle when one is transporting numerous clay objects as various stages of fragility. Broken Rabbit Ears. That's all I'm sayin'.  .

The view outside our door

This space we've rented is lovely, but it has had it's challenges, including a lack of what I consider fundamental kitchen tools, and a bathroom a very tall floor away from the bedroom. It's so ironic, isn't it? We had just finished a major remodel to fix that problem on Harmony Street. Also ironic is the fact that our neighbor/landlord's trampoline is pushed up against our back fence by our tiny patio. It hasn't been an issue, because the kids are teens now, but is a reminder of the one that overlooked our pool and partially inspired us to leave Harmony.

I thought I'd share some photos of our space. I want to do a local photo shoot before we leave as well, to record (and so you all can see) the architecture and surrounds here. It really is a lovely and complex place. . . youthful and full of life, if a tad worn.

 By the way, though the temperatures are great. . . .high 40's low 50's at night/ high 60's-low 80's during the day. . .we haven't had any rain yet. I need to check to see if that's usual.