From our house to yours...

...Merry Christmas Beetles!


"Bah," said Scrooge. "Humbug!"

-- Charles Dickens

YOP!

We are here, we are here!

Made it back relatively unscathed. An early morning flight plus twenty straight hours of on-demand movies and food, and arriving at your destination on the evening of the same calendar day you left equals no jet lag. The dogs made it into Fort Lauderdale two days after us and after visting Gabby (my mother-in-law, who is doing exceptionally well) we headed over to our house on the west coast. Still waiting for the miscellaneous furnishings and the Landcruiser to arrive, but if it all happens to fall off the ship and never gets here, really, I'm okay with that. Doing my best, which is admittedly not much more than hibernating, to get through Christmas.

We're all missing our friends down under. Facebook and Skype help.

Jorge, the girls, and I buzzed out to the island Sunday with the dogs and some friends who dropped by. It was a delightful couple of hours and I'm looking forward to spending many more days out there once the holiday obligations are over and done with.














In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer.

-- Albert Camus

Ta.

I first saw this video when we stepped onboard a Qantas flight about nine years ago headed back to Florida after deciding Australia was where we wanted to live. It was playing in the background as we streamed into the cabin and settled into our seats. It made me all teary.

It still does.

I'll be wearing my sunglasses on the plane in the morning. Just in case.




I've been to cities that never close down,
From New York to Rome and old London town,
But no matter how far or how wide I roam,
I still call Australia home.

I'm always traveIing, I love being free,
And so I keep leaving the sun and the sea,
But my heart lies waiting over the foam,
I still call Australia home.

All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world,
Away from their family and friends,
But as the world gets older and colder,
It's good to know where your journey ends.

Someday we'll all be together once more,
When all of the ships come back to the shore,
I’ll realise something I've always known,
I still call Australia home.

-- Peter Allen

Countdown

Yesterday was one of the worst birthdays ever. Besides being stress-filled with movers and cleaners vying for my attention and uncooperative, desperately sad children, we said goodbye to most of our friends. There was no cake. There was sobbing.

Tonight though, our vegetarian friend whose house we are staying at, cooked us a wonderful dinner and dessert, finally emptying his fridge of the detestable but delicious steak he had tucked in there, and took the edge off a long day fraught with numerous last-minute details.

Tomorrow, Cairns.


Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.

-- Tennessee Williams

Soon

Not quite done packing, though with the movers coming tomorrow I'd better get on it, don't you think? I've only given myself about a month to pack, and every day of the month I accomplished some small packing-related task, but the truth is I work better with a real tight deadline. I've still got one whole day (minus the time to complete one hundred or so other errands), so no worries, she'll be right. Friday and Saturday night we are staying at a friend's house so I can get the place here cleaned up. Sunday the girls and I will take the dogs down to Cairns to prepare them for their trip and we will overnight in town. Our friend will be driving down sometime Sunday with the balance of our luggage. Then early Monday morning we're off.

Here are a few things, besides all the people you've seen in previous photos, that I will miss, in no particular order:

The best yoghurt we've ever tasted.

Angela and Fraser's Sugarworks, and especially Angela. The best mocha (pronounced by locals variously MOE ka, MOCK a, and even MOE cha) and friendliest service in the region. Check out the gallery for our buddy Grub.

The views from my kitchen...





...and bedroom/livingroom windows...





...the architecture...



...and letting the kids go wild. This was last Saturday when a bunch of them floated down Bushy Creek from Churchill...





...to Verri's...



...A three hour trip with no adult supervision.

And these guys, our friends and neighbors, the ones who pointed us in this lovely direction and found our first rental house for us, and their heavenly fresh squeezed juices at the Port Douglas Markets.



Ah well, back to packing, I suppose.


“Don't be dismayed at goodbyes, a farewell is necessary before you can meet again and meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.

-- Richard Bach