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Jenny has flown off to England for 3 weeks and left me in charge of 2 (nearly adult) children, a cat, a bird, and Mulubinba Moments. I've been intending to publish my Portugal photos for ages. My photo album is on the sidebar and there is only one (or perhaps two) dogs featured.
"We look backward too much and we look forward too much; thus we miss the only eternity of which we can be absolutely sure – the eternal present, for it is always now". - William Phelps
In a recent post Coup de Vent writes about the experience of embarking on a trip and the feelings this evokes. I have to echo her sentiments today as I pack my suitcase for my trip to England to visit my sister. The flight as I have mentioned previously is 22hours 45minutes in the air with a one hour refuelling stop at Bankok airport - one is advised to walk the length of the airport transit area - at 2.00am in the morning it is empty of people apart from the QF1 passengers and night airport staff.
The weeks prior to this one have been busy with the high point of anticipating the prospective journey and the low points of closing the swimming program and organising the family members staying behind and the household affairs. I certainly feel excited but also very vulnerable...I have not been on a plane since 9/11, we are travelling long distances and will be driving in England quite a lot....illogical though it is, I am worrying about accidents, terrorist acts not to mention illness and accidents striking people back home. Having read Coup de Vent's post on "Free Fall Italy", I feel I am not alone in harbouring concerns surrounding travel. I can't help but wonder how people being sent off to fight a war overseas must feel, wondering if their farewells will be their last.
I will not be able to write on this blog while I am in the UK...hopefully Geoff will before he and the older two children go skiing in a fortnight. I will however take lots of pics and look forward to catching up with everyone in three weeks time.
The weather has changed from sunny warm days with fresh mornings to cold, and wet (8º Celcius). One consolation for the skiers in our family is that the snow has started to fall on the Alps. The two images here are taken from the Snow Cams also listed on the side bar of this blog.
Perisher Valley NSW.
"White out & icicles" Charlotte's Pass NSW.
The Snowy Mountains are located in Southern NSW and Northern Victoria - for a closer look you can visit
this site.
I used to chuckle to myself when I first came to Newcastle and heard the locals describe the river as a harbour. Having come from Sydney, it seemed rather odd. This harbour, which is really the mouth of the Hunter River, has a habit of growing on a person. On my walks I often imagine I am near the Suez or Panama Canal particularly when I see the enormous coal ships from a distance apparently moving along behind the sand hills as if on a road that is obscured from sight. There is not much room in this harbour and pilots are flown by helicopter onto the ships off shore so that they can bring the ships in to their berths. One mistake, and the consequences could be dramatic.
Last week I was accompanied on my walk along the breakwater by a pod of dolphins who regularly come in to feed in the harbour. This little group seemed to be made up of mothers and babies. They contentedly swam beside me as I walked, so close that I could hear them exhaling. I couldn't help but feel privileged that they had chosen (or it seemed that way) to keep me company.
With deep regret I decided to shut down the swimming program this week. We had come so far, the two swimmers and I and I thought we were doing so well. Interest was waning, shoulders were hurting and it became obvious to me that I would not be able to keep one of them at least in the water. I had no choice but to stop - it is difficult when you have a vision and others simply do not share the same vision. Letting go doesn't seem any easier as I grow older. Every time I lose a swimmer I also lose a friend...
UPDATE: I've decided to swim for fitness once a week when I get home from holiday and R has said she will join me.....so a swimmer remains.
I read a post on Doc's site about homemade "Huckleberry Pie" and haven't a clue what it is or looks like. So to those of you in the U.S, can you please, please tell me what a "huckleberry" is. (pictures/recipes anything). I'm sure Beth W or maybe even Bakerina have some answers for me.
We are back on track with our swimming for this week anyway. The new pool is great and as you can see here gives us plenty of scope for what we want to do. The 50m lanes were busy today and it suited G who was tired from trackwork and R to train in 25m distances. Here you see G's "Ian Thorpe" type bow wave as he freestyles towards the camera ( not bad considering he is tetraplegic) and both G and R practising a mock race start just for fun.
Yesterday we had an underwater video session for both swimmers to look at their stroke technique and see how we could make improvements. Tomorrow I am heading to Sydney to a multidisability carnival at the Sydney Aquatic Centre (home to the 2000 Olympics). If I remember to take my camera I may post some photos of the centre and the carnival. Unfortunately G and R will not be swimming - they have a weekend of raging at Port macquarie with a wheelchair rugby team. So it is to Sydney on my own with no swimmers....sigh...one day maybe they will join me at one of these carnivals.
Here is a picture of the front page news on the Newcastle Herald today, June 3rd. Interesting isn't it? (NOT!). What's happening in your part of the world? - Please show me a picture of the front page of your local papers - it has to be more interesting than this....
In my boredom I discovered a quick quiz entitled Australian Slang Quiz 1 from ESL Quiz Center (US spelling). How good are you at interpreting the language? Be warned off straying into "Kev's Down Under Dictionary" - some of the contents are a bit strong.
