something else

Well my Birthday came along and I decided that I couldn't stay home looking at the garden and remembering Chris and feeling sad. So I asked John if he would come along and spend the weekend taking the train down to Warrnambool, then stay at a hotel for the night on Saturday. I had purchased tickets to the Leonard Cohen concert way back in February and Karen & I went to that after work on Friday. What a great concert, I didn't get home until 1.30, and off course took until 2 to get to bed. Than we had to get up at 5.30 to catch the train! Off we went, with our suitcases in the rain at 6.30am. John kept pretending he was hitch-hiking and giving me the giggles. The trip down was lovely, I slept a little and did some work on the business plan I have to present to the Board. John didn't bring a jumper as he wants to get a new one and he thought he might be able to get a suitable one in Warrnambool, but of course all the shops in W, only had new summer stock, even though the...

This photo tells why it is so long since I last wrote. The photo was taken on the occasion of a party held at my place for the combined celebrations of my 53rd, and my Mother's 87th birthdays. It was a few days after the mad purchasing of the Peugeot. A happy time. This photo shows L -R, myself 5th out of 7 siblings, Chris, the eldest sibling of our 7, Gill, 2nd eldest, William, the 6th, our mother, Betty Chapman, Sally (Sarah) the 3rd sibling, Andrew the 4th. Our youngest sister Gerry, the 7th sibling chooses to absent herself from family gatherings. The reason this photo is important to me is because it is the last `whole' photo, in my records, the last happy one. Now the photo marks a milestone along the grieving path. Chris died on April 6th, 2010. Like many families death snuck up. We knew Chris was struggling with his health, and as a family we were both frustrated and concerned. I had turfed him out of my place earlier in the year when I found his need for care was more...

I've been waiting since my lovely red Peugeot was written off on July 9, to get my new car. First I had to wait for the insurance assessors to declare it a write off, then wait to see how much would be paid out, then wait to pay off the interest to the financiers, the wait to negotiate a new finance deal and arrange everything. The broker found me a car in NSW for a VERY good price, the only problem was, they couldn't deliver it fast enough. So finally in desperation, I decided to fly up to Sydney on my birthday & drive the car home. I asked John to come with me and share the driving..... and here's how the day went! When we got on the plane, he was asking me if I knew how to voice record on the phone, so I showed him! D'uoh! As we arrived into Sydney the Pilot came on the loudspeaker and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain speaking. Just as we taxi to the terminal I'd like to take this opportunity to wish Catherine Stephensen a Happy Birthday. Cather...

This post was first written in September 2009, when I was struggling with my role and still suffering from a toxic workplace. I began to question whether I could be happy workign for a `boss', rather than being self-employed, and I began to ask myself what it was that would keep me interested in working. This week it has been Brisbane again. I arrived on Saturday to a temperature of 29 deg, with 30 on the Sunday and 35 on the Monday. Brisbane at it's late winter best (or so a southerner would think). The locals were not appreciative of it, though. Grumbling that it was way too hot for winter. I was dreading working in a Fabrication workshop for the week, thinking that I would be sweaty and hot all week in the mandatory High Vis long trousers and long sleeved shirt, but I found the workshops modern with high ceilings and good ventilation, so that the heat was negligible and with air conditioned offices to retreat to, the work was pleasant. I'm working my way through lots of...

Artificial warmth smothers the fog of rain outside, grey. We're all grey too, Melbourne winter fashion fills the train. There's layers and layers of grey from charcoal to pearl with black over and a coloured bag or scarf here and there. Today is not a grey mood though. I'm light-hearted not quite skipping but OK. The train jams full at each station more grey piles in, shaking drops and puddling footprints. Train hum and tinny beats coming from ipods, conversations, book readers, newspapers. This is definitely NOT a train to take the bike on. I have favourite passages on my commuter train journey. Williamstown Racecourse. Once it was a swamp, probably a good dry season tucker gathering place, open to the sea in between low coastal scrub. Then they built a racecourse, ran a train line out from the busy port town and put a station there. Had a grandiose Victorian grandstand complete with Phoenix canariensis, the`Federation Palm', that bio maps the growth of Melbou...

In Townsville again this week It's still a beautiful city, but too hot, even at this time of year. Tropical queen of the alternate lifestyle, her harbour packed with yachts, streets full of backpackers, riverbanks and rivermouth speckled with men in old shorts, tattered shirts, thongs and straw hats, with fishing gear and time to talk. Walking at night, parkies drift across her open spaces, they don't flit, they dr_if_t in pairs and clusters, all motion designed to save energy, no threat to anyone. I walk busily stretching knees and tendons, Flinders St East - West? Whatever. Scene of my despair. Town to hate, Town to love, too many demons for me, too many memories.