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Pamela Hennings
We met a dear friend of mine for a photo shoot at Lake McKenzie during the trip. This is a freshwater lake accessible only by 4-wheel drive. Pam hired a healthy sized jeep to take us there, and the trip was an adventure all by itself. She truly was one fantastic driver. It was a 10-12 km drive from the resort, along enormous stretching hills of sand, which tossed the jeep around like a real-time roller coaster, with dozens of hidden dingoes lurking in the brush. When we got there, we swam, took a look around, and it was so simple and beautiful to be able relax and let Anastasia work her magic with the camera, capturing all the best light, rather than having to fuss and fumble around with settings, etc., on my own. What she does speaks volumes. This is us, no makeup, no special effects, nothing - just myself, and my beautiful daughter, Carol, enjoying one of the most wonderful times of our lives.
My longtime friend Anastasia Bourke has lived in Australia for almost twenty years, has two grown daughters, a thriving photography business all her own, and a beautiful three-month-old baby granddaughter, Bailee.
My longtime friend Anastasia Bourke has lived in Australia for almost twenty years, has two grown daughters, a thriving photography business all her own, and a beautiful three-month-old baby granddaughter, Bailee.
Hello again, dearest ones. We have returned from our magnificent adventure abroad, to the intriguing, mysterious, beautiful and wondrous land of Australia. I have much to tell.
But before I begin I ask, "How did this all come about? How, and why did this happen to me???" At the conclusion of the first phase of this long awaited journey, the answer is: just because. Just because it's just because, it just happened. Fell out of the sky, and right into the center of my very being. My well-being, I should say. As if Almighty God Himself has some kind of a "rewards" program. The Mileage Plus program. The thought amuses me.
Mileage rewards, perhaps. Miracle, absolutely. An Australian diamond, brilliant and fine, was given to me by sheer fate. A gift to me from Fate itself. And her name is Pam Russell.
But wait a minute. That's my name. It was, although it's changed it still is part of my life record. My former married name, my daughter's given name. What a great name, Russell. And what fine people we are! Mighty people. Mighty women! Together, the combination of our shared minds and collective hearts was powerful, electric, palpable, warm and good.
Pam is still a kid, but she is grown up, smart, organized, simple, easygoing and kind. Pam is in great shape - of course, she's a semi-retired registered nurse; who now, with her partner Peter, aka Red, runs a large and busy farm with horses, dogs and sheep, and she's headed in the right direction with a keen interest in developing real estate and other projects, including artistic ones. That is what I mean by brilliant. She is perceptive, intuitive and communicative, an effective listener with a strong determination to meet long-range goals using good sense and deep respect for humanity and her country. What great influence - exactly the kind that should be demonstrated to the young women who were there along with us, Carol Anne and Emily. I'll fill you in on that and other details as we go along.
THE TRIP
Carol and I departed SFO at 4:10 p.m. aboard Qantas Flight 3232 on August 9, 2008 and arrived in Brisbane at 6:05 a.m. on Monday, August 11, a long, uneventful flight. The fun began when we got off the plane as the warm Australian sun was just arising that day, when Pam and I met for the first time, and it was just wonderful. This woman, this brilliant Australian diamond, arranged for a stretch limousine to take us to our first destination. She actually choreographed the entire trip for us down to the finest detail. We first landed at the Pearl of the Bay Bed and Breakfast, at Oyster Point in Scarborough, near Red Cliff if you know the area. There, proprietor, designer and owner Rosemarie saw to it that our needs were extremely well taken care of. On the way there, the first thing we noticed were the traffic signs, and that we were driving on the left side of the road. We picked up on the lay of the land, the largeness of space, and the crisp cleanness of the air once we got away from Brizzy airport.
[more to come! stay tuned!]
But before I begin I ask, "How did this all come about? How, and why did this happen to me???" At the conclusion of the first phase of this long awaited journey, the answer is: just because. Just because it's just because, it just happened. Fell out of the sky, and right into the center of my very being. My well-being, I should say. As if Almighty God Himself has some kind of a "rewards" program. The Mileage Plus program. The thought amuses me.
Mileage rewards, perhaps. Miracle, absolutely. An Australian diamond, brilliant and fine, was given to me by sheer fate. A gift to me from Fate itself. And her name is Pam Russell.
But wait a minute. That's my name. It was, although it's changed it still is part of my life record. My former married name, my daughter's given name. What a great name, Russell. And what fine people we are! Mighty people. Mighty women! Together, the combination of our shared minds and collective hearts was powerful, electric, palpable, warm and good.
Pam is still a kid, but she is grown up, smart, organized, simple, easygoing and kind. Pam is in great shape - of course, she's a semi-retired registered nurse; who now, with her partner Peter, aka Red, runs a large and busy farm with horses, dogs and sheep, and she's headed in the right direction with a keen interest in developing real estate and other projects, including artistic ones. That is what I mean by brilliant. She is perceptive, intuitive and communicative, an effective listener with a strong determination to meet long-range goals using good sense and deep respect for humanity and her country. What great influence - exactly the kind that should be demonstrated to the young women who were there along with us, Carol Anne and Emily. I'll fill you in on that and other details as we go along.
THE TRIP
Carol and I departed SFO at 4:10 p.m. aboard Qantas Flight 3232 on August 9, 2008 and arrived in Brisbane at 6:05 a.m. on Monday, August 11, a long, uneventful flight. The fun began when we got off the plane as the warm Australian sun was just arising that day, when Pam and I met for the first time, and it was just wonderful. This woman, this brilliant Australian diamond, arranged for a stretch limousine to take us to our first destination. She actually choreographed the entire trip for us down to the finest detail. We first landed at the Pearl of the Bay Bed and Breakfast, at Oyster Point in Scarborough, near Red Cliff if you know the area. There, proprietor, designer and owner Rosemarie saw to it that our needs were extremely well taken care of. On the way there, the first thing we noticed were the traffic signs, and that we were driving on the left side of the road. We picked up on the lay of the land, the largeness of space, and the crisp cleanness of the air once we got away from Brizzy airport.
[more to come! stay tuned!]
8.17.2008
Having fun now!
8.08.2008
Correction: The below is a beautiful poem. THIS is the Australian National Anthem:
'Australians All Let Us Rejoice'
Australians let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We've golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history's page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
to Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN! WOOHOO!
I have been using it so much, I finally had to add the word "WOOHOO" to all of my spell-check dictionaries! Here is a poem Pam sent me -- not sure if it's the National Anthem or just a poem, but here it is, and it surely evokes longing in the heart:
The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded Lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens,
Is running in your veins;
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies -
I know but cannot share it,
My Love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains,
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me.
I found this website several months ago called oopsimsorry.com, where you can send anonymous messages to people. This was quite some time ago and I completely forgot about it. I sent a message to myself, because honestly? Sending anonymous messages to people is kind of, well, creepy. This is what I wrote:
www.oopsim
www.oopsimsorry.com - Virtual conscience: A message from the Virtual Conscience
| show details 6:09 AM (1 hour ago) |
|
| August 8 2008 |
| Dear Myself, |
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8.05.2008
Come hear me sing and play at the San Gregorio General Store on Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 11 a.m. I do folk oldies, some contemporary tunes, you know, folksy kinda stuff, some originals, some covers. It's fun. I love San Gregorio, it's just beautiful and the Store is just so cool...when I first found the place somewhere in the mid-nineties I took one look around and said wow, I love this place because, where else can you shop, drink a beer, and listen to live music all at the same time? It's great. I'll never forget the time I was doing a gig there and Joan Baez walked in with her beautiful daughter and her beautiful Mother. Seriously, it was the coolest thing ever. And she was so nice. I told her I and my whole family have just always loved her. Her skin is perfect.
Samuel Ayer High School's Class of 1978's big 30th Reunion is all the buzz here in town! It started Friday night with a cocktail reception and just about everyone was there; more showed up at the mansion on the hill the next evening, hosted by our generous benefactor and entrepreneur classfellow, Rick. And WOW was everything just incredibly FABULOUS beyond belief! We had just the most marvelous time. It started out with cocktails on the veranda, fruit, wine and cheese brought in by a gourmet catering service, what was the name of the company, they were fantastic. Everybody just mingled, caught up with each other what's been happening over these many years, everyone looked so beautiful and happy, all dressed up and just having fun talking and visiting with each other again. The Reunion Committee, Mike, Maxine, Leah, Pat, David, Connie, everyone else just did a tremendous job and we thank them for all the efforts to bring that wonderful Reunion to us, all the photos, the raffle prizes, everything was beyond perfect. Yours truly got to tickle the ivories a bit too, Rick has a beautiful Steinway that I could have played all night. I did a modified version of "Imagine," asking "Imagine no Milpitas....no Samuel Ayer.....all of the beautiful people....with all the fluffy hair.....You may say I'm a Trojan, but I'm not the only one....I hope someday you remember....how our lives began as one....", etcetera. It was actually very funny. We left kind of early, we were exhausted because we'd had a big day before going to the party. We laughed, we danced, we had a WONDERFUL TIME. Only I'm curse myself for not having my camera all together yet by Saturday, it needed some things to get it going again and I just didn't have the time to get over to the store, crummy excuse I know but at least I got it together by Sunday, when they had a little reunion picnic for the families at the park. That was really nice, we got to see one another in our casual clothes and hang out a little bit more. This is me with one of the coolest women I've ever known. I sure wish I had gotten more, but I'll surely be able to get some more from the good folks who did have their cameras together. Jacqui met Carol at the picnic, we sat with Bev Selle, class Valedictorian. We missed a lot of people who weren't there, our dear departed Matt Wyatt, Erin Barker, and Marty Bishop also passed away this year, sad to have lost our classmates. I mentioned lots of friends to my good old friends, friend Margot in Australia whom I'm going to visit soon, Gail in Bakersfield, we missed everyone who couldn't make it, too many to name here. Carol Anne was kind enough to join me for awhile at the picnic. She is so beautiful. It was a super fun weekend.