An Uneventful Sunday Outing & Monday Birthday Ruminations

Yesterday (Sunday), we drove up to Pine Creek (just 5 k past the turn-off to Umbrawarra Gorge where we had our little adventure the previous Sunday). J's car had been towed from the gorge and repaired in Pine Creek.

We stopped in Mayse's (Deli? Cafe?) for mango smoothies, advertised on a sandwich board out front. I was charmed even before entering by the community bulletin board on the deeply shaded verandah and the plant-laden balconies of the rooms above. As Justin, J, and I enjoyed the smoothies (which were really good, although perhaps a bit more like milkshakes than like healthy fruit beverages), we had plenty of time to look around at the interior.

The booths had great 1950s-ish stylized soda glasses inlaid in their sides, and much of the walls were covered with framed photos of film idols of the black-and-white days (I'm not much up on those film stars so I couldn't say if they were from the 1930s, '40s or '50s or a mix). In a glass-fronted shadow box was the actual white shirt worn by Leonardo whatsisface in the Titanic.

Thus far I am describing a bit of a retro American diner or soda shop and I do think that was the decor goal. However, as we sat in our booth, we were also looking straight at an Aboriginal-style dot painting. On a table in the front window were a great mix of Aboriginal-style art and artifacts (didgeridoos, boomerangs) as well as jokey tourist stuff like little wooden signposts that said "Pine Creek A very long way from here" or something like that and postcards and a book about stuff to do on the Stuart Highway.

So if the American film idols along with the indigenous-style art and the other tourist stuff were not already enough for you, there was also another unrelated category of things for sale. Unpainted wood craft items like birdhouses and stools were available, along with a wide array of acrylic crafter paints with which to decorate them.

There were also some random oddities on display like a framed and matted US$5 bill (remember, that's the one with Lincoln) which was--according to what was written on the matting--given to them by the grandson of John Wilkes Booth who hails from Arizona.

Anyway, it was all weird enough that I quite liked it and I was almost tempted to buy the autographed biography of Mayse herself, long time publican and resident of Pine Creek. Justin got that quintessential Aussie road food, a meat pie, as we left.

On our way back from Pine Creek we stopped at Edith Falls for a swim and a bit of a picnic. It was lovely and refreshing and easily accessible.

Unfortunately, I forgot the camera for this whole outing, so there are no pix of any of it. You'll just have to use your imagination!

We got home and discovered that M had made me a birthday cake for today. She also bought 35 birthday candles, but realized that it was unrealistic to try to fit so many candles on the one cake.

This was the first birthday I remember really feeling a bit blue about, but I'm already feeling better about it. I just remembered that there was a time in our human history when this (35) was about life expectancy, so I'm feeling a sort of thrill of survival, like, "Hey, I made it!"