My 5-year-old started school this week. It’s a bittersweet day for parents! The toddler pictured here is my firstborn, who’s now 7 years old. Below is a poem I wrote on his first day of school (as I bawled my eyes out) two years ago. * dummy = pacifier, nappy = diaper, cot = crib …
A while back, I learnt all about grief. I understood that grief is an ongoing cycle rather than a straight line with a neatly tied up end point. Armed with that knowledge, I felt empowered. It lessened the guilt and confusion I’d been experiencing about not “getting over it” as soon as I’d expected. But …
I found this moth sitting on our door last week. At first I thought it was a leaf. On closer inspection I noticed the “leaf” had legs. What great camouflage! From a hungry bird’s perspective: almost impossible to distinguish between this insect and the gum leaves in surrounding trees and garden beds. This got me …
I saw this print displayed on the wall at Questacon, a science museum in Canberra, last week. Isn’t this Tokay gecko’s eye just spectacular? I find it fascinating that a small creature’s eye can remind me of scenes I’ve observed through airplane windows. An interesting thing to google is NASA’s satellite photo of Siberia’s Lena …
I took this photo in Germany, 2000, at Heidelberg Castle. We don’t have castles in Australia, so I was like a kid at Christmas whenever I saw one during my travels! Many European cities still boast enormous stone ramparts — remnants of centuries past, when city walls were used as a defense against invading armies. …
I took this photo on New Year’s Eve, just after the fireworks ended. Kids were running all over the place, hyped up on the adrenaline of a later-than-usual night. They were waving sparklers and glow sticks around in an almost-frenzied, tribal sort of way. I’ve been experimenting with photography, as a hobby, for many years. …
I spotted this empty cicada skin last week, during a brief stroll. We used to climb trees and collect them as kids. Fun memories! What a curious creature the cicada is! It starts off as a wingless, rice-shaped insect that burrows under the ground and remains there for somewhere between two and 17 years — …
Our kids are camping in the back yard for the next few nights, as there aren’t enough beds to accommodate everybody inside the house (no room for them at the inn – how apt 😆). The kids are absolutely loving this sleeping arrangement; it’s an adventure for them! Recently, we enjoyed meeting a young boy …
I blinked vacantly at my feet. My breathing was finally back to its usual predictable in-and-out rhythm. Wiping my wet eyes with the heels of my hands, I wondered if I’d be able to face walking back into church — the sermon had probably begun by now and I didn’t want people to see I’d …
Christmas is something I really look forward to these days, but it wasn’t always that way. For many years I felt a sense of dread and despair whenever I even thought about family occasions like Christmas Day. If Christmas is a joyful time for you, that’s wonderful! I’m sharing the poem, below, to give you …