Thursday 30 June 2016

interlude

This year is number 8, our annual mid winter break in Byron Bay. Familiar places and familiar faces. So far; blue skies, sunshine, rolling surf, dolphins, whales.... Our 9 days here are sandwiched between packing, cleaning, moving, organising and all the other stuff that goes with relocating, times two. It is impossible to switch off completely but we are thankful for moments that distract and that focus our attention on the here and now and something other than all that has occurred in the last few months and all that is yet to come...

morning coffee



Thursday 23 June 2016

overload

It has been a while since I have felt as stressed as the last few weeks (well months really). A culmination of a lot going on and things going wrong and the feeling that sometimes it is all a bit too much. Experience tells me that life is like this sometimes and that it will pass. We have reminded ourselves that we have family and friends to help, that we have resources and choices, that we are so very fortunate, even when it all feels overwhelming. And most importantly we have each other. I think of these things as I lie awake at night or when I feel too nauseous to eat, not to dismiss or minimise my feelings or current experience but to provide a perspective within which to place them. We are 'riding out a storm' on the back of a season of storms and looking forward to arriving in a safe haven for bit...





Monday 13 June 2016

counting days

This time next week Johanna and I will be staying with my mother, our Seaport apartment vacated. This time in two weeks Colin and I will be in Byron Bay, our yearly winter sojourn. This time in three weeks we will be packing up the Melbourne apartment. This time in four weeks we will be in our new place at Barwon Heads. So many loose ends to tie up, so many things to organise and be done. So many strange and conflicted feelings. Sometimes I don't know whether I am coming or going and sometimes I don't know what I feel. Full - full of things to do and feelings overflowing.

Every now and then we take some 'time out'. Friday morning Johanna skipped school and the three of us walked along our boardwalk taking in the destruction of the floods, we went to Longford to Hubert and Dan's (all out of their legendary eclairs by mid morning) and enjoyed the beautiful old trees in a park nearby (which Johanna promptly climbed).




there were some very impressive fungi too

Yesterday Colin and I drove to Hobart (Johanna is working all weekend) and wandered around MONA and Salamanca. We left just before sunrise and returned just before sunset, the day sandwiched between two dazzling skies.

sunrise on the way to Hobart 

sunset from our verandah

we will be sad to lose our view

As we count down days and tick things off our lists it is good to see and feel the touch of nature and be reminded of what really matters...


Tuesday 7 June 2016

a whole lot of water

Johanna and I arrived home on Monday to a very wet Launceston. It didn't take long to catch on that unprecedented flooding was expected around the state. Our apartment at Seaport sits very close to where the North and South Esk rivers join the Tamar. Both were forecast to reach major flooding levels. We are fortunate to be on the first floor and renting so were a lot less stressed than some of our neighbours.

On Monday afternoon the North Esk peaked sending a wall of fast flowing brown water and debris past our doorstep. The water levels almost reached the height of the boardwalk.




Today the South Esk became a raging torrent spewing into the Tamar.




The water rose above the boardwalk and lapped at the door, some lower parts of Seaport becoming inundated.




We received a text message to evacuate and the police began door knocking. Tonight the river will continue to rise and peak sometime tomorrow morning.  And who knows what after that...


Thursday 2 June 2016

afternoon sun

Now that Johanna has her licence she has taken to driving somewhere for her afternoon run and to watch the sun go down. The other day I joined her when she chose the North Esk Trail. This time I got to see what the reeds looked like at the end of the day.





Later today we fly to Melbourne to celebrate Johanna's 18th with the rest of the family. It is a milestone, for her and us, the last of our children to reach adulthood. It will be difficult to switch off from all the things 'to do' and just enjoy being and celebrating this remarkable young woman that we are so fortunate to call our daughter...