Easter Friday reflection? Not in this city of boats.

As a child, growing up in a household where my mother was tragically God obsessed and my Father a non-practising believer, Easter was the one day that we all went to church together.  Me to Sunday school and then the parents joining me to sit in the pew for a hell and damnation Southern Baptist sermon.   The fun of the day - if any could be found - was wearing a new dress and Easter hat, or bonnet as my Mother loved to call them.  She would sing the old song, "in your Easter bonnet" leading up to the big day.  Even after my daddy lost everything in his bid to run his own auto repair garage I would at least get a new hat for the day.

Times have changed. Mr G is an atheist and I'm pretty much the same.  Although, when it's ground into you for the first 16 years of your life, religion is hard to completely turn away from.  So Australia, it seems, is the perfect place to be.  For a civilised western society Australia is pretty Godless.  There's the faithful Catholics who go to their weekly or monthly rituals and the new wave of evangelicals in the Hillsong Church  still practising but they certainly can't hold a candle - or whatever - to the hysterics in the USA.  Which is reason enough, I suppose, to not be surprise to find a floating city of boats in our usual spot in Refuge Bay on Easter Friday.

This is the metropolis we joined yesterday afternoon on arrival in the National Park.

Boats of every description jammed into every available space.  'Raft-ups' - which are multiple boats all tied together and hanging on one poor mooring line - are everywhere populated by a mixture of sail and power vessels proving boating is both egalitarian and non discriminatory.  Wendy Harmer wrote a good piece in the SMH yesterday about the sometimes yearning for sacred space by   Australians since we, as a nation, don't have the non-sectarian rituals of the Americans like Thanksgiving.  I think, for many, boating represents a certain kind of worship ... in the church of friendship, sun, and beer. 

Entering this floating city, Mr G and I were lucky enough to find a club mooring near the all but hidden waterfall.  We hauled up the mooring line, launched the dingy and went ashore to play frisbee with Miss Molly.  On return to the boat Mr G insisted on solitude to read the paper, Molly drifted off to sleep in the cockpit and I started a new book.  The evening ended with a nice meal, lovely wine, a full moon and the occasional sound of some people across the bay enjoying themselves a bit too much....bet they have sore heads this morning.

Mr G reading the paper in "Leave me NOW" mode.

Miss Molly crashed after a big frisbee & swim session.

Today and tomorrow we'll look at storage areas and get our minds ... and the boat .. set to start loading up for the trip north.  We're also thinking of joining the yacht club "cruise" which is further down into the national park for their BBQ this evening.  More later!  Happy Easter to all ... enjoy whatever you do to celebrate this weekend.

Turkeys, Possums, Frogs....Enough!

I love animals and I love nature.  In fact, I'm very dedicated to sharing my space with the creatures that share our world.  Live and let live is my motto.  I don't even kill bugs...with the exception of flys and cockroaches which by anyone's standards are just too gross.   Whenever there is a spider in the house I always encourage (loudly) Mr G to put it outside.

Now, with all this love and tolerance there comes a time when one has to call time out.  To say enough. is. enough.  Time for us all - creatures and people - to stay in ones own abode and out of each others.  Why now?  Why has it come to this?  Well there's been an influx of the rare lately that's been a tad unsettling.

First, on Tuesday, there was a brush turkey (or scrub turkey or bush turkey..all the same bird really) on the back porch which, while I chased it around the backyard with a camera, seemed to have absolutely no fear, awareness or care about me what so ever.  This is an Australian brush turkey ....

Now this little fellow would normally be very welcome in our back yard except for a few things worrying me. 

1.  Molly may eat him/her, or at least kill it for sport.  After all she doesn't know what the hell it is and to her he/she is in Her (Molly's) backyard so all the more reason to make it leave or die.

 2.  Our neighbour has a cat...and the across the street neighbour...and the two houses up the street neighbour.  Normally they don't come near our house due to Molly...but a big, apparently juicy, brush turkey may just be too much for a cat to bear.  Which could cause Molly to have two rare treats - one feathered and one - or more - furry. 

They have little to no relation to the American turkey, are natives of Australia as far as I can tell and they are quite neat looking.  As far as I can tell this one is very young.  Hope he/she makes it to old age.

Secondly our little house in the tree above the clothes line seems to be a popular site for possum raising.  We have our second mom and baby in the house this season.  At least I think they are different...they react differently to me/Molly...and look a little different.  Here's a photo of the mom.  I tried to get the baby too but it scampered inside when I went to fetch the camera.  I think they are so cute....but they've made a mess of our tomatoes this year.  I'd say we've had one tomato to their 5.

And tonight, as I go into my bathroom to get ready for bed, the final straw.  A frog!  A cute little frog that must have been in a drain, or hiding under the bathtub, judging from all the dust and hair on it, was sitting next to the trash bucket.  Again, I love frogs....in their environment.  But I don't want to live in the house with them...and certainly not in my bathroom. 

Mr G is tucked in bed and refuses to get up to help me get the wee thing out and back into it's proper environment.  So, like the giant wolf spider of a few weeks ago, I'm shutting the door and hoping we can find him/her in the morning to take outside.  (FYI - we never found the spider, and haven't seen it since...so popular belief is it went out.  Silly?).  In spite of my love of nature I don't think I can face trying to catch it all by myself late this evening.

Anyway.  Message to nature... I love you and I want you to be safe and happy.  BUT.  Can we please live our lives separately?

You don't know what you've got 'till its gone!

 

 

 

 

"Don't it always seem to go..You don't know what you've got 'till its gone.

To pay paradise put up a parking lot"

 

I've been singing the words of the Joni Mitchell song, "Big Yellow Taxi", to myself all morning.  Mr G and I went to Circular Quay early this morning - on the bus no less (being really green senior citizens!) - to see and take a tour of the new Greenpeace ship - Rainbow Warrior.  We're big fans, members, and donated for nearly 2 years to help make this custom made campaign ship a reality.  She's a beauty.

 

Me, standing on the back deck of the ship next to one of their "encounter" boats.

The Rainbow Warrior at Circular Quay passenger terminal.

This is the first time the new Rainbow Warrior has been in Australian waters.  She's here to educate, inform and promote awareness of the immediate dangers to the Great Barrier Reef.

 

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a World Heritage Area but the government in Canberra and Queensland are putting it at risk with a plan to open up an unprecedented scale of development in the next few years.  Here's the problem:

 

*  9 new coal export ports or terminals are proposed to be built along the GBR coast.

 

*  They will require millions of tonnes of dredging - most of which will be dumped on the reef or washed out as silt which will kill the coral.

 

*  More terminals will require more shipping.  Number of coal ships in 2012 - 2,034. 

 Potential number 10,986 (if all terminals go ahead). 

 

*  There have been 5 coal ship collisions and 9 groundings directly on the Great Barrier Reef.  The last one, on April 3 2010, was grounded for 9 days. 

During those 9 days it destroyed or damaged over 290,000 square metres of reef.

 

 

I've been to the reef.  Mr G are sailing there this winter.  I've scuba dived on it and stayed at the resorts.  Reef industries such as Tourism and Fishing alone are worth $5.4 Billion annually to the Australian economy and employs over 63,000 people in Queensland and around Australia.  Think how these important industries will shrink if the reef is damaged or destroyed.  

 

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most beautiful and eco-important places on earth.  

 

Greenpeace is international.  It does not get money from any corporation or government.  If you value the future find out how to help stop this planned rape of the Great Barrier Reef.  Have a look at this site generated by people like us - One Million Reasons to Save the Barrier Reef   

 

Now that we know what is planned it's important to do what we all can....people's demands can stop this happening.  Mr G and I will do what we can as well.

 



FLASHBACK FRIDAY - (sing a long) - "We are family, I've got all my sisters with me!"

Living life is fun and we've just begun
To get our share of the world's delights
(HIGH!) high hopes we have for the future
And our goal's in sight
(WE!) no we don't get depressed
Here's what we call our golden rule
Have faith in you and the things you do
You won't go wrong
This is our family Jewel
 

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev'rybody and sing!

Such are the lyrics to the great Sister Sledge song from the 70s...from early disco days with everyone in platform heels and bad hair (which rolled on and got even worse in the 80s - but that's another story and another decade). 

Looking back at that time its easy to think it was all fun and carefree - which life was most of the time - but there were bad times, challenges, bad relationships and generally living with very little as far as money goes.  But we did have each other. 

I've talked about how important women friends have been to me my whole existence and, certainly, they were even more important in my 20s.  My female friends weren't just friends in a lot of cases...we were SISTERS! ... and we did have a lot of faith in ourselves, the future and each other.  So, for today's FLASHBACK I thought I'd serve up a photo montage of some of my SISTERS!.



Me and Jae - Soul Sister #1! At the little apartment on Marlbrook in the early days. Jae always had plants all over the place and she even had a Terrarium (anyone remember them?). The plants are a bit sparse in this photo but eventually over the years they were really crammed in on the shelves.





Juanne and Jae with Quicksilver the dog - fantastic dog! - and a cat I'm not sure of. Juanne (my apologies if I'm spelling that wrong) was my first room mate - way before Jae. She and her boyfriend, Robert, lived in the apartment downstairs before Donna and Donna.



 



Marilyn.    I wish I had more photos of this woman. We met in College and she was one of the reasons I didn't make it through...she was a hard party person and we really partied hard together! In 1972 I went to Europe to hitchhike around with Marilyn and our friend Ellen. WOW/ We made history - at least to ourselves! That's how I met Mr G...when Marilyn, Ellen and me hitchhiked for 5 days from London to Inverness just to go to a special pub.

  

Lovely Donna D. Full of life and joy, sweet Donna lived downstairs from us at one point with the fabulously fun Donna B. Donna's room was right under mine in the house and she would often hear Jae and I coming home after a big night at The Club Three...laughing and talking way too loud. Even though there were two separate apartments in the house we pretty much lived like it was one house. Lots of fun. Lots of laughs. 



 

Donna B, Jae and Phyllis in our little living room. The very weird looking green curtain on the right was the doorway to Jae's room. We only had 3 doors in the whole apartment - Front door, Bathroom door and my Bedroom had a door. That was it. We were, as I've said, close....because we had to be!



 

And to end this montage of SISTERS! a picture of me and Jae and Glo in our element - at the time - at Phyllis' house in one of the many many get-to-gether/parties of the time.

We are family .... indeed!

Check out the camera in my hand - and the flash stick on top!  That was the latest thing at the time...the film (remember film? and getting it developed?) was in a cartridge.  New and happening.

A Weekend in Canberra - Australia's capital - Galleries and Good Friends

This past weekend was a success!  A good time away from home with a hefty mixture of art, history, wine drinking, food eating and very good friends.  I travelled with Mrs J to Canberra to visit our friend Leona and see the 'Toulouse-Lautrec - Paris & The Moulin Rouge' art exhibition at the National Gallery.  More on that in a bit AND what I consider to be the unexpected HIGHLIGHT of the trip - an art installation at the Gallery that will blow your mind!

First, some information about our nation's capital, Canberra, which to even the most cynical eye, should be striking.



The view across Lake Burley Griffin to the high court and the Portrait Gallery.

Canberra - some quick facts:-

• Originated from a Melbourne/Sydney rivalry so a site "half way" between was chosen.
• Located on the ancient lands of the Indigenous Ngunnawal people, Canberra’s name is thought to mean ‘meeting place’, derived from the Aboriginal word Kamberra.
• The area won selection by national ballot in 1908.
• Canberra was planned in 1912 by master designer, Walter Burley Griffin, a Chicago architect, who won an international design competition.

The city was designed as a seat of government but also as "a scenic standpoint, with a view to securing the picturesque, and with the object of beautification". 

However there's one more fact, less substantiated by history, Australian's seem to hate it...or at least they like to bag it at every chance.  Last week Canberra celebrated its first 100 years as a city and the national press was full of negative stories...it's boring, sterile, full of public servants, no soul, etc. etc. 

As a visitor I found it lovely.  The city is very scenic, the weather was beautiful, sunny and warm (except for Sunday morning) and the art installations fantastic. 

My friend, let's call her Mrs J since she's internet shy like Mr G, and I drove down (only took 3 hours) for the weekend.  Its a good drive with freeway all the way winding through a changing Aussie landscape.

Now keep in mind we were only going for Friday and Saturday night.  Here's what the luggage trolley at our hotel looked like on check in....



Weekend luggage overkill!

The blue esky (or cool chest) has the necessities of chilled champagne, wine and cheese for those in between times of catch up chats in the room and waiting for taxis ... of course!

Our first gallery was the National Portrait Gallery and their exhibition of Australian "First Ladies".   Most interesting was the time line of women's achievement in Australia since European settlement.  I encourage a look at the website, we found the exhibit terrific.  Australian First Ladies

After that it was back to the room to meet Leona, our friend currently living and working in Canberra, break open the first bottle of Champagne and plan our evening.  We had a good ole chat and decided we'd go to the Manuka area of town and find a restaurant for a 'not too serious' evening since Saturday was to be the BIG day.  Here we are at the restaurant "Me and Mrs Jones''.  The meal was good...the wine disappointing. 



Me, Mrs J, and Leona

The next day we had tickets booked for 11:00am at the National Gallery for 'Toulouse-Lautrec'.  But first Leona picked us up at the early hour of 8am and took us to the Saturday Farmer's Market.  FANTASTIC!  The markets we get in Sydney all too often are second level buyers in it for the business of retail trade, a little cynical, and clearly not the real deal.  This market had the REAL THING.  Farmers clearly proud of their produce, happy to chat, friendly and heaps of stalls with home made treats.  Wish I had taken my camera...we parked in a field and walked into a shed smelling of fresh meat, coffee and veggies.  Loved it. 

Fortified with home made croissants, pastry, juice and treats to take home we went back to Leona's house for more talking, laughs and tea with her lovely bright and sunny antique tea set.

On to the National Gallery.  The Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit was entertaining with over 110 works.  I had no idea he was such an accomplished artist with works that were as beautiful as any of the more well know impressionists.  Of course the stars of the exhibit were his posters from the period of his obsession with the underbelly of Paris.  It was too crowded but as we left we noticed the lines were all gone.  Mrs J said, "note to self, don't attend these things early in the morning again!".  Worth remembering!

Something that we found on our way out of the gallery - an art installation (because its HUGE) that is like nothing I've ever seen before.  We were all amazed.  Its called "Within and Without" 2010 by the American artist James Turrell.  This is worth a trip to Canberra!  Here's a link to the NGA page .. there's a short film which shows just how amazing this is.  Have a look ... NGA - James Turrell "Within and Without" 2010



Amazing large art installation at the front of the National Gallery.

By the time we finally left the gallery it was well after 2pm and we were starving...and dying for a glass or two of wine.  Well ... and this is the downside of Canberra ... there was no where that was still serving - ANYTHING!  One rather frustrated waiter who must have already turned away a dozen or so customers reminded us that in spite of Canberra being the capital its still a country town with a very small population.  Tired and disappointed we found a place that would toast a panni to take away and we went back to the room to drink wine and eat our take away.  One bottle of wine turned into another half at least followed by a quiet nana nap, with Leona on the couch & Mrs J and I in our rooms before dinner.   Very decadent.



Tired, thirsty and waiting for toasted panni.

Dinner that night was at a nice little wine bar preceded by more champagne as we got ready.  The food was good and the conversation even better.  We closed the place as the last - happy if not a little tipsy - customers. 



Benchmark Wine Bar after a nice meal, several lovely bottles of red and a few glasses of white.

Sunday morning was a bit slow in starting.  Leona took us to a lovely spot by the lake for brunch and then Mrs J and I hit the road back to Sydney.  Great weekend...Thanks Ladies!

FLASHBACK FRIDAY - Our Man Bruce

 

I wonder how many people are lucky enough to have a guy friend that can really really make you laugh out loud;  enjoy great music and know all about it;  travel with you;  teach you a lot of ways to say ‘dick’ (putz, smuck, etc);  be a great friend and generally fill the role of the best non-girlfriend  you’re ever likely to have!   I was/we were that lucky.   Along with Jae - my soul sister - and my high school buddy Phyllis we had - Our Man BRUCE!   Bruce was like a brother to Jae and Phyllis but he and I also shared a friendship with "benefits"! 

 

Bruce is unique...a one off.   I’ve never known anyone like him and, at this point, doubt that I ever will. He’s a special friend.

 

The ultimate WTF look!

 

Back in the 70s, when we were all inseparable, Bruce could be a man of many moods. Like this picture he could give you a searing, “get over yourself” look, or make the slightest expression change with his face and completely destroy any hope of being serious.

There were so many times when Jae and I lived together at Marlbrook that, because of something Bruce said or did, we were reduced to debilitating howls of laughter.  In fits of hysteria we would try to regain our composure by moving to separate rooms. Mind you, the little upstairs apartment was very tiny so any attempt to not look at each other was hijacked by hearing someone breaking up in another room.

 

Jae breaking up over something Bruce said or did!

Phyllis and Bruce clowning around.

 

Bruce loved reggae music. He lived in a small apartment in the basement of a house near us. I remember being in that apartment late into the night talking and listening to Bob Marley and the Wailers. The rooms were literally excavated out of the earth...some of the raw walls still visible...which gave the music an evocative REAL feel. He loved reggae so much he and Jae travelled to Jamaica once.

 

"Art" on the beach in Jamaica.

 

At one point in time I was seeing a bartender who worked at a gay drag bar called The Club Three. We all lived lives with much more “colour and variety” back then! My bartender boyfriend, Mike, would give me, Jae and Bruce free or discounted drinks on busy nights so we used to go there a lot. One night Jae and Bruce had been bickering ... they were like sister and brother with all the bad and good connotations that go along with that.    As the night wore on and we got drunker and drunker the bickering escalated into simmering anger. Bruce could drive Jae to that so easily.   I was at the bar talking to Mike and suddenly there was a commotion at our table.   Jae, in a fit of alcohol fuelled pique, stood up and pushed Bruce over the table! The drag queens loved it!   Mike quickly suggested I get both of them out of the bar before something more serious happened. Needless to say the anger blew over in a few days and the incident became just another one to laugh about together.

Bruce was always there for you as well.  When Phyllis' husband Jerry was killed he drove to be with her during the worst of it.  He's always been very kind and thoughtful.

 

In a way Bruce helped me to change my life by moving to Australia. We were in a bad car accident together and, from that, I got enough money to travel down under. The rest, as they say, is history. I married Mr G and we built our life together here. Bruce married and has a son. When I was in Atlanta last year Jae, her husband and I had dinner with Bruce and his wife. We hadn’t seen each other in many many years.   Jae and I were so excited about seeing Bruce again but, at the same time, we wondered if time had changed him.   I’m glad to say Bruce was still the same wonderful man! He and his wife came back to Jae’s house and we spent hours looking at photos and talking and laughing.

 

There are so many Bruce stories.....Our Man Bruce, like I said, is unique! 

Loving the Moulin Rouge PLUS Southern Belle on Display...again

Busy weekend ahead for both me and Mr G....but in very different ways.

I'm taking a break with girlfriends, leaving for Canberra tomorrow.  We plan to visit the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery.  I'm really looking forward to both. 

The Portrait Gallery has a terrific exhibit called "First Ladies - Significant Australian Women from 1913 to 2013".  They describe it as -

"First Ladies maps the milestones accomplished by Australian women across diverse fields of endeavour, from politics, activism and academia to sport, science and business, taking in household names as well as unsung heroines."

The portraits cover women who were significant in the suffragette movement in the early years of the 20th century right up to our first female Prime Minister and Australia's first female Nobel laureate.  The website is fascinating alone...and a good lesson in how far women have come in this country.  If you're interested have a browse through the website here ... Australian First Ladies 

 

After the Portrait Gallery we're seeing the Toulouse Lautrec Paris and The Moulin Rouge exhibit at the National Gallery.  I love the exuberance of Lautrec's art as well as his voyeuristic paintings of what was then called 'Houses of Tolerance'.  Below are some of his posters lifted from the National Gallery website (not very clear in the move over, sorry) ....another terrific site for information and a glimpse of some of the many works by Lautrec.  Here's the link ...  Toulouse Lautrec Paris & The Moulin Rouge

 

 

 

Mr G will be in his favourite place - aboard Southern Belle - at the Pittwater Sail Expo.  Our boat  builder is showing our beautiful boat there again this year.  Last year was a lot of fun.  If you're around Sydney this weekend go down and have a look at the boats and say hello to Mr G!  All the information is on their website.  Club Marine Pittwater Sail Expo

 

Whatever you're doing this weekend hope you have fun! 

 

Flashback Friday tomorrow!

 

 

 

Changing moods and pretty pictures

"Your hot then your cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out, you're up then you're down..."

Pretty much everyone would recognise those lyrics from the Katy Perry song, "Hot n' Cold", or from the opening of the Australian TV version of Masterchef.  I've been pretty much like that over the last couple of days.  The boat trip is weighing on my mind and I find myself thinking about it all the time. Sometimes good thoughts, "This is going to be a terrific trip!"; and sometimes not so good...

• "What if the weather is bad!"
• "Will Mr G be kind and understanding if I get scared (he isn't always)!"
• "Will Steph be OK in the house?"
• "Will Molly be OK and how can I manage to be away from my dog for 6 months!"

Stephanie used to tell me when we were training together and often discussing my changing moods - on everything - that I was, "Batshit crazy!".  Maybe so.  I have an awful tendency to think too much.

We were on the boat 5 days last week and, I have to say, it was a good break.  I was full of good thoughts and Mr G was sweet as he can be. 

Of course all that had to change with something unexpected and scary happening to bring me back down to earth on the way back to our mooring.  We were motoring along into about 16-18 knots of wind about to round into Pittwater when I heard a strange sound like a plastic bag rustling in the wind.  Mr G was in the galley making us a cup of tea and Miss Molly and I were in the cockpit...the boat was on autopilot.  Suddenly our roll up spinnaker unfurled and the ocean in front of us was blocked out with a mass of huge red sail!  The boat lurched sideways.  I jumped to the wheel, punched the autopilot button and steered us into the wind shouting at Mr G the "thing" (at the time I couldn't form the word spinnaker) was loose.  He came running up and ran out to the front of the boat to try and tame the runaway sail.  At first he was shouting for me to turn the boat away from the wind... which wasn't practical because the force of the wind could have blown the sail out.  So, we worked together.  Me keeping us into the wind as much as possible and him wedged on the bow trying to furl the sail on is mechanism.  All came good...as usual...but then the negative thoughts came about much more wind, night sailing, ships, etc, etc.  Batshit Crazy!

Anyway, as they say in showbiz, "it'll be alright on the night" or once we get out of town and DO IT.

Here's some more pretty pics from last week on the boat.

Retirement....Ok, I admit it, this is so much better than working!

We are on the boat for a few days.  I think it was all the talk about planning the trip in earnest that sparked a real need for a 'mini' break.  Right now we're in our fav spot of Refuge Bay.  There are hardly any other boats here and the waterfall has a lot of water running.  My dear friend Donna D. called this waterfall the Fountain of Youth!....cause its so COLD.

Shows how much rain we've had - Refuge Bay waterfall is running well.

Its a magic Autumn day...temperature is around 27C and there's a nice breeze.  We sailed down here under head sail in about 8-10 knots of wind which was just enough to move nicely with no stress.  As we sat down to lunch and a cold beer I had a thought about my past life and, if I was still in the rat race, what I would be doing today - meetings, emails, phone calls, stressing about something - and a great feeling of relief washed over me.  Today, more than any day so far, I admit that retirement is much better than working!  We are very blessed to have the opportunity to spend our days like this - Thank You Universe.

Because we've had so much rain the water is a dirty brown colour - the colour of strong tea.  As we sailed down to this bay we passed an area where the Hawkesbury River collides with the ocean at the beginning of Broken Bay. The tide was running in which created a spectacular sight.  Mr G tried to take a photo of it...this is the best the camera could do....

The river meets the ocean - brown tide the river...blue the incoming ocean.

The most exciting element of this trip is our new wi-fi modum!!  For the first time - EVER - I can access the internet from here.  Normally we are in a black spot the whole time we're in the national park. 

A couple of weeks ago Mr G and I attended a communications seminar as part of a Coral Coast 2013 program at the Alfreds Yacht Club.  In the course the instructor gave the suggestion that, instead of an expensive satellite system, you can purchase a $79.00 wi-fi modum from Telstra (the major Australian phone company), add a cheap antennae and you'll get internet access in remote places.  Sure enough, It WORKS!  Being without internet for days on end - for me - is like having an arm immobilised!  No email, no blogging, no weather reports, no newspaper!  I am so thrilled with this new gadget!

Molly and Mr G are now snoring in the v-berth enjoying their afternoon nap.  I think its time for me to join them. 

Miss Molly enjoying the breeze - waiting for nap time.

FEAR be Damned!

I will be the first to admit that I'm not a confident or relaxed sailor.   Being on the boat is a lovely experience for me while sailing in a calm 15-18 knots of wind, or at anchor in a lovely little bay with a cold glass of wine in my hand.  However, bouncing along with the wind screaming in the rigging balanced precariously on the boat's side is not my most favourite thing.

In fact, to Mr G's exasperation, this is often my expression while under way...

"You said do WHAT?"  Not a pretty look!

Lots of people - friends, boat builder, acquaintances & Mr G - have asked "WHY?" did you want to build the beautiful and BIG Southern Belle if you didn't want to go sailing?  My reasons were sound -I thought - at the time...

• Mr G is boat CRAZY.  Some kind of large boat ownership was/is inevitable while our marriage exists so I wanted to make sure I was on the best and safest boat we could afford.
• If I had to endure the scary bits, as well as the fun bits, of sailing I wanted as much comfort as possible.
• And finally, and probably the most compelling of my reasons, I wanted a boat that would have a good resell value for the day - way in the future - we will have to sell.

Southern Belle under way.

So now we have a beautiful sailing yacht that fulfils all those criteria.  And we have enjoyed countless days moored in lovely little bays.  But now, the grim reality of having such a seaworthy beauty is coming to haunt me.  I've delayed it as much as possible.  My protests no longer gain me any traction with family or friends.  I can avoid it no longer.  We are actually going on a long - I mean LONG - cruise out in the ocean and away from our - MY - home!

So I'm packing up my fear, locking it securely in an air tight container and storing it way back in the recesses of my mind with a warning its not to make an appearance again....unless absolutely required.

Planning and preparation starts in earnest this week.  We're about 7 - 8 weeks away from departure.  The trip should be - no WILL BE - a terrific experience!  We'll be travelling up the coast of Australia all the way to Cairns where the plan is to join a yacht rally going for 4 weeks out to the Louisiades Islands.  A chain of islands 100 nautical miles east of PNG.  I'm hoping our friend Catherine, from the Isle of Skye, will join us for this part of the adventure.  Miss Molly will stay at home - happily - while my friend Steph and her BF move in to be mom & dad during our cruise.

So, FEAR be DAMNED! I'm determined to do this and I'm going to enjoy it!  I keep picturing myself in this lagoon...again with a cold drink and a happy expression on my face (most of the time anyway).  I'll keep blogging about the cruise plan .. and during the trip... so stay with me (and encourage me). 

On Women - Friendship, Courage, Confidence, and a Mockery of Political Debate

 

When I was a little girl I had parents that were good people.  My mother was a deeply messed up religious nutter and my father was an amazingly loving and fair man  .. both from a rural Georgia Southern Baptist background.  They instilled in me, at every chance, the golden rule.  My mother's rule was, "God loves us so we must love everybody".  My Father's rule, "be respectful to everyone, even if you don't like them".   Even though I've left religion far behind I still believe strongly in The Golden Rule - treat others as you would like to be treated.

So, in writing this post, I want to document that I have great respect for men and like them a lot ....but I LOVE women.  I love their resilience, their drive and their ability to combine a myriad of roles and abilities while doing everything at much the same time.  I'm a fan.

This week brought a lot of issues around women, in general, home to me.   So, here they are...

Friendship
Last Tuesday I had dinner with my friends from past working days ... the Dream Team.  This group of talented women combine being wives, mothers and, in most cases, business professionals.  But just as importantly they are great friends.  There to share with each other the ups and downs of living life, raising kids, retiring, or starting new jobs.  The kind of friendship that's food for the soul.

And in my post Flashback Friday - the girls I remembered 2 of the women that were mainstays during my childhood and teenage years who, along with others + my sister & BFF - Jae, have defined friendship perfectly over many many years. Again, essential for the soul.

Courage
Friday night Mr G and I went to a yacht club cruising event and the guest speaker was Kay Cottee.

If you've never heard of her - or don't exactly remember the extent of her achievements here's a blurb from her book - "First Lady".  On June 5, 1988, Kay Cottee fulfilled a childhood dream.  After covering more than 22,000 nautical miles in 189 days at sea she became the first woman in history to complete a solo, nonstop and unassisted voyage around the world.

I had read her book years ago but didn't remember a lot of the detail about her achievement.  Hearing her talk about it really brought home just how absolutely courageous she was at the time.  There was no GPS or satellite navigation.  Well, there was one - ONE - satellite circling the earth at the time.  So she had to wait for it to complete its orbit before being able to use it.
No email then either.  She had to use a telex!   Kay spoke for about 45 minutes and gave us a short, but hair raising, account of the trials at sea she encountered.  Since then she has inspired other women to push the boundaries of what society thinks they can do...Jessica Watson - the 16 year old who did it herself in 2010- was/is a big fan.  As she was welcomed home at Darling Harbour and famously asked by a female journalist, "How does it feel to have conquered a man's world?"  Kay replied, "I was brought up believing there is no such thing as a man's world or a woman's world. It's everyone's world!'

I didn't know that Kay had a successful career as a fund raiser and served on many boards and is currently the Chairman of the National Maritime Museum.  Proof that women can and do achieve anything they set their mind to do!

Confidence
The Australian Bureau of Statistics and its latest Australian Social Trends report concluded this week that "some women don't have the confidence to become boss".  No kidding!  How many organisations create a culture encouraging and enabling women to progress through the ranks?  And, how often does the media portray female norms as face and body fashion mannequins?  Sarah Le Marquand writing for The Hoopla - Get back to the kitchen. - made the point ...

It might have gone unnoticed by the ABS staff who compiled the report, but factors such as a dire undersupply of affordable childcare, entrenched sexism in certain industries, continuing lack of workplace flexibility and archaic pre-selection practices in the major political parties play far more of a role in preserving the glass ceiling than individual personality traits.

There’s no denying the tendency for women to downplay their achievements and a reluctance to talk themselves up is a contributing factor in their failure to dominate the boardroom.

But these are factors overwhelming eclipsed by the practical concerns and genuine barriers women still face in the workplace. And no amount of glib platitudes about confidence will change that.

Here, here! 

Mockery of Political Debate
Ann Summers wrote another scathing article about the media's journalists, shock jocks and others who peddle rumours and negative assumptions about our Prime Minister, Julia Gilliard.  She says, "as a result, they feel no obligation to respect the person, let alone the office of Prime Minister, since in their minds she is already gone."

Under fire ... Julia Gillard. Photo: Mark Graham

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/pms-critics-make-a-mockery-of-political-debate-20130301-2fbi7.html#ixzz2MSBiaVlR

It seems there is no amount of vilification too good to spew at the PM.  There isn't one member of the media willing to write a headline or produce a story that doesn't have a negative bias. 

Which comes right back to the golden rule.

 

Really, is this what we want in our politics?  To not give a damn about the facts?  I give a damn and I don't see the opposition or the opposition leader offering anything but negativity and backward ideas.  Better to open our eyes between now and the election in September and demand the real facts and issues or be just as disillusioned all over again.

 

FLASHBACK FRIDAY - Strange and Wonderful Friends .. The Girls

Continuing the trip back in time to the halcyon days of the 70s ... here's a look at 2 of my loooong term friends and FUN women of that time.


Jae, me, Phyllis (fearless) and Glo

I love this picture.  These girls were so much a part of my life from a very early age.

Glo -short for Gloria - was my childhood best friend.  She lived across the street and her family was as different to mine as day is to night.  I was an only child with "older", very religious, parents.  We had a relatively quiet life.  Glo on the other hand had, what seemed like to me, herds of siblings....4 or 5 if I remember rightly.  Her house was always chaotic and loud. 

We were BFFs for sure.  Spending every weekend sleeping over, going to school together, riding our bikes and generally being kids.  Sleepovers used to drive my dad crazy....we would talk and giggle way into the night.  More than once he would threatened to, "break us up! Someone was sleeping on the couch!"  Unfulfilled threats.  He never did it and we never stopped giggling.  When I was just about to start high school my family moved but that didn't stop us being best friends.  We spent every weekend together.  When we were older - 16/17 - we started to go to a club just for teenagers called the Electric Eye.  Great place.  Black lights, psychedelic music and BOYS!  So much fun dancing and making out in the parking lot with that special guy (at least for that week) .. we had a blast.

Glo met her, at the time, love of her life there.  I remember at the local pool one afternoon, after she and David had been going 'steady' for months, she told me they had 'done it'!  I was so sheltered I drove her crazy for weeks wanting to find out every detail!  It took a lot longer for me to shake off my Christian roots and jump in - so to speak.

David was drafted not long after high school and sent to Viet Nam.  He didn't come back physically injured but he wasn't the same man afterwards.  They got married, bought a big red setter dog and moved into an apartment down the street from Jae and me.  It didn't last.  The war changed David too much.  Glo got a divorce and later married someone else and moved away from Atlanta.  I moved to the other side of the world and we lost touch....forever it seems.  I hope she's still happy.  I would so much love to see her again.

Glo, David and their big red dog.

I met Phyllis in high school.  I clearly remember being aware of her from the school girls lavatory.  She was always fussing with her hair and one day she just threw her brush across the room!  That enticed  me talk to her, "what's the matter?", and after that we became friends.  Phyllis was crazy about the Beatles and we would sit in her basement room and listen to them over and over and over again - blasting out through her little record player.  We both had fan posters all over our bedroom walls.  My Beatles posters, of course, held a second position to the Rolling Stones.  Mick Jagger always ruled my girlie fantasies!

We stayed good friends through the post high school years and then moved into our hippy like years together. I got drunk for the first time with Phyllis.  She had an older brother that bought a little bottle of rum for us...we drank it with coke in her room.  Yuck.  I remember singing and jumping on her bed and then puking my guts up for the rest of the night.  Haven't touched rum since.  I think I was with Phyllis when I first smoked pot as well!  Phyllis met Jae, they became good friends and eventually moved in to share the little Marlbrook 'castle'.



Fearless Phyllis



Phyllis earned the name 'Fearless' because she simply was unstoppable.  She had a wild brave streak that could be, at times, a bit scary.  But a lot of fun too.  Phyllis' fell in love with a great guy - Jerry.  He was the room mate of a boyfriend of mine.  They were a terrific couple.  And, of course, they moved in across the street from Jae and me on Marlbrook.

Lovely couple!

The day Phyllis and Jerry left for Detroit.....not a happy day.

 

Jerry was from Detroit and he and Phyllis moved up there to be closer to his family and find work.  Not long after they moved Jerry was killed in a horrible factory accident.  Jae and I flew up to Detroit to be with Phyllis and stayed with the family until the funeral.  God that was an awful time.  Phyllis married again much later .. he died too from MS.  For such an infectious and fun loving woman she's had a rough rough life.  I saw her late last year in Atlanta.  Right now she seems to have found solace in religion.  I sincerely hope she finds peace and love again very soon.

That's just two of the girls to women I've had the fortune to share my life with.  There are so many more great women I haven't even begun to mention yet!!!   And so many more stories! 

We had good and bad times together and it's fun looking back.  If we all had a crystal ball back then to tell us where we would be today and how we would change, grow up to be so much older and find personal growth plus happiness as well as suffer loss and hardship ....  Would we have changed a thing?  Maybe some things - certainly no one would have chosen to lose Jerry - other things...I think not.

More flashbacks next Friday.

A particularly ugly morning after.

The girls - and our friend Ellen - helping Phyllis move into her apartment across the street.

Jae, Jerry, me, Phyllis and our friend Amy in the little kitchette at Marlbrook.  Happy times.