aaaand, back to what passes for normal

Today was a milestone. My bike has been fixed for almost two weeks now, and today for the first time I got up the courage to actually ride it. In the left lane! Surrounded by Australian drivers who don’t know the meaning of the word “yield!” (They really don’t. Their signs say “Give way.”) I was extremely careful to take back ways, even turning around once to avoid one of Australia’s terrifying and ubiquitous five-way intersections. I even went through a roundabout…twice!

When I arrived at the grocery store, I paused a minute to catch my breath and quell my poor heart—pounding from exertion and also from the sheer terror of navigating the narrow, busy streets just before rush hour. I had an even scarier task ahead of me: shopping for holiday ingredients in the food mart. in a forty-five minute span, wandering among aisles of Christmas cake ingredients (their Christmas cake is our fruitcake), prominently displayed hams, and thousands upon thousands of chocolates, I located treviso radicchio, treacle, and pineapple slices but failed to locate marshmallows, golden syrup, frozen cranberries or pie crust. As I stood staring helplessly at the Australian equivalent of Jell-o and wondering why it came in port wine, among other flavors, the radio unbelievably broke into “I’ll be home for Christmas.” My jaw dropped. “We’ll have snow…and mistletoe…” The sweat was still trickling down my back and the sun outside was glaring in its meanest Outback way. I ended up with raspberry-flavored gelatin and short pastry and got the hell out.

I’d like to conclude this segment with a list of items that appeared in my house after mom and dad’s departure, because I believe it will illuminate something about all of us.

One wet beach towel
One pair flippers (men’s)
Two sets of extra housekeys
Four half-empty bottles of sunscreen
One full bottle of disinfectant
Four half-full water glasses
Three empty water bottles
One bottle white wine, one bottle port wine, ½ bottle fortified Muscat wine
$14.55 in spare change
One rhinestone earring
One Australian birding book, a David Baldacci novel, and a Bill Bryson book
One Southern hemisphere star chart
One guide to the Australian flying fox
Five newspapers
Three magazines
Two partly-used phone cards
Three partly-used bus tickets
One box Rice Krispies, half a Cadbury bar, three varietals of tea, two flavors of goat cheese, one box Splenda, one bottle Tylenol, one bag mixed nuts, one bag macadamia nuts, one can Vegamite, one fruit tart, one Ned Kelly pie (ingredients: beef, potato, carrot, and “pie meat”), half of a whiskey truffle, and a single Anzac cookie

Not to mention all my cool new stuff, like the echidna tea towel, wombat-shaped hotplates, a well-greased bike, some cool new plants, and a Lauren Bacall jacket. In other words, it was great having you here, Mom and Dad.

p.s. still finishing up the blog about our adventures...will publish asap.