Background: Oldest dairy in Western Australia.
Foreground: Youngest beard in Western Australia.
Gelotology – the study of laughter
Today I discovered that I am just as skilled at laughing as I am at crying, so I googled ‘laughing’ and found another new word!
Today I told Anthony that I had rung the taxi company to get the money back for the unnecessary second trip yesterday and we would be reimbursed, but all he could say was, “I didn’t like the way that taxi driver put his arm around you.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
Today I wrote a blogpost about being nagged by Ming, our 18-year-old son and the first thing he said when he got home from music school was, “What’s this dirt on the carpet? You came inside with your boots on didn’t you.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
Today, one of our roosters, Tina Turner, who has taken over the whole chook harem, attacked me more viciously than ever before when I went to feed the hens. He drew blood! Well, I kicked him in self-defense and he somersaulted in the air. I couldn’t stop laughing (it’s okay, he is fine as you can see – he loves to dance on that table!)
Today I rang the guy who has repaired our nearly dead ute (truck) and explained why we still hadn’t picked it up and he started singing a refrain from that song ‘Julie, Julie, Julie, do you love me?’
I couldn’t stop laughing!
The stolen gramophone
For some reason, I have woken up in the middle of the night for the last few nights, boiling with anger against the person who stole Anthony’s portable gramophone.
I’m not sure why I am now so angry when the disappearence of the gramophone happened nearly two years ago.
Anthony, toddler Ming and I bought this gramophone from an antique dealer years ago and it is one of the many things that has enlivened our lives, and entertained visitors over and over and over again. It came with lots of old records and we used to bring it out to the front veranda and entertain people.
But, one day, it disappeared.
I vividly remember us showing it to one of the numerous agency employees who would come once a fortnight to either clean or cook or keep Ants company while I was at work and Ming was at school. Well, she absolutely loved that gramophone and wanted one just like it.
One day, I had to take Ants to the doctor’s and, as it never occurred to me not to trust this agency employee, I just told her not to bother locking the house as we would be back soon. She then told me it was her last day of working for the agency because she was resigning, so I just gave her a bit of a hug and said thank you.
And we never saw that gramophone again.
I have decided to find another one soon so that I can take it into the nursing lodge.
Pathetic poetry
Today is in the dustpan
except for what we planned.
The visitors brought some sweet delights
and I stopped Godfrey’s angry bites
The taxi driver picked Ants up.
but saw my tears and asked ‘what’s up?’
I told him of our history
and he extended his hand towards me.
The days are getting bittersweet
and breathing sometimes seems a feat.
The happy cancels out the sad,
the sadness cancels out the glad.
If I were to go way back in time
I’d find a more specific rhyme.
My heart is torn away from me
and I just want to be left to be….
a bee
on a flower
in the sunshine
or else a perfect syllable.
It’s nearly spring!
Yesterday I posted a photo of our male white peacock’s budding relationship with one of our two white female peahens. Here are three more pictures of the same scene. Aren’t they beautiful?
Ages ago, the other white peahen formed a relationship with one of the colorful peacocks. What amazes me about the peafowl is the delicacy with which they approach each other – so different from the loud and very public ‘frolicking’ of the geese, ducks and, now that I have allowed the roosters to meet the hens, those guys too!
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I am stuck at home today because Centrelink (Australian social security organization) have booked me for a telephone appointment in order to put me on something called ‘Newstart’ (not this isn’t a drug!) while I look for a job now that I have had to resign from the university. They were supposed to have rung nearly and hour ago so I am beginning to get annoyed. Ming also has a phone appointment at 2pm to discuss what benefits he may be entitled to. I have been in and out of Centrelink since late last year when it became obvious that Anthony would have to be temporarily ‘placed’ in care on a trial basis so that I could go to Perth to be with Ming during his spinal surgery. Since then I have been somewhat remiss in providing information this organization has asked for so have done so in a haphazard way in between having several nervous breakdowny episodes, you know, getting down in the dumps!
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Yesterday I had the best visit to Anthony’s nursing lodge ever. Instead of sitting in his room to sort out the Golden Valley photos, we sat in the dining room with the big box of photos and, surrounded by nurses and carers going to and fro, we managed to find several more photos of Golden Valley from Anthony’s childhood time there, including of trees he himself planted.
During our treasure hunting I found a couple of photos of Ants as a young man and showed some of the staff and there was a lot of laughing and banter because he was posing rather arrogantly in just short shorts with his muscles flexing and looked a hell of a lot like Ming does now. The couple of hours I was there broke the ice as I have, so far, been quite nervous of the staff and almost sychophantically grateful. I am rather loud and laughy and Ants and I are in an unusual category in the sense that most of the people in his ward are either alone or have spouses who are also quite old.
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I am so proud of Ming. He has taken over in a way and is just like Ants. Ming has arranged for the termite people to do their thing (long overdue); cleaned out the garage of all the junk that Ants, being a hoarder, wouldn’t do and, in collaboration, we have had the nearly 30-year-old BMW serviced and ready to drive and now fixed up the nearly dead ute. We are getting some long overdue stuff done and it is such a great feeling! It makes me want to kiss the breeze.
Oh my goodness – I actually rang a blogger!
She was going to ring me, then I was going to ring her, then we both emailed each other about feeling nervous about the telephone, then we exchanged phone numbers, then we figured out the time difference between our two different countries, then she tried to ring me but she couldn’t get through, then I arranged to ring her and chickened out, then today, at noon, when it was her midnight but I could see she was still online, I did it!
I picked up the telephone to dial with my hands shaking a bit because she and I have not only become blogging buddies but have also exchanged some emails about our situations (she and I both have people we love who have Parkinson’s disease – her mother and my husband). Also I am a little phone phobic – not sure why.
Well, what a conversation! She sounded so comfortably cosy and made me laugh my head off. And her incredible accent – it was so, well, it was so different. Her voice was lower than I expected because, knowing she is tiny, I thought she’d have a higher voice. And she had such a wonderful smiling sort of voice despite what she is going through with her mother.
After the conversation I sat there stunned for a little while and then I actually had to go and have a little nap even though it’s the middle of the day! I think it was the shock of actually speaking to someone whose blog I read every day – almost like discovering that Santa Claus is real!
Yeeha!
This and that
Yesterday the ute (truck) died and today it had to be towed into town to a place where they specialize in vehicle resuscitation.
Before Ming had his spinal operation he liked dancing on the roof. He is not allowed to do this anymore.
Today’s photo journey with Ants may not happen until late, maybe even tomorrow, because we have to wait to hear from the vehicle resuscitation people first. I spoke to Anthony on the phone and he was okay about this except for a new melancholic voice thing he has recently acquired.
I have acquired a new pragmatic voice thing and told him to stuff it up his jumper (it’s okay, we both laughed).
The pest control people are coming tomorrow morning to inspect our white ant (termite) problem and eradicate it and then charge us a small fortune that I will pay happily but begrudgingly. I did ask them if they could do it for free but they said no.
We now have more wild rabbits here that I have even seen – whole families of rabbits EVERYWHERE. Yes, they are cute, but they are also digging up the foundations of all of the buildings and I have noticed that the house is tilting a bit (kidding!) I am once again considering the gun option.
Thanks to Tootlepedal’s blog, I have become more interested in flowers and am planning my sunflower garden. I figure if I plant zillions then the birds can have some and we can have some. I am very excited about this idea but haven’t put it into action yet.
Ming has begun volunteering one morning a week at Djidi djidi Aboriginal school and he loves it. http://www.deewr.gov.au/Indigenous/Schooling/Documents/CaseStudyDjidiDjidiAboriginalSchool.pdf
I am going to buy some hedgeclippers tomorrow to prune the roses before my gardening friend comes over on Friday because I want to impress her.
The new chooks are laying copious amounts of eggs and so is Tapper, our female duck, so I am trying new egg recipes (in my mind I mean – I haven’t done them yet).
Ming has written two beautiful songs for his Certificate 4 in music. He is also trying to grow a beard.
The beautiful people at the university’s computer department have put all of my writings onto a thumb drive for me and tomorrow I get my final pay check.
There seems to be some reluctance from the nursing lodge to employ me and I am still waiting for this verdict.
I found four beautiful things to post to Nia who gave me the beautiful cushion/pillow cushions.
Ming wants to be a dairy farmer like Anthony and I am thrilled. He works for our neighbours on a part-time basis and loves it!
The little girl who has had nearly two years of battling cancer is home again, thank God.
Our friend who was in the car accident three weeks ago is gradually recovering, thank God.
I am learning, via the blogs I read, that every single moment is a gift.
An old box of old photos
This is really exciting!
A little town down south of here is on the brink of celebrating the existence of the place where Anthony grew up.
Long story short: I’ve been asked to find old photos of this beautiful place which is now a tree park.
I am taking the box of old photos into the nursing lodge tomorrow to see what Anthony can remember – and I already know he will remember everything.
And the committee women who are organizing the event are coming up to visit Anthony next week. I told them that he planted some of these trees as a boy.
This is so exciting!
Haikuishness
Son haiku
You’re a total brat,
but you have your angel side.
I love you too much.
Unreliability haiku
I didn’t turn up.
“And why am I not surprised?”
my friend says to me.
Hearty haiku
Edges of my heart
are broken, frayed and scabby
I don’t pick the scabs.
Joyful haiku
I watch all the birds,
and the rain blurs my vision,
but they fly freely.
Flower haiku
The roses suffer.
The camellias grow huge.
I want sunflowers.
Friendship haiku
I am a good friend
to those who forgive me all.
Those people have wings.
Blogging haiku
The blog world is weird
and magically scented.
Unexpected bliss.
Husband haiku
You were once my world
and now this world has collapsed.
Parkinson’s disease.
jmgoyder 