Living in Peace Now

Eleven years ago I was seven months pregnant. I went to work (just behind the Flatiron Building in Manhattan) early because the number 6 train from the Upper East Side was so crowded later in the morning, I could not get in it. I picked up a small cup of coffee and a sugar-glazed donut from the cart on Fifth Avenue and 22nd Street. The friendly Afghani man who owned the cart knew me and my breakfast preference. He wished me a nice day and I went up into my building. I started to work around 8, but didn’t get much done because soon the phone started ringing. First it was a colleague who saw a plane hit one of the two towers and was too distraught to come into the office. She went home, but I comforted her by saying that I was sure it had been just a terrible accident. I denied anything wrong until another colleague rang to say that a commercial plane hit the second tower. I started to hear words like war, terrorists, fear and death. They were repeated so many times in the following years! I lost my peace of mind and hoped my baby girl would come out and live in peaceful times, hearing just about peace, love and courage. We do live in a peaceful place now here in Australia, and today’s picture certainly illustrates this, but I miss New York with its energy, character and style. Like most people, I do hope war and terrorism will end one day, when it will be no different living anywhere in this world, because it would all be just peaceful.

Cape Otway Lightstation (and Some Smiles)

Today’s post was really not meant to be about this lighthouse, which of course, since I am in Oz, I will call it lightstation, like the locals. My post is about finally seeing some people, who after more than a year of brushing shoulders with me in the hallway at work, started to respond to my smile and greeting. They ignored me and in general they ignore everyone with whom they don’t work directly. We pass each other all the time, we use the same toilet, and we take the same elevator (lift!). They avoid looking at me, making me feel like I am riding the New York subway again. Finally yesterday, I broke a conversation with two of them, they smiled and even held the door for me to pass. I saw some “light” and this made me feel like what I assume were the immigrants coming to Australia and seeing the Cape Otway lightstation after months at sea… The hope! Cape Otway Lightstation is indeed beautiful and I only saw it during the day. The light has been in uninterrupted operation atop the towering sea cliffs since 1848. I believe that lit on the night sky, the white station has a magical effect on those coming from the sea. And I must add here that it’s not any sea area. I am talking about the rough sea of the Bass Strait, where the furious waters of the Southern Ocean collide between Tasmania and Australia. I will tell you later in another post about the many shipwrecks that make the history of the South parts of Australia. The lightstation is on The Great Ocean Road, West of Melbourne.

First Days of Spring

Early spring time in Melbourne is full of confusing factors. There are sudden changes in temperature, and by that I don’t mean the usual variation between night and day temperatures, but significant variation from one day to the next. There are also sudden changes in winds, which then create stronger (gale-force) winds, and although I haven’t heard of tornadoes, I am sure the massive wind gusts of over 120 km/h would qualify as linear tornadoes. Last week the wind redesigned my garden and I dare say the entire property, as the fence in front and behind the house (yes, it’s old!) was split in pieces and fell down like a baseless Lego piece. And then there is the fog, which I call a confusing factor because if I didn’t drive and could follow the road, it’s so milky that I’d get lost in no time. This entire atmosphere reminds me clearly of the time I looked into a water pool on the side of the ocean in Lakes Entrance. I saw what you can peek at in today’s picture, a regular but confusing network of long algae that would confuse any small creature with its repetitive pattern and obstructing filaments. Well, I just hope spring will install itself calmly very soon…

Rainforests of Australia

Some things you don’t do until very late in life… I haven’t ridden a bicycle, walked through a rainforest and written a blog until I moved to Australia. I can add a few more things to this list, but I’d rather share with you my impression of the rainforests today. They abound in Australia, where they can be seen in many coastal areas from the South-East to the North-East, where rain is very generous. Besides the many types of trees, including oak, gum, and palm trees, there are ferns, and innumerable kinds of plants. But the multitude of greens is enhanced by the bright, humid mosses covering the trunk of most trees, the entire forest explodes into a rainbow with the blue, red and yellow fruit and the colorful fungi. Fungi in all shapes (cup, stick, umbrella, etc) and shades of beige, yellow, brown, or red ornate trees from the root to the crown, lying down dead or poking through the canopy with life. My picture captures just a small group of mushrooms clinging onto a live tree. Some of these fungi are luminescent and can be seen glowing in the dark, but most are poisonous. The rainforests also are never quiet during the day. I sometimes stop, close my eyes and listen to the mixing of sounds from water dripping and birds chirping. With little light penetrating to the bottom of the rainforest, the air is full of humidity and mystery, inviting one to visit again and again.

No worries!

(Note: I forgot to post this yesterday! Sorry to those who looked for my daily post) “No worries” is used by Aussies like "no problem!" in the US. However, I found a fundamental difference between the two sayings. I wonder what you think... I “reckon” that the meaning of "No problem" refers directly to the source. It lets you know that whatever you did was not an issue. On the other hand, "no worries" has to do with the effect or the impact of the problem. In other words, yes, it was a problem, but don't worry about it, "she'll be right!" Did I just say that??? Maybe, I am also becoming Aussie, but I think "no worries" marries into the "she'll be right" attitude of "I cannot be bothered, it will turn out fine!" Now about today's picture, what could I post for such a subject? I came up with the photo of a group of fruit bats or flying foxes that are hanging in a tree in the Northern Territory. I am not sure if they think this, but to me they definitely exhibit a "no worries" attitude!

(Dunny)

Just a quick post today, as the subject is not so hot: dunny is Aussie slang for outside toilet. I have never seen one in the US between 1992 and 2009, but as in countryside Romania, the dunny is still being used in remote places in Oz. I even found out from some friends that in the eighties, houses in Melbourne’s suburbs commonly had dunnies. The difference is that in Romania people dig a very very deep whole and don’t have a tank, just do their business in the whole. They do throw disinfectants though, which makes the stench get a hospital-like flavour, but in Oz, dunnies consist in a tank that is replaced and disposed of somewhere else. The job must be unpleasant, but the dunny’s hygiene is probably better. Done! More attractive post subject tomorrow. I confess the dunny in the picture is actually from Romania…

She'll be right!

It’s incredible how many hits one gets if they Google this phrase! The reason for this “popularity” is that Aussies use it and believe in it. Therefore, it characterizes their attitudes and gives the extreme laid-back flavour to the land Down Under. The actual meaning is “No worries, all will be fine in the end!” Indeed, when there is a problem, one would worry and want to solve it immediately, but here the attitude is a lot more mellow and people really “take it easy.” They think the problem will be solved anyway in the end, so why rush to solve it? I am not sure if this “insular” attitude is related to the fact that Australia is an island isolated from the rest of the world. And it is true that most disasters don’t reach this island, making people truly believe “she’ll be right.” Look at the world financial crisis of 2008. Not even that ever arrived in this remote place. From the smallest trouble to the biggest, “she’ll be right.” I find the phrase also derogatory towards women; see the use of “she” not “he,” as if any hardship or common nuisance is feminine. We went the other day for a walk in Wattle Park and Tiziano, who loves all bugs, opened a nest of leaves trying to figure out if it was the amazing construction of ants or spiders. As you see in the picture, it was a spider mother who was just trying to protect her brood. When we realized what we did, we felt sorry, but it was a sunny and really warm day, so I said “she’ll be right,” thinking that the spiderlings will not need protection for much longer and will be fine in the wide world after we opened their nest. I am not sure I was right, but my defaulting into the Aussie attitude scared me a little bit…