January 2014

Holy crap has it been freaking hot? Heat waves with too many days over 40° and nights in the high 20’s. I managed to survive 8 years in Brisbane without air con but I’m happily depleting the ozone layer down here, cranking up the a/c constantly. It doesn’t help that my living area gets the afternoon sun.  It’s bone searingly feral.

Going back to my previous blog on the subject of Bucket Lists, I received some interesting comments and it will come as no surprise to anyone that I’m a big fan of them. I wrote mine back in 2005 (the movie came out in 2007) after reading an article that suggested making a list of 50 things you want to do before you die. Well, the first 20 were a no-brainer and the next 10 -15 required a bit of thought and the last lot took several weeks but I finally had my 50. And then I just kept adding to it and am still adding to the list with it currently standing at 87 although I have completed quite a few. Before adding to the list I jot down ideas and mull them over – is it something that I really want to do, is it important to me, will I regret not doing it? – before adding them.

While I know a bucket list is a living document that can change over time, I had a good look at the list last year and thought about deleting a couple of things but then decided against it. I’m taking the view that if I’ve put it on there, it was significant enough not to be deleted. The funny thing is, I would have deleted learning to play the violin because I seriously couldn’t see it happening and now I’ve crossed it off.

I do feel the movie has done a bit of disservice to bucket lists because most people seem to think they have to be huge things like climbing Everest or solving world hunger. It’s simply a list of things you want to do before you die and it doesn’t matter what it is – paint the house, go to an art gallery, zoo, read a specific book. I know my list involves travelling the world and doing a few bizarre and random things but one of my things was to read Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom (really good book, by the way).
One of my treasured possessions is the journal I’ve created with each goal written out and when the goal is completed I stick in photos (preferably of me doing whatever it is) or memorabilia of the event.

And now to the events in January. New Year’s Eve and my birthday on the 2nd were briefly covered in December’s blog however I did have a kind of birthday/housewarming dinner party with Kay, David, John, Mary and Laura. It’s so nice to have enough chairs to seat more than 3 people at my dining table and to be in a house big enough to have people over. But now I have to bloody well move……soooo not happy Jan!!! My lease isn’t being renewed because the owner wants to move back in…grrrrrr!

I went to the baseball at Norwood Oval – Adelaide vs Canberra or was it Melbourne…could have been Sydney but anyway, it was pretty boring until the 7th inning and then it got really exciting. We got ripped off badly when one of our guys hit a home run, which the fielder caught as he fell through the fence. If the fence hadn’t broken, he wouldn’t have caught it…therefore he was safe, according to me and the rest of the crowd. Alas the umpires over-ruled us.

I chucked my bike in the car one Sunday morning and parked at the Botanic Gardens and then rode around the entire CBD through parklands. I didn’t get far before I came across the Bocce field/sand pit and had a bit of a sit under a beautiful gum tree and watch the games for a bit. Going through Rymill Park, detouring around all the joggers and dog walkers, checking out the Clipsal 500 track, this area was beautiful parkland and great paths. It was really interesting to watch the parks change in their style – the more populated green parks, the sparser playing fields (hockey, soccer etc) along Greenhill Rd, going through the gardens along South Tce, and even scrubby/bush type parks. West Tce was a bit deadpan (pun in tended) with just the cemetery for company and I headed down North Tce and past the old goal to Bonython Park and picked up the path along the river, up to the Festival Centre and along North Tce and back to the Botanic Gardens. The trip was about 20kms and took about 2 hours, I wasn’t out to set any speed records, just enjoy the ride.

My parent’s celebrated their 61st Wedding Anniversary but didn’t actually do anything, I just felt I had to mention it because it’s pretty awesome.

Kay and David did their annual pilgrimage to Port Elliot so I had to go down for the day and check it out. I’m sure I’ve been there before but I really have no recollection of the place. But it was fabulous day and David made me a wonderful omelette and I hate to admit that my face got rather sunburnt.

Dad and I decided to check out Stage 5 of the Tour Down Under on the Willunga leg. I had found a place to watch from that I didn’t think would be too crowded but I miscalculated how to get there and we ended up on Aldinga Rd and it turned out to be an excellent possie.  We watched them come around twice and then decided to head home. As we were crossing a bridge that goes over Tatachilla Rd, which the cyclists were due to come down Dad had the brilliant idea of stopping, so we pulled over and walked back to stand on the bridge and watch 150 odd cyclists come speeding down the hills and pass directly under us. World class cycling event, day out with my Dad, all good.

You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. – John C Maxwell
I found this quote a few weeks ago, alas not much has changed but I live in hope.