Tuesday, July 11, 2006
my brother is coming!
MY BROTHER IS COMING TO VISIT! I can't tell you how excited I am. In the 6 1/2 years I've lived in Darwin not one of my immediate family has visited me. I trail the 3,000 kilometres to see them three times a year, regular as clockwork, but not once has one of them visited me. My dearest, oldest friend came for a month a few years ago. My former sister-in-law and her new partner came for about 6 weeks, in 2000. Apart from that, my only visitors have been a few work colleagues.
But on Friday night, Mikey and Marty are coming to visit - only for 6 days, but I'm so looking forward to it.
It's kind of weird living in a place for so long and having none of your family know anything about where you live or how you live.
So, when Mikey and Marty come I'm going to immerse them in my life - share with them the day to day pleasures that make me love this place. We won't do anything flash, just go to the markets and eat the delicious range of Asian foods on offer, take a day trip to the waterfalls of Litchfield, eat dinner under a palm tree at the Trailer Boat Club, visit the Museum and Art Gallery to take in the fabulous array of Aboriginal art, the cyclone Tracey exhibition and the maritime display featuring the tiny wooden craft from Indonesia (to wonder at the bravery, desperation or foolishness that would make people undertake such a voyage in such flimsy craft). On Wednesday night we'll go to the free performance of the Australian Ballet in the Botanic Gardens and see Giselle under the tropical stars and somewhere in there we might fit in a swim in the warm Berry Springs, where you can swim along a creek from one deep pool to another in water so clear you can see fish darting around your feet, watching rainbow bee eaters dive from a clear blue sky and a 5 foot goanna rustle through the underbrush to disappear under water chasing a tasty morsel for dinner.
Man are we gonna have fun!
...and when they go home, I'll know, that at least one member of my family can picture my home and my life, and somehow I'll find that comforting.
But on Friday night, Mikey and Marty are coming to visit - only for 6 days, but I'm so looking forward to it.
It's kind of weird living in a place for so long and having none of your family know anything about where you live or how you live.
So, when Mikey and Marty come I'm going to immerse them in my life - share with them the day to day pleasures that make me love this place. We won't do anything flash, just go to the markets and eat the delicious range of Asian foods on offer, take a day trip to the waterfalls of Litchfield, eat dinner under a palm tree at the Trailer Boat Club, visit the Museum and Art Gallery to take in the fabulous array of Aboriginal art, the cyclone Tracey exhibition and the maritime display featuring the tiny wooden craft from Indonesia (to wonder at the bravery, desperation or foolishness that would make people undertake such a voyage in such flimsy craft). On Wednesday night we'll go to the free performance of the Australian Ballet in the Botanic Gardens and see Giselle under the tropical stars and somewhere in there we might fit in a swim in the warm Berry Springs, where you can swim along a creek from one deep pool to another in water so clear you can see fish darting around your feet, watching rainbow bee eaters dive from a clear blue sky and a 5 foot goanna rustle through the underbrush to disappear under water chasing a tasty morsel for dinner.
Man are we gonna have fun!
...and when they go home, I'll know, that at least one member of my family can picture my home and my life, and somehow I'll find that comforting.
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