As another birthday comes and goes I was reminiscing and here are some snippets of some decades of my life thus far:

• As a youngster swimming and diving between the legs of my mother, aunt, and grandmother in the crystal clear waters at Sorrento as they floated and chatted with toes poking above the gentle waves.
• Getting it as I learn to read and do maths. The wonder of reading books opening up whole new worlds to my young eager mind. John and Betty go to the beach with Scottie the dog.
• At 5 years of age standing in awe at the entrance to the domed reading room of the State Library Victoria, my love for books validated; and my desire to become an architect seeded.
• Eating sour blood plums straight from my grandmother’s tree as I sit perched in the branches.
• Imagining house plans as I moved piles of freshly cut grass, shaping them into walls for rooms, as my Dad mowed the lawn.
• Admiration as I watched my groovy older cousins and their friends dancing to music by The Beatles and wanting to grow up fast and be cool like them.
• The first time I heard Moonlight Sonata and falling in love with piano music and Beethoven.
• As a teenager the wild abandon of chasing kangaroos with a group of teens while on summer holidays at a Victorian National Park.
• The ecstasy of pushing my body for netball, water-skiing, snow skiing, swimming, triathlon.
• At fifteen savouring the nutty flavor and thick texture of Turkish coffee in Noumea.
• Being covered head to toe in mud as the water receded at Eildon Weir and the campers made mud slides and mud baths along the banks.
• The chill and terror as I dive deep in the brown lake waters looking for the body of a drowned person, knowing my first aid and lifesaving certificates would not help.
• The achievement for a personal best time as I swam the butterfly leg in a relay at the Olympic Pool next to a returned Olympic butterflier. Not beating her, but proud of my performance.
• Getting a rare A+ for an hard won English essay about Sir Thomas Moore; the Man for all Seasons.
• Taking up the challenge posed to me by my Year 12 Physics teacher who said I would not pass the HSC Physics exam and proving him wrong.
• The shame of wrong decisions, poor choices, and bad behaviour, mine and others. But learning anyway.
• The shock of probable imminent death just prior to a head on collision that ended the lives of the two vehicles but fortunately not any of the people involved.
• The joy, happiness and sweat saying the marriage vows under windblown willow trees on a hot summer’s day in my Aunts garden.
• Adrenalin pumping as I stood on the roof still in high heals, water hose in hand, while above me the blades of the helicopter chopped noisily through the plumes of bushfire smoke during Ash Wednesday.
• The relief and achievement of graduation as an Industrial Designer; then as a Librarian/Information Manager; and then again as a Master Librarian.
• The births of my three ‘babies’; each one unique, and filled with abundance and all-encompassing love.
• The release after the first hot sip of a good cup of tea made in a pot with tea leaves by master tea makers; my grandmother, my aunt, my mother, my brother.
• Feeling like an ant exposed on the top of Uluru, a perfect vantage point to scan the endless landscape, not understanding the dreaming, but feeling the spirit at the Earth’s heart centre.
• Feeling affronted with my perceived Western wealth and privilege when visiting Thailand.
• Pure happiness despite the cold autumn breeze at Seawinds as my daughter is married surrounded by loving family.
• Excitement as I sit in the stands under purple Darwin skies watching as my youngest son kicks his first goal in AFL football for Port Adelaide.
• Feeling pride as my eldest son receives his Engineering degree with honours at Melbourne University.
• Pride and satisfaction in four completed house building projects as owner builders with my designs and my husbands labour and project management.
• Cutting loose on the dance floor with my husband not caring how silly we look as the beat takes hold.
• Feeling like arriving home as I stood on the channel ferry seeing France for the first time (in this life).
• Remembering where I was the day: Neil Armstrong walked on the moon; Lady Diana died; the World Trade Centre in the US was attacked.
• Feeling bliss and belonging while drinking coffee in a café in Beaune France.
• Comprehending grace and mercy holding my mother’s hand before she slips into unconsciousness and then leaves this world.
• The heartbreak of betrayal and rejection.
• Creating art, music, and food.
• The immersion into music when a sound and song resonates with my heart.
• Becoming a grandmother and getting to know and love a new little person.
• The calm that settles my soul while outside in nature with the trees, birds, breeze, sea, sun and stars.

#glamblogweekly