daybook xiv:

It's been a while since I did one of these things.

Outside my window, it's dark right now. But Queensland has been at her furious best over the past few days, making sure that Brisbane has once again had a memorable January. Over the Australia Day weekend, the sky let loose with a barrage of wind and rain, overflowing riverways and sending tides into a wind-whipped frenzy. The storm left behind bits of peoples' broken lives in its wake but for some reason, our house seems to be in a little storm-safe pocket. Our fence blew over in one spot, and a tree fell on one side of the housie, but the only true casualty was the tree. People lost their lives, though, and that's just hard to comprehend.

I have been listening to lots and lots of different stuff, a bunch of things at friends' recommendations, and some old favourites. Josh Garrels continues to be so brilliant and so lovely and every song is like this haunting, lyrical painting in notes. Then there's the Les Miserables soundtrack because, well, because. The Classic Crime is a new favourite after the continued selling by a dedicated friend (she was right; I love them). Mumford & Sons is just right. And haunting the music stands at the library has yielded The Rubens, The Dandy Warhols, and The Smiths. And then there's podcasts... But maybe I'll save those for another time.

I have been wearing I don't know... clothes. I'm a bit uninspired lately. My wardrobe needs a revamp. I have nice tops without the right skirt to wear with them, or a great dress, but no slip that goes with it right. You know how it gets sometimes. And today's muggy Summer Air Sauna Of Doom does not help anything.

I am thankful for amazing words that make my own world crisper, clearer, and more whole.

I am pondering... guh. Too many things and not enough.

I am reading -- well, I'm actually re-reading a lot of things at the moment. I'm not really sure why the re-read quest, as for the last few years I've been on a greedy mission read a bunch of new stuff, but lately I think I am craving the rich familiarity of books that are old friends. What's been good about this has been realising that the books I once loved are still so, so love-worthy. In my current-rereading pile: The Ask & the Answer by Patrick Ness (my emotions! ugh, his characters repeatedly punch me in the guts), The Green Branch by Edith Pargeter (Welsh history has never been so wringing, nor so resoundingly human), and Keep A Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot (I think of her as a mentor I've never actually met).

I am creating lesson plans and copious piles of rainy day activities to do with students.

A picture-thought I'm sharing is from this weekend and all the crazy. Right after I took that shot, a wave came up over the shore siding and swished through the open window of the car. Adventures!