Stormy

One moment we were living week to week in dry, lip-cracking, skin prickling heat. Then the rain came with the tropical low from Ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie. We live south of the Queensland border so the rain and wind which battered our little house only snapped a large tree branch in our backyard, the very same branch I had climbed with Love the week before the cyclone made landfall. Thankfully, the flooding was minimal in our town but others further north weren't so lucky. You only need to search for the town of Lismore in Google to see the devastation caused when the levee was breached in the dark of the night. I lived in Lismore for a few of my teen years and it flooded then, but nothing of the magnitude of the last flood. We've donated blankets and clothes, including some of Love's items, which she has long outgrown but parting with those items was difficult for me. The sadness eased when I thought about the families in need who would receive our package.

Now it seems the autumn cool has settled in and as we pull up our woollen socks, research the best places to source our firewood and set the crock pot on the kitchen bench, it's new home for the next few months, our daily rhythms have slowed to allow our bodies to adjust to the shorter days.

On weekends we continue to venture to the beach however, now we carry extra blankets under our arms, rather than surfboards and damp towels.

The wild wind lashes the coast, bending the trees and howling passed us in hurried gusts. Probably racing to the mountains to warn of impending coastal storms.

We've all suffered the inevitable sniffles, feverish foreheads and dull aches as we transition from the blistering hot summer to this new season.

I adore autumn.

Someone once told me that you are most fond of the season in which you were born and as I sit here, draped in a soft blanket, sipping my chai, I'm comforted knowing that this season - the foliage in rich hues and warm cuddles with my daughter - this season feels like home.

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49/52 Rainy Days

A portrait of my family once a week, every week in 2013

Maxi: Clip
Byron: Play
Coco: Step
Bella: Rejoice

As dark grey clouds rolled in and the southerly wind picked up, we embraced the wild weather to spend our first days of summer outdoors.

I clipped Maxi's razor sharp nails on the front lawn as he patiently sat on the letter box, watching my every move with cautious eyes. Now and then he looked to the sky, distracted by thunder in the distance.

Later, we travelled to Mutton Bird Island as the storm rolled over the mountains. Rumbling dark clouds warned of heavy rain as we climbed high over the green hills. Byron leaned into the strong, cool winds as they carried the sound of his laughter out to sea.

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On a cloudy summer morning, we walked Coco along a coastal nature reserve. At first she took slow, deliberate show dog steps across the wet grass before giving up and bouncing about happily in puddles. As if on cue, the skies opened and large droplets began to fall. We looked about in wonder as the rain approached in a misty cloak of water from the east.

There is much joy to be found when one finds themselves caught in the refreshing summer rain.


~Joining Jodi and friends~ This week I am drawn to portraits that capture the wonder of children. Alice and Vicente explore cobblestone streets; Advay stares at a paper aeroplane through impossibly long eyelashes; a sweet babe enjoys a post-Santa baby chino; and Patrick and Claudia wonder at the various types of Christmas trees.

You can follow my 52 collection here.

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."
-John Ruskin

Love Bella

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