In the end...

last...

bike ride home from work;

meal at the wharf;

night hugging the crick-star in Darwin;

face-to-face contact with my clients at work;

watching of $1 Tuesday videos from the local store;

Wednesday before we move to Melbs.

And the last chance to shriek when seeing a crocodile. Boy, I will miss freaking out every time I go near water!

Where I lay my hat... My place and yours...

Wow, what a perfect MEME theme this week (thanks MMAM and Myrlte & Eunice)! Perfect as I'm about to pack up all my belongings and transport from one side of Aus to the other! Perfect as I will be living out of a suitcase for a month. Perfect as moving is an ideal time to re-think what treasures belong with you. Perfect as this upheaval is putting life in general in perspective. What do I want from a new place to live? What is important for a work-life balance? What is important for my relationships? What gives me peace? What looks after my mental health? What helps me love and serve others?

Is it stuff? Is it belonging? Is it spirituality? Is it security?

I'm not sure of answers, and thinking about things is making me listless. But I do know some things that are essential. Where I lay my hat has to do with the following things:

1. Where the fella is.

2. Where the Crick-star is.

3. Where I feel loved and can give lots of love.

What is important for keeping your hat hanging - with bells and ribbons on?

This is Mr Cricket, my little cat. He is not so little any more. But he still likes to hide in safe places.

My place's best feature, so nyoice!

(a tropical lightning storm around 2 a.m. - so powerful, so beautiful, so Darwin)

What is unusual about my place? This is the question asked by Tony from Little Suitcase in the MMAM meme.

Lots of things really. But nothing that makes me cringe too much. And nothing that is really out of the ordinary. We live in a pretty standard apartment. Three bedrooms, an open plan living area, a decent sized balcony. Nothing strange there. We don't live up that high, just on the fifth floor. We get decent reception on the telly, can spy on the neighbours if needed but have sufficient privacy too. What is unusual is maybe where the house is, who else lives around, and that it is in a tropical climate.

We live in the middle of three apartment blocks, all of which have the same street number. This is unusual. You give directions to people and say "come to the middle tower". Lost tradies will approach you down stairs and say things like "where do I find unit 78?", as it could be in any of the three buildings. Our building is named after a war person, some guy who did something heroic. There is a picture of him next to the lift, with a spiel about his accomplishments. This is strange, maybe a little embarrassing also. And everyone who lives in these apartments works for the company the fella does. I really cringe about this, and certainly wouldn't say this is nyoice. If I'd known before we had moved here, I would have found alternative accommodation. But it hasn't worked out too badly.

But what is unusual, and the feature that I love is the view! We overlook the water, seeing the sun rise and set over the sea daily. There is a fishing boat marina just outside, and when a good haul comes in fireworks are set off on the boats. One such catch reached shore last night. It was spectacular to have fireworks exploding right outside our bedroom window. Oh, I will miss this. I've not lived so near to the ocean before and truly love sitting on my balcony and contemplating life. With a good book, a glass of red and the breeze lightly rustling through my pot plants. Please enjoy this unusual feature of my place, particularly as we are leaving it in only two weeks!