Biding time until holidays

It felt like a long slog to complete progress reports this term, but not as complex and lengthy as in Canada. I'm so relieved that they are done!
Erin and Thomas arrived nearly two weeks ago, filling a worrisome void I have felt since we left home 6 months ago. I am delighted to see them here! Gina has been much happier and Kees has some renewed vigor for showing them around a bit. There isn't a lot to see nearby, but they have seemed content with enjoying home life, after 2 months on the road. Tom has impressed us with his cooking skills and Erin has rested well, slept late and enjoyed the ease of a simple routine, where tea and fruit is always at hand.

We enjoyed an evening of dinner and games at James and Manuela Lanahan's place last Friday. It was a spontaneously fun night of tasty tidbits and silliness. We played Taboo and pool, while some sang karaoke and I cycled in the exercise bike. Something for all! We really enjoyed their relaxed company and warm hospitality and look forward to reciprocating some fine day.
Saturday we left Gina at home to sleep in late, while we took Erin and Tom on a drive to Bunbury for a spot of shopping and a bit of fish and chips. Not the best weather or the most interesting drive, but we saw the ocean and managed a beach walk before the 2 hour drive back. It was a relatively uneventful diversion, but better than a day at home of laundry!
The week passed without much excitement. We joined PETA Hanley and her Boddinton pals for an evening of pizza at the Williams Pub on Tuesday. That was nice! Tom made pizza the next night, too. Yum. One needs ways to wear off carbs, really! Driving to work each day allows no room for burning calories at all. Dullsville, but it must be done.
Perhaps next term I can work a regular swim into the routine. Cycling club has been less appealing in the winter fog. We haven't been home most weekends, anyway, so I have missed a few Saturday rides lately.
Holiday adventures cannot come soon enough!

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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Dramatic Interludes

A new me has been seen in Williams this past weekend, similar in looks but wearing heavier make-up and projecting dialogue quite determinedly. My fling with live theatre has come and gone, without any talent scouts beating a path to my dressing room door. The good news is that, with the support of five other cast members, sound and light crew and an energetic catering staff, we managed to entertain about 400 people over two nights. No rotten produce was flung my way, nor were there any boos, hisses or loud catcalls apparent. It may have helped that the bar stayed open to serve our audience throughout the evenings, but who's to say that made a considerable difference? By all reports, our performances were a success. Now that the challenge of learning lines and rehearsals twice a week is over, I am going to miss it a bit, but I am glad to have it behind me. Polishing the performance as we developed our characters was finally rewarded with audience laughter and applause, mostly at the intended moments. The absolute highlight for me was not enjoyed during any public performances, however. That came much later, when Kees shared with me some video clips of what had actually transpired on stage. Seeing myself perform rather surprised me, as every move and nuance that had occurred was captured on film, undeniable proof of my goofy expressions and shameless reactions to other actors on stage. I look heavier than I'd like to, dammit! And older. But it was not all bad. My hair was glossier under bright lights than I ever knew it could be. I like the way my new black boots looked, so flippantly dancing with abandon. But what cheek I had! We laughed until the tears streamed down our faces, with a mixture relief and disbelief at what I had done. In public. Voluntarily. Okay, I admit to having some fun....but, really who was that??? And where has she been all these years?
I guess I haven't embarrassed my immediate family too much, as Kees and Gina both seem a wee bit pleased with the dramatic production, but it seemed as if Mother Nature herself wasn't wanting to be upstaged. I do wish that violent storm hadn't blown into town late Sunday afternoon, knocking out power for four hours and causing trees to come crashing down over several roads. Reports of winds up to 120km/hour were recorded in the area. It was most inconvenient, effectively postponing our planned cast party. Even if roads had become passable, the local pub had no way to cook and serve our dinner celebration. Nor could I get to work efficiently on progress reports online as I had intended, golly gee, without power. Resourceful as ever, Kees made us hot drinks on the propane stove in the camper van. We enjoyed our "emergency supplies" of munchies and spent a pleasant evening playing a rollicking game of Scrabble by candle light. Just the three of us. We made a very fine picture of cozy contentment, if Kees had cared to record it. Gina beat me by five points.
It was certainly a memorable weekend. I'm sure that we'll never have another one quite like it!

At Last, We Made it to Margaret River!

The initial pull to Western Australia was never living in the tiny town of Williams. Try as we might, there is just not enough to keep us interested there for long. Many eyebrows have been raised when I tell new acquaintances where I work, as Narrogin has a formidable reputation as having a high rate of dysfunctional inhabitants, to put it bluntly. I have met many lovely people there, but it is not the place for us. Gina often sees the unsettling undercurrents of troubled youth in her high school and I teach some of their younger siblings. There is a good reason that staff here are paid very well for the risks and challenges they face. I don't get those extra "danger pay" benefits that Bec does, nor do I get paid her bonus for working at a relatively remote school. Hence our delight with grabbing every option to remove ourselves to urban or coastal destinations. It's just a lot more rewarding!
This weekend we are finally exploring the famed Margaret River wine region , where prices are sky high for accommodations that are booked up weeks in advance. We have scored 2 nights at a caravan park in Prevelly, on the ocean known for world class surfing and recent bush fires that scorched the area severely last year. Our campsite was spared, but I wish the less than pristine shower block had been torched. Ok, enough grousing! The area is mostly bucolic! We enjoyed warm sunshine and a rich verdant countryside for most of the 3 hour drive here. We saw forests, fields, and rolling hills full of sheep, many with springy new white lambs. We visited a delicious chocolate factory, where free samples proved the quality so good that we needed to purchase a few decadent morsels, as well. Naturally! Next came a cheese factory, where we were easily distracted by more tasty samples and purchases. Onwards to the town itself, where we spent time mapping our plan of attack for vineyards tomorrow and an hour shopping for essentials like socks & underthings. By 3 pm we succumbed to a late alfresco lunch on the patio of Settlers Pub, enjoying local wines and bites of locally produced breads, cheese, olives and seafoods. So impressive was our planning that we managed to park deck chairs on Surfer's Point to witness scores of dudes in wetsuits enjoy riding impressive waves, while the lacklustre sunset happened behind an annoying bank of clouds. We shall just have to try again tomorrow!
Night falls quickly here. We skipped dinner, content without. It is mostly quiet in the park, so we settled in very early to bed, to read and write. We are very glad to have our own wireless network with us wherever we go. Kees makes sure of that!

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.

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.

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.