Daytime TV in Australia is quite depressing as it is peppered with adverts reminding you to book your funeral. I don’t really watch ‘daytime’ as such, more the morning chat show but I am concerned suddenly with all these reminders. Then last night as I was preparing dinner I put on the ipod and all this music I hadn’t listened to for ages had me just about in tears. John Denver songs I played when I was pregnant with Gerry, old country stuff I heard when I was a student working the summers in Kintail, most of the folk there now dead, and of course Leonard Cohen with all the angst that he brings back. Oh well, you can’t have ups without the downs. And the mind makes hell of heaven and heaven of hell, so there we go. Onwards and upwards.

Yesterday I went for a walk alongside the beach as I do every afternoon and as I passed an elderly man putting away his mobile I heard him say, ‘3.37’ so I quipped, ‘and all is well!’ and he stopped me and told me he had just had a bypass and this was his first time out of the hospital. He just felt like a walk, and that was the nurse ringing up to check on him….and yes, it was 3.37 and all was well! I walk past all these people, and each has his own little drama going on. I just march, hoping to see some dolphins or a friendly face.

We went to Adelaide Art Gallery on Saturday. I was amazed at the collection and it felt wonderful being amongst so many ‘old friends’. There was a room dedicated to 16 and 17^th Century Italian Art, and other stuff related to the courses I did for my OU degree…memories of the trips to Antwerp and Venice, Rome and Florence…magical days. Paintings and music seem to trigger the memory and then it all floods back. Just a pity all the learning doesn’t…I can’t remember anything factual, let alone write an essay.  Ah well.

We regained our strength with a light lunch!!!

And staggered off to the Zoo where we met up with all our Australian buddies ie the koala, Tasmanian devil, wombats and kangaroos which was nice, but the highlight for me was the meerkats and the pandas.

The meerkats were just the funniest little creatures, and I had never seen a live one before. They obviously appointed one little guy as the official look-out while the rest all partied around the enclosure. This look-out spent the whole time alert, thinking the giraffes might invade at any minute. To be honest I don’t think the giraffes could have cared less. He should have been more worried about me, I was just desperate to steal one of the gang…I imagine it would provide endless fun and amusement!

The pandas were cute, just being pandas. As were all the other creatures….nice Zoo and for once all the animals were alert…even the Taipan snake (most poisonous ever) was moving about for the world to see, instead of being comatose as they usually are.

Climbed up to Mount Lofty and Mount Barker on Sunday. Nice views and nice to exchange the sea side scenery for the lovely lush hinterland. Look at this maple, it’s like the ‘burning bush’.

All for now. Going to make some pumpkin soup.