Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist)

Welcome and come on in. Let’s get settled with a cup of tea or coffee and we’ll have a chat. Our weather here is perfect with a warm breeze and not too hot although perhaps the humidity is starting to build as the perspiration has started to roll when I start to do anything even remotely active.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you that I have had a lovely week. Everything seems to be on track. I have found a publisher I am hoping will publish my manuscript. I have prepared the first three chapters and writing covering letters which I will post during the week and am keeping the fingers crossed. I probably won’t know anything until I return from our cruise but I feel good that it is finally underway.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you that it was Australia Day last Friday. This is a day that is now causing much angst as our indigenous people see the day as Invasion Day. There has been a large number of people protesting and requesting that the day be changed. Our government is standing firm. Why I don’t know. It should be a day that can be inclusive of all Australians and most Australians are not descended from the First Fleet so do we have a great affinity with 26th January as a date? I personally think that the date of Federation should be the day – for that was when we did become Australia. However, that date is the 1st January which is already a public holiday and do people want to lose an additional day where they can go outdoors and have an Aussie Barbie and drink lots of beer.

© irene waters 2018 (these people set their tent up before 6 am to get a good spot on the river.)

The angst felt about the day aside,  Roger and I had a lovely day. Our normal coffee shops were closed so we walked along Noosa River with the dogs rather than our normal Weyba Creek. After coffee we then drove to Perigian Beach and had an omelette for breakfast. A very social outing as I ran across two fellows from dancing who were breakfasting after an early game of tennis. We also met a couple at the table opposite who also had a dog with them. He had ordered toast with vegemite but had been told the shop didn’t have any vegemite, they only had jam. We watched him pile onto his toast a spread that looked very much like vegemite to us. I don’t know whether you have tasted our Aussie icon but it is a very strong beef extract and the smallest amount will suffice unless you have reached the addictive stage. We watched as he took a big mouthful only to see him spit it out and choke seconds later. He’d thought it was plum jam. We laughed and laughed.

One of the chaps from dancing was telling us he is planning on walking the Spanish pilgrimage trail ( the Camino de Santiago) which is a length of 800 miles. It would take him 5 weeks to complete. He went on to tell us that he’d walked the length of the United Kingdom at 68 years old followed by the Appalachian trail a couple of years later taking just over six months to complete the 3,500 km walk. He believes he has one big walk left in him. When Roger found out he is 81 years old he was gobsmacked. He hasn’t stopped talking about it since, even suggesting that perhaps we should do a walk. A walk that kind of length is just not going to happen – for me at any rate.

The rest of the day was pleasant. We took Mum out for lunch and then we came home and she and I had a game of rummkin. I had a dancing lesson that night. A very pleasant way to spend Australia Day.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you that I am starting to get excited about our cruise to New Guinea. Now only 12 days 1 hour and 47 minutes. We have now been allocated a cabin so at least we aren’t going to be sleeping in a life raft. Spare time is being taken up doing preparations so all is done in plenty of time before we go. We have our godchildren arriving before our departure so we have to be ready by the end of this week as the following week we will have them, I am giving a talk to Probus about my book then 1 day and we’re gone.

Enough about me.  How was your week? Has your weather been warmer/colder, wetter/drier. Have you read any good books or seen any good films?  Thank you for dropping in for coffee, it is lovely to see you. Thanks to  eclecticali  who is our host of the weekend coffee share.