~In the Dreamtime~

A Kamilaroi story tells of a magnificent male Kangaroo, so overtaken by the dancing of the locals that    he joined the circle and danced a special dance that is still celebrated today.

The Dreaming of Aboriginal Australia, ed Jean A Ellis, 2006

I am learning about this concept of Aboriginal Dreamtime and after so many hours at 28,000 feet above the earth, here I am in my own. I blame it all on the final day in Sydney when I looked into the eyes of these amazing creatures, saw the Hobbit film and began to recite the WB Yeats poem The Lake Isle of Inisfree in my sleep.

"I will arise and go now and go to Inisfree and a small cabin build there of clay and wattles made....."

This is usually a signal that it's time to go home. I learned it as a very young girl, the one poem that has stuck and it comes to me at these times. Combine this with my over active imagination, the strangeness and magic of long distance flying and Dreamtime overtakes reality.

To add to it I saw Eddie Izzard in Dublin on my way home. I mention this because of course if you want surreal hysterical comedy, he is the man, and Dreamtime would be his usual abode. So somehow I found myself merging it all together with my jetlag and experiencing such discombobulation that I simply can't tell which way is up, who's who, or what's what.......

I'm not at all sure how long I will remain in Dreamtime, for a while at least! Meanwhile normal service should resume one of these days.....


PS I usually resist making clickable links but wowsers the Dreamtime has me confused and while my brain was busy writing my hands went and made those links in a flash! If you ever struggle with computers the Eddie link is really funny......

Also posted on Vision and Verb a global gathering of creative women today

~Transported by a plush French cafe~

Was it the purple upholstery or the gold painted furniture? Was it the light streaming in from the early morning Sydney streets? Was it the perfectly coiffed French waitress, all the way from Brittany? 

Whatever it was, the shadowy interior of this cafe transported me to where the coffee was perfect, the home made marshmallow "incroyable" and the city life fantasy complete. 

Just one cup of coffee in the right light in a plush French cafe. 

~The eyes behind the lens~

Far from familiar meandering lanes, I am here in the midst of the dramatic lines of Sydney. Strong diagonals on the Bridge, soaring curves on the Opera House, tiny human forms a reminder of our presence.

A woman tied to a harness sets out on the climb. It will take three hours and 189 dollars to complete a walk to the top of the bridge and back. I savour planet earth, sit back and soak it up, from below. I didn't understand it before, why so many of our young people live, work, settle here? But Australia is beautiful and I am beginning to get it.

Although moved by the effort and imagination, I am intimidated by the height of the Coat Hanger Bridge and go into frozen denial even on the lower pathway. The camera is a distraction which soon works it's magic and I get lost in the moment.

From nothing they made this place and dreamed large. I study old photographs of the 1400 men who worked on the Bridge with their bare hands. 16 of them died on the job. The white hot rivets of steel made their lives a misery and sparks shredded their overalls within days. No safety harnesses, no hard hats.

But it's the invisible photographer who I remember now. The one who carried that primitive equipment all the way up here to capture their faces, the see for the first time the view of the harbour, to marvel at the engineering and craftsmanship.

I think of the eyes behind that lens and in this moment I share the passion of so many who walked the path before me.

~Wish you were here ........a few postcards from Sydney~

Wish you were here, the surf's up.......

Wish you were here, life on the ocean wave.......

Wish you were here, tis a dreamy view......

Wish you were here, the flowers are so exotic......

Wish you were here, although it's autumn and the shadows are long it's still 23 degrees......

Wish you were here, you would never tire of looking at this.....

Wish you were here, cos just for no reason they have fireworks over Cockle Bay......