Australia Day 2012, Perth

    Australia Day, the commemoration of the First Fleet from Britain arriving in Australia, January 26, 1788.  New citizens are sworn in, awards for citizenship handed out, a high school or community band will play.  Nothing more than a day off work for the eastern states but embraced by the residents of Western Australia.
   Usually.    Today the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak.  The temperature today shot up to 107F and most of us simply ducked for cover.  Thursday is my radio show day and I hung out at the air conditioned radio station a whole lot longer than necessary.  Licked a 50 cent soft serve ice cream cone from McDonald's while waiting for an air conditioned bus which dropped me off at the air conditioned grocery store.  Did not pick up any of the traditional lamb chops for holiday grilling but did buy a bouquet of blue,white & red radishes as a show of spirit and a lime to swim in my Tanqueray & Tonic.
   Swimming.    Our property pool was closed seven weeks ago for a lack of signage. You know: depth markers, "Do Not Dive", etc.  Hard to believe that  these simple signs would take two months to get done and posted.  Hard to believe also that the pool manager left the gate near us unlocked.  Easy to believe that upon the aforementioned discovery of pool access, Kev & I went for a quick swim despite the "Pool Closed" signs. Have I mentioned the 107F heat (and we don't have air conditioning?)  Fear not, we weren't noticed and the Cricket game was still on TV when we returned ten minutes later.

    Fireworks.    The highlight of many a celebration ...and easily seen from our balcony so we don't need to stray from home to see the big show.  And a good thing there, too.  Clouds from a far north storm had made it to Perth  (along with Cousin Lightning Bolt) just in time for the beginning of the fireworks. Oh dear, this must have scattered people on the foreshore very quickly.   I REALLY like fireworks and appreciate the music that a sponsoring local radio station provides to heighten the experience.  I daresay it is an underdeveloped art here in OZ.  Rousing patriotic tunes are heard in the U.S. with some shows timed to the music even.  Here in Perth, the music tends to sound entirely incidental.  No more patriotic than Rolf Harris' "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" with a sampling of INXS and AC/DC (What? No Wiggles tune, also?) and more likely to be Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors."  And the music bed ended way before the finale. Oh well.  The rain stopped as soon as the skyshow did, naturally.

     Tomorrow?     We're back to work.   Happy Australia Day, Mates!

A Loooooooonngg Holiday Week

     Well, I hate to sound like Scrooge, but after what seems like an endless holiday week, I am so ready to go back to work.  It's not any one thing that brings me to distemper.  I could blame my aching left knee that is affecting my mobility and smile or the fact that our car is barely functional for any but the shortest trips or the fact that we don't have air-conditioning plus a closed pool. 

     It's all these plus the confusion of holidays appearing on Sundays. Australians aren't about to give up a day off work because a holiday falls on Sunday, so "officially" Christmas was Monday, Boxing Day (a legal work holiday) was Tuesday with a discretionary workers holiday squeezed in on Wednesday.  But wait, there's more.  Another discretionary worker holiday for some branches of the government (like the post office) on Friday because some offices may open for parcel disbursement on Saturday morning.  Except postal workers didn't bother to show up then, either.  And New Year's Day is, of course celebrated in Governmentdom and Commercialworld on Monday the second.   Never knew what would be where or when.

Picnic & family snaps

     Now, if you have a working car (and I've mentioned that we currently don't) or have an advantageous postal code, you'll head to the ocean for a barbecue and a swim  or head to the cool relief of the hills. 

Perhaps a longer drive to the Southern Ocean-a very popular heat escaping holiday option.  Of course, we indulged in some of our usual traditions:  the picnic with my brother-in-laws family in gorgeous Hyde Park, trying out the new toys (Natie's first bike!) and my German smoking man and nativity given to me by my cousin Antje longer ago than I'll ever confess.

Trying out the new red bike!

Smoking man + Nativity

    Well, each of us sneaked in a day of work somewhere in all this and what would Boxing Day be without out the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on TV (the whole race lasts 3-14 days) followed by the Aussie-India Cricket game (which lasts almost as long at the above yacht race.)  Squeeze in some post-holiday bargain hunting, board games (which I tend to win) and increasingly less interesting  DVDs and you have the sum of  a 10-day holiday week.

     I'm remembering not to complain. My New Year's Resolution (the first one in several years) is to be less grumpy, more grateful and blindingly optimistic.  Soooooo,  I am  glad to be  going back to work tomorrow.

     Yeah, call me Ebenezer.