Sunday 27 May 2012

To Falcon Beach and Back

May 25-27 has been spent enjoying friends and fun at a borrowed beach house, just south of Mandurah. Chook and Phil Melvin, Bec's aunt and uncle, joined us from Perth. It was a delight to pay them back for their awesome hospitality shared in Seabird, when they hosted us some months ago. We also invited two exchange couples, Canadians Diane and Jim Hastie, posted to Perth, and Mike and Sue from England, posted in Busselton. We all got along very well, ate too much, drank lots of Phil and Chook's Prosecco and generally strengthened our friendships. The home was a delightful old place with a ton of shabby chic charm, lovingly decorated by my colleague at ENPS. We all felt quite lucky indeed, as the weather was a fine 25c and each meal, prepared by guests in rotation, was more delicious than the last. Mushroom bacon egg-a-muffins by Diane and Jim were followed by hot and cold meat and cheese wraps by Chook and Phil. Dinner by Mike and Sue was a very good chicken curry with a most excellent eggplant pickle and naan. Gina and I whipped up an apple crisp that had a hint of cinnamon, orange and coconut, served hot with ice cream. So yum!
Sunday breakfast was our version of fruit and pancakes, with maple syrup . Everyone got along so well all weekend that exercise was a bit neglected. We biked some, shopped some, beachcombed some and strolled the estuary trails some, but mostly we visited. Saturday eve was an amazing adventure to visit friends of Diane's, who owned a swanky holiday home and boat on the canal. We arrived to be ushered out onto their gorgeous waterfront deck, where we immediately spotted a frisky pod of energetic dolphins. Robin kept the hot appetizers and wine coming as Don ferried us in small groups out on the canals for a closer encounter. Very exciting! We certainly had a fabulous evening with our delightful new friends. Our fun ended all too soon. We ek ends are so full of interest, while the weeks are long and full of unending schoolwork. Gina had a few days off with a cold this past week, with low motivation to attend school. Kees may have entertained himself a bit too much, as he seems to be retiring to sleep some days even before I get home for dinner. Not fun. He did have a good day of it last Thursday, when he organized a seminar in town to teach Facebook and Social Media skills. He could do a lot more of that, if motivated. Everyone enjoyed that.
Play rehearsals are heating up. Gina has done some set painting and Kees will work the sound effects for a production I am in on June 8 & 9. I hope I remember my lines!! It has been a challenge, but I think the play is nearly ready for an audience.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Musings

I had a late rehearsal last Wednesday night for a repertory theatre production that I'm in. We practice every Monday and Wednesday night. I am enjoying the cameraderie of the cast and have managed to rope in Gina to do a bit of set painting and Kees to help as a sound tech. But I wonder, on a daily basis, why I am challenging myself to learn 20 pages of script and possibly embarrass myself right outta town. It is MUCH harder to memorize a script now than it seemed 35 years ago. Most days I can drill a few lines into my thick skull, but then I blank out when I add a few moves on stage... With less than a month to go until the play opens, I am doubting the wisdom of this endeavor! More practice is the thing for me.
I caught up again with the Numbutts Cycling Club on Saturday morning. We enjoyed a 30km bucolic ride over hill and dale, halfway to Quindanning, finally warmed by welcome rays after the fog cleared. It was a very chilly start at 8:30 am! We used to ride at 7:30, to miss the heat of the sun, but now it's fall here. Sunrise is at 7, barely warming up to a damp 5c this morning. It takes a good hour or more for the fog to burn off. By 10:30, it was a pleasant 20c. I had a chance to check out a new "op shop" in town of recycled things, where all the funds raised go to charities. It will be fun to return most of our stuff for resale when we leave here! Kees and Gina met me at the shop, then we headed over to the theater to paint sets. I had jelly legs and needed food, so managed to wobble 3km home to rest for the afternoon and study my lines. I'm thrilled that Gina and Kees have both volunteered to help with the play. Kees is the sound tech. Tomorrow, Gina will paint more sets and help prompt lines as the whole cast rehearses. This time it won't be their regular dinner theater, but simpler fare and of course, an open bar throughout the two one-act plays being performed. Soon! Eeeek!
Also heavy on my mind is the load of schoolwork mounting. Progress reports are looming next month and I must head in to the school for several hours tomorrow. I am finding it a somewhat stifling teaching situation overall, since so much focus here seems to be on a rigid, prescriptive style and loads of assessment. First term was about trying to adapt, but I'm not too keen on that anymore. I'm ready for teaching an inquiry project, but I'm being pushed to teach spelling drills and assign home reading worksheets. I haven't decided yet if I'll be a rebel or take the path of less resistance....ha! There's just never enough time to do everything needed in this job, so I may as well enjoy this great group of kids and do it my way. Those wiser than me tell me not to work so hard and be sure to put family first. Good advice.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Current Amazements

I cannot think of Erin in Thailand and Cora in Kenya, without marveling at what a huge change has taken place in our family in recent times. Short years ago we were a family under one roof, sharing life routines of work, home and school. Now we are on three continents. My iPhone World Clock app currently shows time zones for my extended family in Nairobi, Bangkok, Vancouver, Calgary, Perth and the Bahamas, mon! Last week, it included Miami as well. Our world is surely shrinking, as our views change. Isn't it also incredible that we can have free video calls with family in all of these places, simply by tapping a small keyboard on an interactive screen? Quite wonderful!
Furthermore, as I step out onto our bedroom balcony, I am bathed in the brightest white moonlight ever known to humankind, as the moon orbits closer than ever to our planet. It is a view shared by family and friends from Edmonton to Bali, Holland to Mexico. Lunar light bathes the nightscape with enough intensity to read by, or to inspire random musings of sleepless nocturnal beings.
Sounds of creatures I cannot name softly resonate on cool, still air, otherwise undisturbed. Then nothing: the night amazes with perfectly crisp, clear silence. The more intently I listen, the less I hear. Good night. Very, very good.