Friday Ruminations

Some mornings when I wake up here, I am immediately reminded of childhood summers at my grandparents' house in Santa Ana, Orange County, California. Something about the quality of light, the warmth maybe, but especially the sound of mourning doves coming through the window (the sound comes through the window, not the doves).

This morning I went for a bike ride along the river, which is up quite a bit from the heavy rains last night. As I approached the bike trail, I could see a couple groups of Aboriginal people who seemed to be camping on the sidewalk, in one case perhaps preparing breakfast, as I could see smoke rising. This area of the trail is just between Corroboree Hostel, an Aboriginal hostel, and the river. I don't know whether people had stayed out here all night or whether they just didn't like the cooking facilities at the hostel.

The sounds along the river were mostly of insects and birds, many of which seem really squawky. At one point I stopped and tried to get pictures of a whole bossy mob of rainbow lorikeets, but they were backlit against the bright sky, and they kept flying away. ('Mob'--by the way--is used for all kinds of groups--people and animals. It could be your "crowd" or your family or people from the same area as you. It could be a group of people who work together, especially if seen somewhere else, I think. As in, "I saw the Language Centre mob at Digger's Den last night.")

This afternoon as I write this, I'm sitting at our table in a tanktop and shorts, the two ceiling fans turning lazily above me (the higher setting drives me crazy, ruffling my thoughts, and sending papers flapping). The sun is bright outside and just starting to come through the front window and onto the tile floor. A neighbor's radio has just played "Let's Get Physical" by Olivia Newton-John (remember, she's Australian), followed by "I Love Rock-n-Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (c'mon, when was the last time you heard either of those?! ).

I'll leave you with that image as I go slather on sunscreen before I venture down to the post office (it is now 4:00 and officially past the peak times of day for UV danger).