
As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in the house I grew up in, in Bridgetown WA, next to the fireplace! In December! That's unheard of.
But the weather is doing all sorts of things these days.
December has arrived and come to pass just as quickly it seems.
December is always a bit like that I guess, what with Christmas time and New Years etc eating into a whole bunch of time. I remember this being a nice time of year for having a long over-due break, but now I feel like a break is not what I need - there's work to be done and I need to get on with it!
Again, a lot seems to have happened since my last journal! Was I expecting to be in WA still? I'm not sure. Possibly. It seemed to be confirmed when I decided to start looking at vans on gumtree.
After some time looking, and as I was leaving the Dep of Transport as a WA driver again (as I'd decided moving back as a base - at least, was a good idea) the perfect priced van seemed to appear, and it was a Starwagon, which I had been wanting. I checked out an older model one in VIC months earlier but it wasn't right at all. This one seemed to tick all the boxes though. On a whim, I jumped on a train to Glendalough to get ahead of all the interested potential buyers. Before long, I'd made a split-second decision to buy the van.
On the way to the bank - there it was.
The sign from the universe confirming my decision was the right one.
An S-Cargo parked out the front of a business called 'changeovers'!
Frankie the S-Cargo, you were a great first car. Now its time for Misty the Starbus. I've got big plans for Misty, so before I dash back up to the city for NYE tomorrow night I might try my hand at taking out the middle row of seats and getting started on curtains which I've just found the perfect fabric for.
But the Starbus will be a long term project, and she's definitely headed for the east coast, but when and where, time will tell.
In music news, as well as having spent a fair bit more time down in Freo, busking at the markets, playing open mics etc, and helping out at Janets market stall Little Sketchy, I was lucky enough to be selected as a South by Southbound finalist.
This involved competing in heats at Clancys Fish Pub in Dunsborough.
On the day of the heat I managed to lose the tuner I usually use though.
So, when it came time to play, and one of my guitars wasnt working, I thought I could manage to do the set with a tuning change. Usually this would be fine, but the tuner played a trick on me. What felt like an eternity passed as I failed to successfully change the tuning of the guitar, then realising I wasn't noticing the sharp sign. I lost the crowd for a while there and focussed in on getting tuned and managed to finally get it done. After what could have been another whole song, the crowd applauds as I get back on with it.
But needless to say, I was no longer really a contender in this. And just as well, because I was stoked to see Brayden Sibbald up there on stage at Southbound (which I managed to find myself at anyway), do yourself a favour and download or have a listen to his track Maybe I Was Small. Powerful stuff.
After a low key Christmas spent with my Mum and my brother doing a small ancenstral tour and flying even smaller kites (or failing to) Southbound was upon us, and I had planned to be helping out at The Kiwi Chef, but due to numbers being not quite as they had expected, I instead found myself becoming an extra addition to the body marbling team, spending most of the time either there serending bored staff, or dancing like my life depended on it between the Silent Disco and Tomas Fords Crap Rave Party. The only thing that could possibly beat this is if Tomas Ford created started a Silent Crap Rave Disco. You're welcome.
Which brings me back to the road home. I was already in the process of deciding that, YES, WA roads are the scariest of all. Why does everyone say 'stay safe on the roads' over here? Because the majority of people drive like lunatics. There's speeding up and slowing down and there's tailgating on winding roads, and all o that jazz. There's signs on the freeways sayng 'give way to merging traffic' ... really??!
But then!
I finally had my first experience with a Roo and a Road.
And this is after having traversed the majority of Australian main roads over the last several years. Including the Nullarbor and the East Coast.
In all that time, the only thing I had seen that came close was a sheep standing on the side of the road when crossing the nullarbor.
That is until today.
After managing to get away from a tailgater, I knew something was up with this drive and that after a big few days getting festy, I should be extra focussed on the road. Don't ask me how I knew this, I just knew. Then, just outside Greenbushes, there he was up ahead bouncing around like its nobodys business, a young roo dancing dangerously close to death. His path was set on a bit of an angle that put him pretty much exactly where I was going to be if I didnt brake immediately. So I did that, and at a much slower speed, my starbus and the roo had this awkward encounter which was a little bit like... 'oops, sorry, where are you going, I'm going this way, ok you go that way I'll go this way'
Luckily I was well up ahead of the rest of the traffic flow or things could have been a bit hectic. But things seemed to flow and after a little bit of shock, I was more impressed than anything that I managed to cause no damage to the roo or the van.
Here is an artists impression of what this little scene looked like:
And so, as I get ready to go to bed and wake up to meet the last day of the year, I am grateful for my life.
And all the people in it, including those I've just met, and those I haven't seen in a long time. I am grateful for every crossing of every path. Even our young friend the roo.
See you in 2017!
And all the people in it, including those I've just met, and those I haven't seen in a long time. I am grateful for every crossing of every path. Even our young friend the roo.
See you in 2017!