Prepared for rain
So I went for a walk and it rained. Hard. Yes, I had consulted the meteorological radar on my handy phone app before I left and I was prepared. But without my nifty folding umbrella that expands generously to dimensions suitable…
As dearly loved children
Have you ever read something you’ve read many times before and suddenly seen it in a way you never have before? It happened to me the other day when I was searching for Ephesians 5:2 in my old 1984 NIV Bible.…
The ‘M’ word and the art of not coughing
Waiting room. The wall-mounted TV is turned up loud, so it’s hard to focus on why I am here waiting in line to be served. The woman behind the counter asks me to come forward and I give her the referral…
Knitting without a pattern
Perched on high stools and wrangling Vietnamese rolls with dipping bowls of inky soy sauce, scattering sesame seeds with every bite, my friend and I share life over lunch. It’s precarious, unpredictable and messy but satisfying somehow. As we talk about…
Blood red
She arrived at my front door yesterday, unexpected, carrying a bucket. It was her last errand before leaving town for a family holiday—delivering a fragrant gift of thanks, roses from her carefully tended garden, Mister Lincoln, no less. It’s the scent…
Of grief and the snow gum
Winter. The aching cold creeps into my bones and stays. Like an unwelcome house guest, it distracts and drains me, apparently undeterred by my efforts to evict it. Outside, driving winds come in powerful waves, their icy blast arriving unhindered, direct…
Slowing down for the pageant
Late autumn. A reason to slow down. Aromatic leathery eucalyptus leaves fall year round where I live, but they have company now—showy pay-attention company. Standing up amid an imposing array of angophoras, Sydney blue gums, blackbutts, turpentines and Queensland brush box…
An ode to sourdough and hammocks, but mostly to friends
As so often happens when I go to the local shopping centre, I got sidetracked. Last week I was hovering hopefully near the baker’s shelves—shelves of crusty sourdough, yeasty baps and fruity scones—wondering what to get, when instead I found a…
