It's Official

"Are you here to be branded?" the Mayor asked one of the guests as we entered the shire boardroom. That particular man wasn't, but we were.



First though, the flag had to be located and then displayed. If you look behind Sarabelle you will see it draped over the white board and secured with brightly colored magnets.

After we spoke the affirmation and received our certificates and a specially minted commemorative coin, the national anthem was played on a small boom box. Unfortunately for the people in the room who were not standing within one meter of the equipment like we were, you couldn't hear it. But it was played. Then we were offered tea, coffee, and muffins...



... and headed home as brand new, freshly minted Aussies.




From this time forward,
I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people,
Whose democratic beliefs I share,
Whose rights and liberties I respect,
And whose laws I will uphold and obey.

-- Australian Citizenship Affirmation

Twos-day

Two dogs, two birthdays, two years old.

Two metabolisms: One gets the high fat puppy chow, the other gets the "lite and mature" diet.



Why I don't ever get to sleep in:




We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment.

-- George Eliot

Show Me Yours the Money

Wow, little old Mossman, our quaint, quiet country cane town gets some international attention.

This place is a stone's throw from the grocery store and the high school. I was always tempted to pop into the office and see who the proprietors were; see if I could recognize them in town with their clothes on. Now I won't have to. The funny thing is, we spent a couple days at this resort seven years ago with Jorge's mother during their clothing-mandatory off-season. We had no idea until much later that part of the year it operated as a nudist resort and got odd looks from locals when we mentioned our stay there.


True it is that covetousness is rich, modesty starves.

-- John Milton