5:31pm
I worried I wouldn't do anything worthy of mention today, thus breaking the rule Shaughn set for me before I left ("I will not tolerate you leaving me," he said, "unless at least one good thing happens to you every day you're away.") So I got away from the computer, threw my stuff together and went for a walk.
It was a hungry walk, so I decided to get food. I bought pizza from an almost overly friendly and strangely handsome man. Then I bought strawberries from a fruit&veggie place that had hidden from me on previous trips to the corner strip mall (I'm sure that's not what they call it). And I bought "Ice Cream Soda" at the milk bar because it was yellow and looked tasty.
Now I'm sitting in the botanical gardens eating. There are no children here at this late hour, but the place is still alive like it is whenthey are running around. Presently, it's just me and a lady reading a book in the sun. It's quiet. Nice.
Food does not taste the same here in Australia. Pizza, veggie wraps and garden burgers all have very different flavours. I'm not sure what it is, but everytime I go to put one of them in my mouth, I expect it to taste a certain way and it never does. Maybe it's just me and my own psychological attachments, but I miss the way food tastes in Canada. I really miss Shaughn's cooking, there is nothing like it here.
(That reminds me of the time I told my Baba that Shaughn likes to cook and her response was an emphatic "Marry him!" I said, "Okay, I will." The rest, as they say...)
It's nearly 6pm and the sun is still beating down on my back like it's midday. I can't remember what time it gets dark here.
Shanda is happy today. I am glad for that. Amy told me all about the McMaster and James show she was forced to go to by herself and how she feels uncomfortable at work. Her throat is sore, she's tired, I wish she'd feel better. I wish there were things I could do from here. I will help with her play, that I can do. Jay said stupid things until I started talking and then was very honest. It was helpful. Shaughn told me all about his weekend in which he got hit on by lots of girls which annoyed him so he kissed his guy friend to get them to go away. I guess it worked, but I told him no more sharing his mouth until I come home! ;) He had a good time. I am glad he went. The dancing and the jamming and the spending time with his friends was the best thing he could've done. He is exhausted now, but I think he feels better than he has in a while.
We both experimented with not actively missing each other this weekend and our test seems to have been successful. It is true that I miss him the most when I'm talking to him.
There is a little blonde girl who reminds me of Dana when she was small playing tag on the playground with her father. It all seems elaborately choreographed. There is a natural pattern to children's games that becomes indeciferable with age. (Angela likes to climb trees.)
The words "i miss you" should be losing meaning by now, but every time I say them, it is even more sincere than the last.
It has become quite cool in my neck of the woods since the shadows moved.
I am the kind of person who inspects a strawberry very closely before eating it. I am working on becoming the kind of person who dosen't care how much strawberries cost.
I think about watching the fence until Robert walks by. But that could take a long time and he probably wouldn't even recognize me in this light. What does that mean??
When I am a mother, I want to have energy enough to be a playmate too.
All the food is gone and the game of tag has resumed. 6:39
6:47pm
When I take pictures of pretty backgrounds, I wish I had someone beautiful with me to set against them. That's the trouble with travelling alone.
to Tuesday, November 21, 2000
to australian tour diary
oz = can
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