Home

The day after the red moon, I flew to Queensland. The moon was actually pink in Brighton. Which was really rather lovely. Like looking through rose coloured glasses.

As we departed Tullamarine and climbed up up up, the moon was still very visible in the sky. 
Albeit no longer pink.

And what struck me was that it looked very very close. 

So if the moon looks very very close, and someone says 'I love you to the moon and back', does this mean you just love them a little bit?

If you love them - don't you just love them?  So many of us are separated by distance that sometimes just the knowledge of that love keeps us going.

And yet we move away from our friends and our families seeking something different in places once unfamiliar to us that sometimes eventually become 'home'.

And sometimes even then we keep on looking.

At the tail end of last year my family became the proud owners of yet another dog. Their 7th dog though only 4 are still with us. His name is Jed. Jed was discovered in the farm shed hovering near death after being attacked by dingoes, full of ticks and extremely malnourished.

They rushed him to a country vet. After weeks of care at the clinic and locating the owner who neither wanted Jed nor wanted the vets account - he was brought back to the Doggy Promised Land where he receives nothing but love, nourishment and care and he has friends to play with and room to run.
(though general opinion is that the rest of the canine posse feel he is slightly rambunctious and annoying).

But Jed seems to need more.

At Christmas Jed decided he needed a little holiday. And so he packed his collar and off he set.

Oh yes - many days and nights were spent fretting over little Jed.

Until he was found and brought 'home'.

At Easter Jed decided he needed another small break. 
And so off he and his collar set again! More days of fretting.
(I am currently checking the calendar for the next religious holiday)
But this time Jed found his own way 'home'. A little hungry but ready to play again. Collective groan from the posse I expect.

While I was in Queensland, aside from demanding my loving Mother make me copious amounts of tea - I caught up with lots of family and friends. And consumed loads of iron! 
I have been feeling very fatigued. The thyroid was ruled out. Drats. 
I could use losing a few kilos fast. But my iron and Vitamin D was extremely low. So along with boiling the kettle my loving Mother researched foods high in iron.

Oysters she cried! Extremely high in iron. Let's get some!
No can do Mumma I cried. 
Too high in zinc - the over active thyroids worst enemy. 
Drats. I do love a nice fat juicy oyster.
Red Meat. Done.
Red Meat. Done.
Red Meat. Getting very tired of red meat now.
Nuts. Done.
Eggs. Done.

Vitamin D - well that was easy. The water temperature was 24' and it was absolutely the most divine Easter weather I can remember.
Mornings were spent in the ocean. 
In that energising frothy thick salty living mass of water I always come alive. 
The water like the the sky is an adventure.
You always need to be aware of unpredictable changes. 

And yet in the water I am always 'home'.

There's been quite a bit of action in the Pineapple Shack since Easter. 
More action than I could ever have expected and certainly nothing I've ever experienced before!
A constant stream of blokes ringing my buzzer and knocking on my door. 


At all hours of the night.
I say! 
I had become a femme fatale without even trying.
It was all a bit odd. 
And then it all became a bit nerve wracking.
And then it became damn annoying.
And then I got very angry.
And then it became VERY scary.
I no longer wanted to come 'home'.

The new residents in the Grove appeared to be not as fine and upstanding as they perhaps should have been. Was I the only one noticing this? 

Granted, the action was on my floor - the top floor, and I do have a very fine view of the comings and goings up and down the runway.

But this was different. This was dodgy. It reeked of dodginess.

Visitors coming and going all hours of the night. 
I mean who has visitors come and stay for 2 minutes and leave. 
Over and over and over again. 
Like I said dodgy, dodgy, dodgy.
My little 'home' felt not quite as safe and comforting as it once had.
There was quite a few nights of tossing and turning. 
I don't think low iron was to blame for this fatigue.
Every noise - what was that?
I slept with one eye open and one ear on alert.
And what to do? I certainly didn't want to end up with a knife at my throat coming out of the lift one night. It was hard enough keeping poker face being IN the lift with the thugs. 
Thank God I had become a femme fatale.
Though by this stage it was the fatale bit I was freaking out about!


A few weeks back I flew up to Far North Queensland for a funeral.
My sister in laws Father passed away unexpectedly yet peacefully at 89 years old. Her Mum and Dad and she and my Mum and Brother and me had been a tight knit little group for many many years.
It was a poignantly sad day.
The morning of the funeral we went to the church for a meeting and a run through with the Priest. 28 years ago this same Priest married my brother and sister in law. It was a hot humid December day back then and the bridal 'party' was just that. We were young and enthusiastic. Father Peter was not so happy with us. He told us we must quieten down and be respectful - we were in God's House.

I had never forgotten this.
And so I said to my nephew - don't forget we are in God's house and we must be quiet and respectful.
After our little run through it was time to lock up the church for the morning.
Father Peter turned to Isaac and said, 'just slam that door shut will you please?'
It seems that God's House had mellowed into a 'Home' over the years and I couldn't help but have a chuckle when Isaac looked at me questioningly.

Andy's funeral was simple yet beautiful. It told the story of his brave and full life. A WWII veteran who had fought with the allies and walked the entire length of Italy two years after the conclusion of the war to reach 'home'. 








He then immigrated to Australia and eventually settled in FNQ as so many hundreds of Italian Immigrants did. Andy's wish was that his ashes be returned to Italy and so as he was driven away for a final time I tearfully bid him a viaggio sicuro. 
I dreamt of Andy a week or so back. He was in the Italian countryside. 
I was at peace that he had safely made it 'home'.




But back to the Pineapple Shack.

It wasn't getting any better. I asked some advice from my most lovely neighbour who also had seen what was going on. We started surveillance. And though we weren't very good at it we were entertaining to say the least. Number one rule of surveillance - if you are sitting on a balcony in the dark turn your phone onto silent! FFS!

Well - Crimestoppers, Police Cars, Sirens, Police Trucks, Drug Squads and Forensics later I think our slightly questionable surveillance has paid off. We beat the bad guys. And I am utterly certain our huge reward is in the mail. Ah....winter in Hawaii!
If nothing else I now have my own Detective on speed dial. 
Doesn't every femme fatale need their own detective on speed dial? 

Joking.





Andy and little Jed never got to meet each other.
But I think they would have gotten on.
Both with adventurous spirits.
And I can understand that. 

Andy wasn't really an Andy. 
He was Adriano. 
I've have had several Adrian's in my life - all of whom I have - to the moon and back dearly loved .. but he was Adriano Numero Uno and always will be.

I read a most interesting headstone recently.
As you do.
It said:

"It isn't the date on either end that counts but how they used their dash.
For the dash between the dates represents all the time they spent alive on earth. And only those who loved them know what that little line is worth".


Recently I have fallen in love with this song.
'Home' - by Gabrielle Aplin off her album' English Rain'.

It is just so beautiful and I encourage you to listen to it.


I'm a phoenix in the water
A fish that's learned to fly
And I've always been a daughter
But feathers are meant for the sky
So I'm wishing, wishing further
For the excitement to arrive
It's just I'd rather be causing the chaos
Than laying at the sharp end of this knife
With every small disaster
I'll let the waters still
Take me away to some place real
'Cause they say home is where your heart is set in stone
Is where you go when you're alone
Is where you go to rest your bones
It's not just where you lay your head
It's not just where you make your bed
As long as we're together, does it matter where we go?
Home

I'm pretty sure I have found my home - I'm just not there yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATzTsija1I4