First Winter Garden

It's raining and foggy here on a Saturday night, when I should be finishing off report cards.....but no!
There are many other more important distractions.
Perhaps it means we have settled in, as my little garden has sprouted a few pea shoots and lettuce leaves. I tried planting broccoli seedlings, but some black infestation is enjoying them immensely. I'm not normally very competitive when it comes to broccoli, but perhaps I'll stand up to the little critters, just to show them who I am.
It does seem odd to be advised to plant a winter garden. Fall is when all the snowy little lambs are born, and when farmers seed their crops. It's when we comb the resale shops for wool sweaters, amazingly rare in a state that produces so many sheep! Most everything is made from synthetic fibers, nasty in the heat as well as the cold, I say. Who knew we'd want woollies here? I love my sheepskin booties, I do! It's just that slate floors get cold in an uninsulated house and night temperatures are down to about 3C lately. We like our indoors to stay above that! A " reverse air con" unit works hard to warm up a 2 storey house, but as warm air rises, the main floor stays rather cool. We just wear layers, as good Canucks all know. It seems unheard of here. I have students who still wear their summer uniforms of shorts and tshirts, instead of pants and "jumpers" to school. With a morning reading of 7c on my classroom thermometer, I keep my layers on, thank you, until our heater kicks in.
The past week certainly kept us busy with odd weather. Perth had a tornado and two major storms. We had 125km/hr winds and rain, ending in a power failure that lasted only 4 hours here, but in the surrounding areas 160,000 homes went without power for up to several days. Some schools closed due to damage or lack of power, but ours remained open. Aside from several trees and branches down, there was little change in the pace around here. We plod on.
Last night was the wind up party
for the Williams Repertory Theatre at the Williams Pub. It was lovely! Every cast member was recognized with a small gift and thanked for his or her unique contribution to the production. We quite enjoyed feeling a part of the community, knowing everyone in the room. Wine was tasty and food was good, replenishing our waning energy after weeks of late rehearsals. We were the only people there not from this area, which made me realize just how unique our cultural immersion is in this small town. Gina noted that we'd be quite anonymous in a large city like Perth, had we lived there. Here it seems that everyone knows of us, which can be a bit unsettling. People notice when the campervan is gone from our driveway, when our lights are on, and even whether our laundry is hanging out or not. Their friendliness happily outweighs any loss of privacy to date. We get chatted to by locals wherever we go in this area who all seem to know something of us before we get there. Comfortable? Sort of....it's growing on us.


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