I've spent the last week since my road trip ended back at the cafe with my beautiful friends. I'm learning how to be humble and not so over-confident about things. It's a wonderful feeling to be in an environment where I don't have to have all the answers and where I can be supported in learning and growth. I hope this is something I can remember and bring into my teaching, so children feel safe to experience a learning process with the guidance of someone they trust. Truly feeling the opportunities to try, relishing in the process of mistakes and learning. This community is so focused on loving relationships and living from the heart that the environment created really allows for that in being supportive, understanding, forgiving and humble. But most people out in the world are not that way..unfortunately. It's been fascinating because this experience allows me to learn how to trust others and be vulnerable in my relationships to create stronger heart connections. I somehow sense that if I take these ways out in the real world I would be run over! I know though, that as I learn to let down my walls and open my heart to let people in, I am gaining such valuable tools for having stronger relationships with people I should come to trust and love unconditionally. It is wonderful to allow myself to be so raw and real as I really come to listen to my heart.
I also feel I'm growing a lot spiritually. I've found myself feeling much more grounded though my writing and meditation. It's beautiful to know I don't need to have such big expectations for myself but can allow myself the time to learn and grow through my own process of discovery and practice. I was meant to do a retreat in January, but because of Australia's LAME Internet, there was some miscommunication and I won't be attending. It wasn't meant to be I suppose. That's been a wonderful mantra to come back to, Que Sera, Sera. Purely allowing what will happen to be as it is and having acceptance for it. It's amazingly comforting to understand that I don't need to be in control.
Harry picked me up from the house in Katoomba the other day while the sisters and I were enjoying a quiet sabbath lunch inside. The rest of the community had taken the children out for a walk. We were all excited about getting ready for Woodford next week! Good to say goodbye and know I'll see them all again soon! The drive out to the farm was hot and sticky! The further we drove the hotter it became. We stopped along the way to buy some cherries -just to find out no one in the Elder family even likes cherries!! I'm slowly getting through them but they're so ripe it's urgent! Maybe I'll dry them! We've been doing lots of dehydrating with fruit from the farm. I picked two buckets of apricots from their tree, after doing quite the dance with the fruit fly net. While I was harvesting I heard and then spotted a very fat blue tongue dragging himself along after a feast on apricots, I'm sure, trying to find the way out of the fence. He was cute but I kept my distance. He flicked his tongue ferociously at me even though he's harmless. I had to stop picking because I was too hot but there were lots left on the tree. It's such a good crop this year compared with the twelve pieces of fruit they rescued last year from the bugs. We've been snacking on fresh and dried apricots and Kerry made a pie for Christmas lunch!
Jon took me for a little drive around the farm when he went to turn on his irrigation pumps to water the cotton. It's so strange to see field of stunningly green cotton plants covering the paddocks instead of the dry brown and white I knew from before! Many things about the farm are quite different in the summer actually and it's a fun contrast to experience! Jon had to drive another vehicle back and he let me drive the ute. He was impressed that I'd been driving on the highway in other people's manual cars all over Australia! He's a good teacher, apparently. When Jock heard I was driving he climbed down from the bed of the ute and hopped into the cab with a seatbelt, just to be safe. The ride was quite smooth thank you very much. On the way around one bend there was a gorgeous black snake. He didn't seem at all intimidated by the giant machine rolling his way. Most of the animals out here seem pretty tame. It's like they have a personal wildlife safari! Even Rupee, the joey Jon and Karin raised, still seems quite friendly. He looks like the teenager he is, long and lanky, growing into his beautiful adult face. It was sweet to see Karin go up and hold his little paws and scratch his neck as he stood there calmly in front of her.
The wildlife out on the farm is truly amazing. It's so humbling to be in such a big space shared with so many other creatures as well as being surrounded by gorgeous landscape! We went out searching with the binoculars in Karin's car for the brolgas, which are stork-like birds with red heads. There were plenty of birds around but before we found the ones we were searching for the car got bogged in the mud! Karin had to walk back in the ridiculous heat to get Jon to come tow us out. Jock, Harry and I wandered around the paddock and irrigation ditches looking at creatures like carp. Apparently Jock and Jon found the birds later on but the camera battery was flat- sure it was...
Jon has two beehives he cares for, one here and one on his up and coming farm down the road. They were choc-a-block full of honey (do we say choc-full in the states? I'm getting confused.) Jock (who wore socks on his hands because Jon forgot the harvesting gloves from his bee suit) gave me a piece of honeycomb off the top that was just dripping with oozy honey and I nearly choked because it was so thick and sweet! Amazing critters, those bees. On Christmas Eve morning Jon let me help strain and jar the honey they'd collected. Then we had a honey taste testing with the 3 honeys from their latest harvests, a honey from a friend's harvest and a commercial honey. Jon's honeys won by far and it was fascinating to taste all the different ones; thick and creamy, fruity, candied and chewy and one that tasted "just the way honey should," as Jock and I agreed. It's beautiful to see the bees at work as well, their little legs carrying sacks of pollen. I've walked past a couple trees on the property and am absolutely amazed at the incredible sound of buzzing that vibrates through the air! Yay for bees and their.. vomit!
Kerry makes beautiful chai lattes and she and I have enjoyed a couple in cooler parts of the days. On Christmas Eve we had an amazing thunder storm and even though the lightening scares Kerry she sat outside in the back with me. Her garden is gorgeously green and full of bees, butterflies and beetles busy at work. I was in heaven enjoying the smell of the damp earth, the cool, heavy raindrops falling on my hot skin, and immense booming thundering overhead! Bliss. There have been a couple amazing thunderstorms out here, but mostly it's been ridiculously hot. At Christmas lunch everyone was in shorts and so very cas. as Australia is. It's so, so, so bizarre to have it be so hot and un-Christmassy while my family is back home in snow storms. It was fun to Skype with them wearing their winter hats enjoying each others company in the cozy living room, complete with Christmas decor. I enjoyed decorating Kerry and Rock's tree but it was strange to be putting up someone else's ornaments. Despite all things strange, Christmas was so lovely. The tree was happy, I decorated the table with Aussie flora, everyone contributed a dish and we enjoyed endless conversation at the table after stuffing ourselves with yummy Christmas lunch and dessert. It was lovely to sit and chat about things like world history and fun but naughty childhood memories, children's books and favorite teachers, farm life and the wonderful food. Amazing how the holiday has a childlike essence to it. Kerry got a new bike (which was presented as a wrapped bike seat-unrecognizable to her) and she became like a child riding off on it calling, "I'll be home (to cook) dinner!" Then, "c'mon Harry!" the two of them heading off, so cute. Oh to be four again.
I felt most childlike, small and full of excitement about the world in the evenings with Jock and his telescope! It's unbelievably exciting to think about the vastness of the universe. The sun, an average star, being 4 light minutes away and all the other stars being Hundreds(!) of light YEARS away! We looked at the moon and Jupiter and lots of constellations, nebulas and star clusters. It's super fun to find things in the telescope you know are out there but can't be seen with the naked eye! The weather was being quite fickle but we did get one really clear, though extremely bright (as the moon is nearly full) night and stayed out til 11 star gazing. The first night we went out not only were there awesome stars to look at, the sunset was glorious and there was a lightening storm on the opposite horizon! Big sky country is truly an incredible place to experience the weather, the nature of the earth and the universe! My only complaint is the mossies! I can't describe appropriately how maddening the bites are as they heal!!! Waking up at 4am in a scratching frenzy and wishing to be in a straight-jacket is no fun thing. Apparently there are many cures for the itching..I'd rather be immune!!
Today is boxing day and everyone is relaxing at home. There hasn't been much boxing up of things, mostly just eating left overs! We did fill another two buckets with apricots from the tree and plan to start drying them later on. Right now I'm making a cherry and apple roll up and resting in the sunshiney lounge room. I've finished my knitting project and might go out and take pictures a bit later on. We'll go have dinner with some friends and then I leave tomorrow for Woodford! The adventure continues! I hope everyone had a very happy holiday!
Cheers!
6 white boomers..popular Aussie Christmas song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FdVXca9hys&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Thanks Hannah! Merry (late) Christmas to you too. ;~)
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