We're In L.A.

May 1

We finally got the all clear to leave from the doctor at 4pm Monday afternoon. From then on it was rush, rush, rush! On Tuesday morning I threw all my clothes into my case and zipped it up. I was convinced that both our cases were overwieght, but when weighed at Albury we discovered we were both well under the limit. "Oh you're travelling light," the customs people said. Light! I'd hate to lift a heavy case!

No time for cuppas in Albury, we raced off to Sydney where chaos reigns supreme. After asking directions from several staff, we eventually found our way to the International Terminal. From then on it was an endless wait in a line for booking, an endless wait in line through customs, an endless wait in line... Yeah, you get the drift.

Our view from the plane.

The long wing of Flight UA840

 

When we got our boarding passes we discovered we weren't even sitting in the same sectin of the plane. Jeez! Thanks to a very nice young man who changed seats with Geoff, we finally got to sit together.

And sit we did... for nearly 3 hours.  3 hours!! Our plane couldn't take off without a new cargo door strap.

Eventually we lifted off.

A view of Sydney as we last saw it.

 Some iconic views of Sydney harbour as we flew over it and away from Australia at last.

 .

Evening over the

Pacific Ocean.

This is over Suva. We could see the islands clearly. But having already spent about 5 hours in the air, my sense of humour evaporated.

The flight was interminable. Unbearable. Excruciating. Indescribable. Why do people actually do this to themselves? Why subject themselves to this unique kind of torture?

The next day dawned eventually - or the same day dawned again. 







We finally caught a glimpse of mountains through the clouds.

My first glimpse of L.A. as we descended through the clouds.

L.A. International Airport - where the big jet engines roar... I was so happy to touch down I could have burst into song! 

Now there's a familiar sight!

  

Oh my God! I could have kissed the ground! Only there was no ground, just a very long walkway, around a corner, down some stairs and then a 2 hour wait to get through Immigration. 

We got through Immigration and Customs with no problems, then we had to wait outside for a transit bus. We were told the wrong information and waited for another 2 hours only to discover that we were waiting in the wrong spot. We could have been on our bus and at our hotel at least an hour or more earlier.

Grrrr! Humour evaporating again.

Add to that the enormous May Day protest about something which will forever remain a mystery to me even though I watched it on several TV channels, and it all added up to us not getting to our hotel until about 4pm.

The whole highlight of the day and the same day again, was that we rang Maia Berens and she and her husband, Bart, came to the hotel to meet us.

We went to a lovely little shopping centre to a health food smorgasbord type shop and selected ourselves a wonderful meal which we all sat and shared as we chatted and laughed.

After years of talking to Maia via Skype, Messenger and anything else that would work, it was wonderful to finally meet in person.

Before we met, we both thought we'd be awkward and not know what to say. No fear of that! I don't think either of us drew breath!

Geoff chatting with the Valet at our hotel.

Geoff, Maia and Bart walking in to buy some healthy take away food.

Our first real meal in America. It was really delicious too.

Geoff and Bart discuss the finer points of what really is where in Australia.

Maia and I chatting away as though we get together often.

It really felt like we were two old friends getting together after a long time away. 

Another of those, "Geoff, just take the bloody picture," moments.

 Bart, Maia and I in L.A.

Right now it is 8.37pm Tuesday evening here and 1.37am Wednesday morning at home. Geoff is already in bed fast asleep while I sit here and blog on. I'm not happy that the shuttle bus is picking us up at 6.45am tomorrow. Breakfast isn't until 7am here, so I guess we'll miss out on that. Jeeez!


Anyway, despite the insanely slow plane flight, the painfully slow waiting in lines, and the delays and mistakes, we've had a really exciting start to our trip.


 

 

Thunderheads & Angels

I really can't resist taking photos of clouds. This evening, I happened to look outside and see these wonderful thunderheads above the storm clouds. I didn't have my camera on me so I snapped a few shots with my phone's camera. What would I do without technology?

Thunderhead lit by the setting sun.

There's rain up there!

 While I was busy taking photos of the thunderheads, a spectacular cloud angel flew overhead. Wow!

 Spectacular Cloud Angel

Energy Orbs in a Storm

I watched the storm approach this evening and took some photos of the amazing colours.

 Storm Clouds

 Watching the Stormlight Change

Then we got caught out in the hay shed when the storm really hit. I took heaps of photos - trying to capture some shots of lightning. I didn't manage to get any lightning bolts, but I did capture heaps of energy orbs. It's so amazing that we were surrounded by them but couldn't see or feel them.

Trying to capture lightning, but caught all these energy orbs instead.

  

So many orbs surrounded us in the hay shed, but we couldn't see them.

I took a photo of Geoff, but I can hardly see him through all the orbs.

Playing in Albury Botanical Gardens

Apart from a few technical sound problems, our performance of Wind in the Willows at the Albury Botanical Gardens was a huge success. We're all hoping for the same response today - without the sound issues.

Director, Lorraine Monshing overseeing the initial set-up in this beautiful gardens.

 The Wild Wood gets set up.

Our  Wonderful  sound technicians proved they can overcome difficult conditions to ensure our audience can hear our show.

We musicians are set up under the lovely Ginko tree.

Even our backstage crew gets into the act.

On the way home, I was treated to this spectacular sunset.

  The sun sinks below the Warby Ranges as I continue along the freeway towards Wangaratta.

 

On With The Show

While all our guests entertained themselves and each other back at Glenloth, I was busy up at Mayday Hills with our first performance of Wind in the Willows.

It wasn't a bad day up there in the gardens, but as we started, it grew colder and colder. I'm not sure about the cast, but we musicians were popsicles. My flute was like a frozen rod of ice. At the very end of the show, I even lost the low notes because the lower end of the flute froze. Now that's cold!

But, as they say, the show must go on, and on it did go to a wonderful audience who loved every minute of it.

Ratty and Mole messing about on the river.

Ratty and mole have a picnic.

The Wild Wild Wood awaits.

My friend Phil Trevor-Hunt with the majestic Mr. Toad of Toad Hall.

For our second performance at Mayday Hills, we set up inside. It was even colder that day so we were all grateful for the warmth of the great indoors.





Our performances went really well and both audiences loved the show. Our next performance of Wind in the Willows is going to be at the Albury Botanical Gardens at the end of this week.

I'm looking forward to it. The weather is supposed to be warmer too, so let us all keep our fingers crossed for that!
 

Easter 2012 at Glenloth

Well, what can I say? Easter this year was pretty full-on. We had visitors camping on the river bank and loads of other friends and family popping in and out at various times.

 Utes, 4-wheel-drives and tents.
A very Australian camping scene.

 Some of our visitors setting up for their first night at Glenloth, in the paddock along the bank of the Ovens River.

With a generous campfire burning, what more could you ask?


Up near the house, we had our own campfire. Dueling campfires! Who had the best campfire this night?

Learning The Lessons Well

I re-learned an old lesson today. Perhaps I needed a reminder to keep my perspective of my tiny place within the grand scheme of All There Is.

A friend was supposed to come over this afternoon for afternoon tea. I arranged my whole day around this so I'd have time to just sit and chat. She didn't arrive. She didn't even send a message to say she wasn't coming. Eventually I sent a message to her to ask if she'd forgotten. She had. We'll meet in town tomorrow instead.

I felt a little let down. This friend has a habit of forgetting me. I wasn't surprised - given her track history, but it did illustrate to me that I should not expect consideration and reliability from other people when they have repeatedly shown that they do not hold these values as being important.

Of course, I have other friends who are very considerate when they are late or can't come, and that reminds me that there are qualities about my friends and myself that I hold highly.

So why do I still persevere with this friend? Because, basically she's a nice person, and because she teaches me a lot about friendship and a lot about myself. These lessons often come with a sting, but that sting reminds me that I have a gentle, caring nature and I should be aware of how I feel when rejected or forgotten, and not become something I'm not.

What I mean is: just because my friend is inconsiderate, I am not to feel or react in the same way out of a sense of wounded ego. I do not retaliate with sharp words or do the same thing to her to "teach her a lesson". I know my friend is like this and I have accepted her as she is. Unconditional love is the lesson.

Today I learned that unconditional love is not always easy, but it brings a wonderful inner peace and acceptance along with it.

The other lesson I was reminded of today is that although I am an important part of my own day, I am not important to others. I have my place in the grand scheme of life, but I am not important to anyone but myself and those whose lives I am supposed to have an impact upon.

Sometimes friends have their minds on many other things that are important to them. This is as it should be. I am not important to everybody all the time. Nor is anyone else important to me all the time. Making time for each other and being able to get together is a blessing. It is not something to be expected and demanded. If other things have to be done during our day, then we do them in the time we are supposed to do them. Then, if there is a time we're free of other obligations, we can enjoy each others company. A blessing indeed.

I thank God and the Universe for my wonderful lessons today. I feel at peace and whole because of them.

Love and Light!

Change

Change

I’ve been thinking about change lately and how I deal with it. It’s strange how “change” has become a regular part of my life.

I thought back to my childhood, to a time when I thought change was rare. I tended to believe that things would always go on the way they were. For example: each year I thought summer would last forever, that my friends would be with me forever, that we’d always live where we lived.

That didn’t happen, of course. Summer always turned to autumn, my friends moved away and we shifted to a new house on the other side of town. To a child with no control over life, any kind of change was devastating. I’d cry and grieve for months. I never wanted anything to change, and of course everything did. I couldn’t handle it at all.

I was still a bit like that as an adult. I’d cling to what was comfortable and familiar – even if it was bad. I feared change so much that I’d stay within whatever boundaries I’d set for myself. Like a man clinging to his sinking boat, I would not let go of the rail. No, I’d sit on the bottom of the ocean with the vessel that was familiar, and mourn the loss of the sunlight on the surface.

This new entity that is me, has transformed. Change flows through me and around me all the time. It has become the one constant in my life. My life is not chaotic, though. Far from it. Having embraced change, I have a new sense of inner peace. Change itself has become familiar. Dealing with it has become natural.

It’s an acceptance from within. I have learned that nothing stays the same and I have learned to embrace that fact.

Change can be a challenge, but it also brings new possibilities. All this has come from a change of perspective, a decision to look at life a different way. Instead of change being the big black monster that could take my life away, it has become the wind that stirs the imagination, the current that carries me from one learning experience to another.

Through all this I have learnt a very valuable lesson: the more things change around me, the more I am myself.

Profound Thoughts

Profound Thoughts

for a Wednesday Morning

I was just thinking about the time before I was born into this lifetime and wondering what sort of conversations I had with those souls around me when I asked them to play certain roles in this coming life in order help me learn the lessons I needed to learn from physically living this life.

The veil of forgetfulness that covers our past lives and our spiritual lives does not lift just because you're aware that it is there. It is there for a good reason - so we can make the most of our physical lives and learn all that we can from each life we lead.

So...thinking back to that time before I'd finally made the decision to actually live this life physically, I wonder how I asked someone to play the role of my psychopathic adopted mother?

If you think about this for a moment in terms of actors playing a part, not just anyone can play a twisted role like that. It is highly specialized. If you want an example of great psychopathic acting, look at Heath Ledger as the Joker. Yikes!

Seriously, though, for a soul to inhabit an entire physical lifetime in which they are trapped inside a psychopathic mind - it's a big ask. It would take a very strong, very loving and giving soul to put themselves into such a position just to teach a few other souls a lesson they needed.

This puts me in awe of the role my adopted mother played in my life. I'm not sure I'd be strong enough to agree to spend almost 100 years trapped in a physical body with a demented mind. It's almost unthinkable to me. That's a huge sacrifice. A huge gift.

The lessons I learnt were unique. I know there are many people like me who grew up with one or both parents as psychopaths. You can't help but learn from that. You learn from it and grow strong, or you are broken by it. I wonder how many people are broken by it?

Now that I have released my adopted mother from the need to play the role of the psychopath to my victim role, I wonder if that is why dementia is setting in on her so swiftly? When I come to think of it, at the time of my absolute acceptance of her role and my forgiveness of her as a person, dementia began to creep in to her daily life in very noticeable ways. Is the physical energy of a lifetime of twisted thinking and constant planning of nastiness too much to bear when her time for playing that role is over?

If that is the case, then the more advanced her dementia becomes, the more of a blessing for her it will be.

Looking back on my life in this way puts a whole new perspective on it. I can't help but be humbled by the sacrifices and roles different people have played for me to reach a certain level of enlightenment in this lifetime. Yes, I know it would be a lot more complicated than that. They would also be learning lessons for themselves as well as teaching lessons to others. But just to think about something like that... Awesome!

The love these souls must have for me and others around them to agree to make such a sacrifice...! It's unfathomable, but totally awesome!

That's what my life has been so far - insignificant and ordinary, but awesome! I can't wait to see what the next phase of my life will bring. Or... as I should say: I can't wait to bring the next phase of my life into being.

Yeah! Now that's awesome!

Goodbye Rambo

I said goodbye to my dear old cat friend, Rambo on December 13 at 2.45pm. He was very old physically - a good 21 years that we knew of, possibly ten more - and has slowly been declining over the last couple of weeks.

Every morning I've been expecting to find him curled up somewhere having died in his sleep. Rambo wasn't suffering, he was just old and tired. His body was wearing out. He lost a lot of weight and was just a skeleton with fur for the last few days.

So how did I know it was time to call the vet?

I knew. He told me. We didn't need words. I knew today that he was ready to leave this life. I didn't want his last moments to be a painful struggle, so I called the vet. I wish it didn't have to be so.

Rambo left this life the way he lived it - with quiet dignity, on his own terms, in his own time, with love in his heart and me by his side.

I'm sure going to miss my big purry furry tiger-eyes boy. I'm so proud to have been his friend.

I have peace in my mind and soul, but my heart is aching. I know his gentle old spirit and mine will meet again, but until then I can't help but grieve for the loss of my little friend.