Oh, Queensland.

There are rock pools. In my yard.

Goodbye, Summer.

I only just realised tonight that today's Leap Day signals the end of Summer. That really snuck up on me! The very words 'end of Summer' bring up hazy memories of being a kid and having to wave goodbye to long, long days, to running around outside playing French cricket past bedtime, dying from the overwhelming heat but partly revelling in it, too.

Summers as a grown-up aren't so dreamy. I mean, it's hot and sometimes it's smelly, and it's hard to get the washing dry in all this humidity. Nevertheless, this Summer has felt like the first one in Queensland that I haven't wanted to kick and scream the whole way. I'm a winter baby. I was born in August, and I don't know if that has anything to do with anything, but humidity and hotness are so far from my thing that when it gets crazy-sticky, I start thinking thoughts that centre around marrying a polar bear and moving to the Arctic.

The pragmatic and unromantic part of me wonders if the reason I've survived this Summer in Queensland is because, for the first time, I'm in a place with air conditioning. The glass-half-full part, however, thinks that just maybe I've started to acclimatise to this place. I hope so.

Having said all that, though, I'm not sad to say goodbye to Summer. For starters, it's going to be a slow evolution into the new season. Experience has taught me that March can be almost as hot as February. But at the end of it, there's Autumn. Autumn. My favourite season. The nights get cool, the wind gets blustery, and chamomile tea feels less like medicine and more like a treat.

I'll be sad to say goodbye to Summer leaves and Summer colour (hence the photo explosion of Summery bits from the last week or so). But everything else, I can totally part with. Autumn wins anytime.

Winter at the Housie

I was going to make a more thoughtful post today, but being a bit under the weather has melted my brain. Instead, I'll share with you some pictures of winter at the Housie. Since moving to Queensland four and a bit years ago, I've lamented the fact that the seasons pass by almost unrecognised here in Brisbane. Things are either green, or not, it seems. And I miss the beautiful liquid amber tree from my childhood home in the Hunter Valley; it was like a perfect barometer of the changing seasons. However, I was obviously not looking in the right places because here in the garden, winter is shouting in all its most glorious colours -- and sharply, too, as my mum has been digging and weeding and trimming and dead-heading and spreading and everything is looking lovely.

Winter foliage. Mmhmm.

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Conversations:

Un -- :) Memories...

Elisabeth -- you are a sweet friend! x

Abbie -- This: There's so much to learn as we travel along, isn't there? And learning to treasure very moment, every season, every good or bad, is something I need to learn most of all. So true. And you didn't ramble at all; longer comments are a treat :). It was great to see you briefly for coffee and chats and smiles. xx

Bloss -- a treasured comment from you! Thank you! xx It's so strange to suddenly realise that we're no longer waiting to grow up or trying to put it off; it happened when none of us were looking, and it's a different place to be, and a challenging place to be, but a great place nonetheless. I'm so glad you could relate. Bless you!

Katie -- so considerate of him! little Daniel is already being a thoughtful young man.

Harri -- letterssssss! YAY! <3 you.

Ding dong, the witch is dead?

It feels like two or more historically significant moments always go hand-in-hand. Over Friday and Saturday, Twitter was buzzing with enthusiasm about the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton -- and then yesterday there was just as much hype over the death of Osama bin Laden. Honestly, I don't need to watch the news anymore to get headlines; Twitter is usually the first to let me in on anything. (I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing, but that's beside the point anyway.)

What stood out to me most about the responses popping up in the whole conglomerate of social media was the immediacy of the joking, the rejoicing, and the mocking enthusiasm -- not for the royal wedding, but for the death of Bin Laden. Interestingly, even those too-cool-for-school bloggers and tweeters who groaned and rolled their eyes at the wedding frenzy were willing to jump in and remark gleefully on the Bin Laden story. It feels a little skewed when it's considered more intellectually appropriate to rejoice in someone's death than to celebrate someone else's marriage. Already, jokes are running hot.

I'm super glad I'm not in any position of power or responsibility to have to make the kind of calls that result in execution (or in sending others to death and danger). It follows, then, that I don't have any conclusions about whether or not Osama bin Laden's death was the right course of action. I really have no idea; I will gladly leave that to the authorities, and I have immense respect for the military personnel who follow orders and sometimes have to do hard things to pursue peace. They have to make black and white decisions in entirely grey areas.

But we, who are in no position to make those decisions, can still decide how we respond to them. Relief is one thing, but rejoicing is quite another -- especially if we choose to identify ourselves as Christians or (in the case of the US) as a Christian nation. If that's the case, then we need to think and respond Christianly to world events.

A friend posted these Scriptures on Tumblr:

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live (Ezekiel 18:32). Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles (Proverbs 24:17).

I think those quotes say it all. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

(Okay, back to your regularly scheduled internetting. I actually shrink from chiming in on issues like this, but I've resolved to live an examined life through this blog, and this is all part of... examining life!)

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Conversations:

Un -- it was so yum :) Nice code-name, by the way.

Cara -- tiger bread is a white loaf with a crackly, stripy brown crust. So good.

Katie -- it really was.

Asea -- yeah, come for breakfast this weekend! :)

Laura Elizabeth -- YUM. Bananas are definitely good on french toast. Okay, I'll let you in on my ultimate french toast secret which I only have incredibly rarely because it's so extreme -- a nutella sandwich french-toasted with banana and maple syrup on top. MMMMMM.

Lauren -- I thought it looked like potato, too. That would be pretty yum in itself :).

Unshakeable

I have nothing to say about Japan that hasn't already been said.

We all know what happened and we know what it is like to grieve and feel helpless. We've all seen the pictures, felt our heartbeats quicken, and still wondered that in spite of it all, we can't quite believe it. We know what it is to feel this survivor guilt, to be ashamed that our days continue on as if nothing happened, as if the earth and sea didn't just combine to dance wildly and furiously over thousands of other peoples' lives. We know the sense of disgust and horror as those unaffected by the horror rush forward to lay blame or push propaganda out there into the wake of fear. We know what it is to have no words except a repeated calling out of God's name. We know how to help, financially. We know how to pray. And we know that this planet is a scary place right now.

So when someone posted Owl City's cover of In Christ Alone on tumblr, I clung to it, and I'm sharing it with you right now in case you, too, need a reminder that there's Something to cling to that nothing can wash away.

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

I will stand, I will stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground, all other ground
Is sinking sand, is sinking sand
So I stand

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Conversations:

Sandie T -- it's the bayside region south of Brisbane :).

BushMaid -- yes, I love my Canon! It's a 1000D.

Samantha R -- so true; beauty is everywhere.

Jessica -- sprung! I totally cheated; a caption explaining there will be no captions!

Anonymous1 -- thanks!

Anonymous2 -- and thanks to you, too :)

Mitanika -- it's always a pleasure to help you procrastinate, most excellent friend.

Katie -- thanks so much! We had fun making pictures :).

Asea -- I was so happy to capture the dragonfly. I've been trying since I first got my camera :). And I know what you mean entirely about the novelty of it being opposite seasons on different sides of the world. It never fails to amuse me :).

Dappled things (glory be to God for them)

I love words, and since they are very likely to always have first place in my heart, pictures must come a close second. Therefore, I usually disagree with that old cliche about a picture being worth a thousand words (give me the words, I say!). Sometimes, though, pictures mean words aren't even necessary -- and so I offer these to you, uncaptioned. Just me, one of my favourite people in the world, two beloved cameras, and the wonders of sunshine, shadow, and earth.

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Conversations:

Caitlin -- unfortunately for Tain, I had to ignore his stern injunction. :)

Samantha R -- our life is definitely a million times funnier because he's in it.

BushMaid -- hey, Jasmine!! Nice to reconnect with you! And please, stalk anytime :).

Staish -- we can choose to believe he wrote 'xo'.

The First Rose -- brothers can definitely be wily, devious creatures when they've got A Plan.

In spite of everything...

In spite of floods that soaked Brisbane, upset bridal car arrangements, and kept some of the wedding party out of the state, nothing dampened Hailey's joy as she married Josh today in a beautiful old church in the city. Given the setting, their wedding is pretty much a historic one and I just know they're going to have the best story to tell when they are grey and wrinkled and small grandchildren are clamoring for tales. Happy marriage, you two! Love Him and love each other.

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Conversations:

Jessica -- that's pretty much one of the nicest writing-related compliments ever. Thank you!

Abbie -- sometimes it's not so easy to see which lessons have been shared, so it's exciting when it does seem a little clearer. Here's to a 2011 full of grace and awesome fellowship with Jesus :).

Asea -- you are totally brave and heroic in my book :D.

There are times when insomnia could be handy.

I keep waiting for a moment in time to stop and write to you all here, but that moment keeps evading me. Tonight, I'm making that moment, even if it's only a tiny one (I'm so sleepy).

Tuesday found us driving home from our semi-spontaneous road trip with the fear that we might not make it through. The radio was a constant in the background, sharing the unfolding news of the flood devastation as an angry wall of water made its way through Queensland and down into northern New South Wales. We wore out our phone batteries checking updates through social media and replying to anxious text messages from friends. There was an urgency to our northwards drive as road after road closed. But -- miraculously -- they kept closing behind us. At one moment we saw emergency services crews hauling the blockades out onto the road seconds after we passed.

There was an eerie and surreal sense to the trip. We passed tiny towns where locals had gathered by the streets to fill sandbags. We drove across a patch of road where the Clarence River had overgrown its banks and was spilling onto the highway. And we took a four hour detour when the inland pathway was blocked by floods. Eventually we made it home, though, dry and safe -- and with hearts breaking for those whose stories have not ended so neatly.

The destruction left by these floods is difficult to comprehend, even here on the fringes of it all. Please pray for Queensland.

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Conversations:

Meaghan -- YES! My road trip included youuu! Hooray!

Samantha R -- and I hope your 2011 is drenched in grace :).

Elizabeth Fay -- ooh, I should have taken opportunity today to talk with you about the Dawntreader movie and our mutual favourite quote.

Mitanika -- I absolutely think Eleven should be the mascot for 2011.