Out of step

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We arrived into Tullamarine airport on Wednesday a little behind schedule, that moment was a taste of what was to come. Over the next three days it was as if synchronicity had flown out of the window. We were totally in tune with each other but not with Melbourne. On our own time continuum we enjoyed a memorable anniversary with laughter along the way.

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Today the sky cleared, we walked along St. Kilda Road to the beach.

Water

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The metre of this poem is sadly affected by Chablis, Minervois and Amaro
A water rabbit,
A water tiger,
Go to lunch in rain,
To the Point Restaurant,
Albert Park, Melbourne,
By car not by train.
Sit next to a lake,
White truffle offered,
This time too sublime.
Food wine and service
Totally divine.
Overall we had
Thoroughly great time;
Followed by bubbles
In spa bath growing.

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First of Summer

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While growing up in ’60 s and ’70’s Summer in England was this esoteric amorphous entity, I cannot pin point when it started. Perhaps it relied on nature’s direction; March winds and April showers brought forth May flowers.
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Antipodean Summers are different they start on 1 December. Over the time we have lived here some years on the dot of 1/12 the temperature has soared to a point that when you subject yourself to the elements, your body is enveloped in a cocoon of moist warmth.
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Not so in 2013 with a top of 23oC it is too cool to go for a dip in the pool.
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Stan is happy, his shaggy coat grows by the second.
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I hope that you enjoy the pictures I took during his walk around Lewisham and Marrickville.
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Stan

Camp Cove

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Camp Cove looking west towards the City of Sydney.

The following is credited to Robin Derricourt, ‘Camp Cove’, Dictionary of Sydney, 2008, http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/entry/camp_cove, viewed 26 November 2013

Camp Cove is important to the history of European settlement in Australia as the probable site of the first landfall in Sydney harbour. On 21 January 1788 Captain Phillip sailed from Botany Bay to explore the potential of Port Jackson. The exploration was described by Jacob Nagle in his journal. After the expedition had sailed around the north side of Port Jackson he noted:

It coming on dark, we landed on a beach on the south side and there pitched our tents for the night. This was called Camp Cove. The marines were put on their posts. The sailors were variously employed, some kindling fires and some shooting the seine for fish, others getting out utensils for cooking. By the time we got our suppers, was late in the night, and by four in the morning we had everything in the boats again.

The story of the camp, giving its origin to the name Camp Cove, sounds realistic and is taken to imply the first landfall by Europeans within Port Jackson. With arrival in the dark and departure before dawn, there would have been no opportunity to explore the hinterland. As Camp Cove had a freshwater spring behind the beach, it proved a suitable place for a night’s camp. The next day, Nagle fished while Phillip and his party went ashore at what was to be named Sydney Cove.

Reference:
Dictionary of Sydney

Magical moment

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On the cool side of the house
Set in shaded red brick wall,
Leaded window latched open.
The frame’s edges softened by
Layer on layer of paint.
Antique glass distorts the view,
Hostas nod gently beneath.
Heavenly smells escape as
Freshly baked bread and pastries
Sit cooling upon the sill.

What do you do?

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A colleague asked me a question yesterday, “what takes up most of your time each day at work?” Simple enough to answer you might think, apparently not, it took me a minute or two to think of anything other than answering emails and talking to people.

Eventually descriptors began to populate my thoughts: monitoring, analysing, reporting, organising, leading, creating, thinking, managing, negotiating.

I wonder if this reticence is due to being a quiet achiever who prefers to see others in the limelight or an incapacity to think and draw a conclusion quickly? I do seem to spend a lot of time cogitating.

According to my Realise2 Development report working on one of my unrealised strengths, “planful” – taking a deliberate and systematic approach to what I do may help me to come to a decision quicker.

Realise2