Happy holidays to you all!
[seasonal ramblings / status update]
I'm feeling proper Christmassy now.. The weather here is usually very hot and dry at this time of year.. Since we've lived here, the 25th has ALWAYS been baking hot (especially with all the roasting and cooking going on in our house!) but this year there have only been occasional warm days, then it's back to cool and rainy! My favourite weather.. It might not sound like much..but if this keeps up for another few weeks, it'll be like a dream come true for me.. a cold, wet end of year seems magical.. (Maybe...this year.....snow?? You never know! It snowed on a nearby mountain last week!!)
Meanwhile, it's starting to feel quite end-of-the-world-ish around here.. The large amounts of rain over the last couple months have caused lots of damage to roads in particular.. big potholes all over the place, which the authorities don't seem to be in much of a hurry to fix - I've NEVER seen roads stay in such a state of disrepair for such a long time.. (though there seem to be people with the equipment & know-how taking it on themselves, which was super cool....an old guy and his son were out the other day with a big truck putting down new bitumen, as far as I could tell not in any official capacity..). There are other roads entirely closed..mountain roads where the edges have crumbled away... a nearby town has a bridge down, which can't be fixed until they fix the road so trucks can get in there... etc etc..
The large sports ground / park near our house, until a year ago or so, was mowed every couple months...that schedule seems to have gone right out the window too.. They only mowed it once in the last year.. Some areas of longgrass are as tall as me again now, it's turning into a wilderness... (quite nice, but annoying because of the danger of snakes - don't want to let our dog run in there anymore.... though if the cold weather continues I guess the snakes will all stay in bed...).. There's a kangaroo who seems to have taken up residence in there, he's been there every day for the last week, relaxing in the longgrass... Not sure if he's lost or what. Speaking of which, the animals around do seem to be acting slightly strangely... Lots more kangaroos hopping around on the roads than usual.. The ducks seem to be having babies way out of their usual season I think... Last night we saw 5 tiny owls sitting on trees hooting...Never seen 'em before. (I have not seen any animals walking in circles, thankfully)
But... kids in the neighbourhood have been running around on the street, playing in puddles & saying hello to our dog.. When the covid lockdowns happened, we started seeing lots of people walking dogs etc who we'd never seen around before (presumably because they were usually at work, or tired after work).. well, many of them seem to never have gone back to their previous ways, like they realised it's nice to walk around, and kept doing it.. The streets around here in this small rural town used to be almost deserted whenever we went out, but these days there are always various friendly faces around giving a wave and a "g'day".. It gives me hope for when the "official" infrastructure breaks down, I feel like people here could be capable of banding together to help each other...
Lots more houses seem to have xmas lights up this year, which I really like (when tastefully done).. Looks lovely walking around in the rain with all those pretty lights on the trees... SO that's why I'm feeling very Christmassy, or Caesarmassy....!
I hope everyone can find or make some sparks of joy in their lives, and enjoy the little (and big) things as much as possible, and, that's all I wanted to say.. Big hugs to you all, especially people going through tough times right now.. And also many thanks to the FOTCM crew for the existence of this forum, and all their work.. and everyone else who contributes here. <3
[seasonal ramblings / status update]
I'm feeling proper Christmassy now.. The weather here is usually very hot and dry at this time of year.. Since we've lived here, the 25th has ALWAYS been baking hot (especially with all the roasting and cooking going on in our house!) but this year there have only been occasional warm days, then it's back to cool and rainy! My favourite weather.. It might not sound like much..but if this keeps up for another few weeks, it'll be like a dream come true for me.. a cold, wet end of year seems magical.. (Maybe...this year.....snow?? You never know! It snowed on a nearby mountain last week!!)
Meanwhile, it's starting to feel quite end-of-the-world-ish around here.. The large amounts of rain over the last couple months have caused lots of damage to roads in particular.. big potholes all over the place, which the authorities don't seem to be in much of a hurry to fix - I've NEVER seen roads stay in such a state of disrepair for such a long time.. (though there seem to be people with the equipment & know-how taking it on themselves, which was super cool....an old guy and his son were out the other day with a big truck putting down new bitumen, as far as I could tell not in any official capacity..). There are other roads entirely closed..mountain roads where the edges have crumbled away... a nearby town has a bridge down, which can't be fixed until they fix the road so trucks can get in there... etc etc..
The large sports ground / park near our house, until a year ago or so, was mowed every couple months...that schedule seems to have gone right out the window too.. They only mowed it once in the last year.. Some areas of longgrass are as tall as me again now, it's turning into a wilderness... (quite nice, but annoying because of the danger of snakes - don't want to let our dog run in there anymore.... though if the cold weather continues I guess the snakes will all stay in bed...).. There's a kangaroo who seems to have taken up residence in there, he's been there every day for the last week, relaxing in the longgrass... Not sure if he's lost or what. Speaking of which, the animals around do seem to be acting slightly strangely... Lots more kangaroos hopping around on the roads than usual.. The ducks seem to be having babies way out of their usual season I think... Last night we saw 5 tiny owls sitting on trees hooting...Never seen 'em before. (I have not seen any animals walking in circles, thankfully)
But... kids in the neighbourhood have been running around on the street, playing in puddles & saying hello to our dog.. When the covid lockdowns happened, we started seeing lots of people walking dogs etc who we'd never seen around before (presumably because they were usually at work, or tired after work).. well, many of them seem to never have gone back to their previous ways, like they realised it's nice to walk around, and kept doing it.. The streets around here in this small rural town used to be almost deserted whenever we went out, but these days there are always various friendly faces around giving a wave and a "g'day".. It gives me hope for when the "official" infrastructure breaks down, I feel like people here could be capable of banding together to help each other...
Lots more houses seem to have xmas lights up this year, which I really like (when tastefully done).. Looks lovely walking around in the rain with all those pretty lights on the trees... SO that's why I'm feeling very Christmassy, or Caesarmassy....!
I hope everyone can find or make some sparks of joy in their lives, and enjoy the little (and big) things as much as possible, and, that's all I wanted to say.. Big hugs to you all, especially people going through tough times right now.. And also many thanks to the FOTCM crew for the existence of this forum, and all their work.. and everyone else who contributes here. <3