So
Spring has sprung and all around me I see signs of life blossoming.
My backyard is teeming with flowers just waiting to be pollinated.
This is the first year that my lemon tree is showing signs of life
and I’m desperate to have a reason to make Limoncello. Living in
Mackay most backyards have a mango tree, ours is old, a bit tired
and only manages a dozen or so mangos every season, most of those the
possums eat. Our Macadamia tree had an excellent run last year and
I’m hoping it does the same this year. Apparently they need a
particular bee to pollinate the flowers.
Spring in the tropics does kinda feel like summer in Sydney. Every year when that warm scent of spring fill's the air I find myself getting ridiculously homesick. I miss my home town and I have such beautiful summer memories of Sydney. They most likely seem even more rosy now that I have a little one that I’m chasing after. The unfettered years of lazing on beaches have past for now.
In my 20’s I lived in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs and summer time meant catching a bus to Neilsen park, hiking around the cliff and nestling into one of the coves for the day. Preferably with cold beer and books. I remember one particularly balmy summer night, a big group of us had spent the day, that shifted into the night at Neilsen Park. Swimming, reading and soaking in the sun till our skin was bursting with vitamin D. Beaches at night are curious places, gone are the noise and energy of the day. This night the air was still heavy with heat and we all dived in trying not to think about harbour sharks. The further out we swam the quieter the stillness became and the bigger our movements felt. The phosphorescence in the water meant that we glowed with a glistering aura that radiated into each other. Those summer memories are so full of sweetness and this is just one of many. They almost always involve, the ocean, the harbour, the sea. Oh, I want to dive in for the first time, so many times again.
I took Louis to the beach last week, it wasn't peaceful but it was beautiful in it's own way. My fearless boy diving into the ocean, clearly completely unaware that you need to learn to swim before you launch yourself into the sea. In Northern Queensland at low tide the ocean escapes such a distance away you really need some mechanical mode of transport to find the shoreline. What the tide leaves though are large sand warmed pools. The perfect spot for a soon to be one year old with a bucket and spade. Moments of sand encrusted watermelon madness give way to giggles of splashing and water delight. So a new summer memory is made, to file away for a winters day and take out like warm sunshine.