Back in the City.

Look who I found. . . .old friends. This is another Gillie and Marc bronze, which is well beyond life- sized for humans, let alone rabbits and dogs. I scheduled a doctor's appointment, following the recommendation of our friend R, and this beautiful eating/shopping area was a sort of covered area within the complex where the clinic was located. It was right on the tram route that we usually take into town, but this interior space is only visible when you walk in. This is very typical of Melbourne. . . there are all sorts of unseen cracks and crevices that beg exploration.

It's a good thing about living in the city. That, and the doctor was indeed willing to help me with my prescriptions. Phew.  I'm sleeping again, and no longer considering having to leave this once-in-a-lifetime experience so I can get some sleep.

We also went to the Melbourne Museum this weekend; another downtown fixture. It was too large to see in one day, and I tend to get "museum head" even more quickly than I did as a younger person, but it was still great. There were all kinds of BONES. . .including lots of dinosaurs. Henry and George, I'm putting an image of a real skeleton they had of a Pigmy Blue Whale. Imagine how big the Not-Pigmy Blue Whale is! And while the dinosaur bones in the museum were casts of the original bones, these whale  bones were real bones. No touching, of course.

One of many Acacias that thrive in Australia. The bark invites touching

There were also some wonderful, well-labeled tended ecosystems (for lack of a better word) outside under glass or in courtyards. I was most interested in the plants, but there were also birds, skinks, lizards, the works! There is a lot of emphasis on indigenous culture these days, so there was one entire garden dedicated to native plants and how they were used by the Aboriginal peoples.  Unfortunately so much of it is the sad history of conquests and betrayal like our own in the U.S. I can only see/hear/read so much of it before I simply have to go. And then, there's the "museum-head" thing, too.

In settling in after our visit to Tasmania, John and I have become keenly aware of the fact that we are not fundamentally "city mice". We had both thought we might like to be, but the truth is that we want to see the sky and some unpeople'd, unconcreted earth when we look out our window, or step out our door.

There are too many people. I do not wish any of us gone. It's just clear that finding a Place to call Home that we're comfortable with will be increasingly difficult. It feels so fundamental to me. Having some space. Surely, so many folks live in these very densely populated situations, that if nothing else, we may have to continue to evolve so we can stand it. Without shooting each other. Or becoming depressed. Or Or Or.

Tonight we have visitors from Boise coming over for dinner. A treat. And beautiful weather for it as well. . .