Post #151 Friday 22 January 2021 – Harold

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Friday 22 January 2021

sunset swan

A few people have asked about the swans, so this is an update on that important situation 🙂 You see here the last remaining swan. At first one adult and three fledglings disappeared. They were spotted on a large billabong about 15 minutes drive from here. For quite a while one of the adults remained with the two smaller offspring. Then it appeared there was only one gosling left and the adult seemed to come and go intermittently. Now we have only the one young swan left. He seems to have befriended the resident ducks and coots and grebes and is hanging around with them when I see him, which is most days I am here. I was given a kayak for Christmas and often paddle on the water now. At first he could not fly to escape approaching boats, he would just do an ungainly running and flapping thing without effective lift off. It became apparent he has some kind of lameness in one of his feet so he can’t get the power to propel himself in the same way as the other swans. In recent times he has managed to get aloft, though he stays to about 5 metres above the water, no higher. I called this last swan Harold after the poem Child Harold by Lord Byron (who was himself lame).

Just confirming friends that I am in Sydney next week. I am so incredibly grateful we have not experienced covid the way so many places have. Also I do have some time still available later on Wednesday 27 January 2021.

xx MG

Post #150 Thursday 7 January 2021 – New Year

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Thursday 7 January 2021

Dear friends, Thanks so much for the lovely gifts and the good wishes over Christmas New Year.
It’s been beautiful here in the country with waves of different coloured wildflowers from one week to the next, following on from so much rain. I’ve never seen it so lovely.
A close relative died before Christmas and it’s been a very sad time. Even when you have known someone is dying for a long time there seems to be no accounting for the level of emotion when that time actually arrives. Also some family members are more evolved than others and each can be playing out their own unresolved drama so right at a time that sensitivity would be the right thing, there isn’t any. I have to say I’ve found it all very difficult and it’s taking me a while to recover.
My plan has been to visit for the short week after Australia day, which would be Wednesday 27 January to Sunday 31 January 2021. I’m very wary of the developments with the virus though. I cannot understand how the the crowds can be allowed to go to the cricket today. And I do not understand why the vaccines are not approved and issued now. So can we agree I’m planning to come but it might have to be postponed? Absolutely none of us wants to get the virus!

On a happier note, I had the loveliest visit to Wollongong in December. The storms have been so dramatic in recent times and that day was no exception. Here is a clip from the beach in the evening. This panning shot up into an intensely coloured sky really reminds me of the cinematography in an Australian film called My First Wife. I saw the film years ago late one night on SBS, maybe someone else will remember it too. The sky above the beach was very colour saturated and stormy and the fast scanning movement of the camera evoked the main character’s searching. It was beautifully done, with wheeling gulls (like this clip), and an intense choral music sound track (the main character was a music teacher). This clip is much more peaceful though, like my state of mind when I was down there with all the waves surging up onto the sand and round me :-).

xx MG


Post #149 Saturday 24 October 2020 – shrike thrushes

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Saturday 24 October 2020

It rained steadily all last night, which is just wonderful. I had the window open because it’s not cold, and I could hear the rain when I woke occasionally. Apparently there was a great thunderstorm with dramatic lightning in Sydney overnight.

In the morning I was up early and the rain had stopped. The shrike thrush was visiting in the trees close to the house. It was such a nice surprise because she hasn’t been around forever. And it reminded me I need to do this post.

A while ago I promised to post a little video I had made of the shrike thrush calling. I had posted this clip way back in June on the Twitter account, but had not then posted here as well.

This video was taken from the front door. It was early June 2020 and the recorded temperature was – 2 (might have been -3, I am a bit rusty). At that time the shrike thrushes were the dominant residents in the trees close to the tiny house.
It’s a lovely call isn’t it? I’d post the longer version of the clip but I don’t think my website likes the data load required for video.

xx MG

Post #148 Sunday 11 October 2020 – swans

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Sunday 11 October 2020

I’ve been meaning to provide an update on the swans. Here is an image from the last available set of photos. With spring the evening air is thick with insects so the image is a bit busy with them.

We don’t see the swans so much these days though. I suppose they need to travel further for feed. Every green reed on the water’s edge looks as though it’s had the same perfect haircut from the swans.

xx MG

PS I am planning on having some more MG new images for the Galleries later in October.

Post #147 Saturday 10 October 2020 – dogsitting

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Saturday 10 October 2020

How sweet is this little bouquet? It has actual lilac blossom in it – which you would never see in a commercial flower arrangement, not ever.

Apparently some dignified ancient crone sells these home made bunches on a Saturday morning somewhere in Canberra – Kingston perhaps? My girlfriend and her partner always get me one (instead of bread at the local bakery, because much as I like bread I’m not _totally_ into it).
It’s a sweet thought when they drive by on the way home to Sydney – which they did this morning, to collect the beloved dog I’ve been dogsitting – which it is my absolute pleasure to do.

The visiting dog:

inside
outside

He’s a lovely soul, a stumpy tail blue heeler. He’s adept at finding old tennis balls. In the middle of absolutely nowhere he’ll appear with a tennis ball, soggy and unthrowable. In this picture he settled for a stick – a mega stick.

xx MG

Post #146 Friday 9 October 2020 – after the drought

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Friday 9 October 2020

Once you are a bit more than an hour out of Sydney and you’re on an older road, you’ll start to see what we haven’t seen for four years – apple trees blossoming by the roadside.

It’s so lovely to see after years of drought.

I’ve been told apple trees especially like to grow next to railways lines, because the blue metal dust from the the basalt railway ballast is a fertiliser.

Here is the blossom from a flourishing tree next to my local rail line. I think I should expect excellent fruit from it. Cider would be nice. And instead of origin by paddock, origin by stretch of road or rail.

xx MG

Post #145 Thursday 1 October 2020 – travels in November and December

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Thursday 1 October 2020

Good morning friends,
It’s been a long time between drinks on the SS Letters from America that’s for sure but bear with me, 2020 has been quite a year. Scheduled tours in Sydney have been going well. I can also fit in ad hoc meetings on most Wednesdays after 3.00pm with a bit of notice. So if any one in Sydney wants to meet at short notice later on a Wednesday, you are welcome to contact me.
Meet ups in the Southern Highlands, Canberra and Wollongong are great in between. The Forester has just sailed past 200 km and going just fine.

The dates for next scheduled Sydney tours, staying at the usual place, are:

Sunday 8 November to Friday 13 November 2020, and
Sunday 6 December to Friday 11 December 2020.

I would love to write more but as I know the stalker snoops around on everything I do, it’s just made it less fun and it gives her more fuel for her obsession to feed on. As most of you know it’s a female stalker, obviously not anyone I’ve ever seen or know, she’s just filled with jealous rage because she’s had a long term fixation on my partner. Sigh. My happy life goes on but she’s kind of wrecked the pleasure I’ve always taken in doing MG. She’s got some kind of fantasy that she’s competing with me (I think?), and so she copies me too. Once her identity was found out though she stopped the threats, so that’s good. And I’ve shut down all the online avenues for her to reach me with her slimy unpleasant messages, so that’s something as well. We’ll just keep going. Perhaps she’ll find someone else to fixate on. Women who have no conscience engaging in violent manipulative behaviour toward a “rival” when the love object they are fixated on is not interested in them, really puzzle me. I mean there is no point sister, he’s not interested. You need to learn the bus stop theory. Just wait at the bus stop, one bus leaves and in 15 minutes another one comes along. With no disrespect to the uniqueness and intrinsic value of each person, the world is absolutely packed with good people to connect with, open your eyes.

To happier things, this is my overdue update on the swans. This video was taken 22 July 2020 when the cygnets were about three months old. After the loss of two little ones fairly early on, the fleet has stabilised at five cygnets. They are about twice this size now. Five cygnets is a very successful season. It’s been such a pleasure watching them progress.

xxx MG

Update for travels in August, September and October 2020

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Good morning friends,
This is an update on my travels in the coming months.

I have scheduled visits to Sydney:
Sunday 2 August to Sunday 9 August, and
Sunday 6 September to Sunday 13 September.

Outside my scheduled visits to Sydney I visit Canberra, Wollongong and the Southern Highlands on an ad hoc basis.

I won’t be available for most of October because I have some personal commitments but I’ll be back again after that.

Also just an FYI, I haven’t added much to the Galleries in the last month, I’ve been occupied with construction and setting up a productive winter garden, bear with me I will see what I can do 🙂

xx MG

This photo was actually taken at the end of June when the cygnets were about six or seven weeks old. I can report there are fewer now – five – but they are about twice the size. In the distance they look like a fleet with two aircraft carriers and grey destroyers round about. I would post a more recent photo but now the cygnets are larger the family has been staying further out and therefore out of range.

Post #144 gentle perfect sounds under the full moon

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Monday 6 July 2020

My Sydney visit could not have started better than it has. I actually came up early for a girlfriend’s birthday drinks. That was so fun. While I stayed in the Campari lane (Negroni much as I love it, is too strong for me), I was also introduced to the pretty amazing flavour of an Australian “smoked gin”. Does anyone know about this? I will make efforts to penetrate the local gin distilling scene and report back.

This evening I’ve done one of my favourite things – walking at night. I can’t really walk at night in the country (a) because it is too dark (b) it puts the farm dogs into a frantic (c) walking at night is really a city thing anyway. It’s all about the quiet lights radiating from houses, glimpses of people at home in their rooms with books and paintings or in their kitchens, or watching the tv, still city gardens – intimate landscapes, the harbour, city lights, the racket of occasional flying foxes.

It feels a bit Venetian (well land-based Venetian :-))

This is a slice of my night walk, coming back over Darling Point, looking through the terraces toward Elizabeth Bay.

The best of all, is coming down the hill to Rushcutters Bay to hear one of my favourite sounds, rope gently thumping against the mast. And once there are a few boats rolling gently it’s like a gamelan orchestra. You never hear them tolling so clearly and gently during daytime.

I made a lovely little clip of the full moon and the gentle sound of rope against mast.

MG xx

Recent developments

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Dear friends
For those of you who know me and follow the Letters from America, you are very welcome to get in touch with me in the usual way. I am still visiting Sydney on a regular basis. My next visit is from Monday 6 July to Saturday 11 July.
You can see from the rather more austere version of the website that operations have changed somewhat. I can fill you in if you like, when we catch up. Meantime let me know if you would like me to send you the password for the Galleries on the website. I will continue to add to the Letters from America from time to time

Let’s keep going in this strange year 2020.

xx MG
0452 008 597

Rosy fingered dawn over the cIty – August 2016