The Plunge Down Under

Dear Australia

In honor of Australia Day, here's a post I wrote nearly two years ago:

Dear Australia,

You and I had a rough beginning.  I had never thought about you much until R came home one day and rocked my world by telling me there was a great job opportunity for him in Melbourne.  I thought that I had prepared myself for this big moment, only I expected the job would be in London, Brussels, Paris or perhaps Berlin.  But Melbourne?  Was there a city called Melbourne outside of Florida?  I gave myself five seconds to consider it.   Absolutely not, never, no way, not us.  I told R he wasn't allowed to even say your name again in my presence.

McConnells Mill: Beauty in All Seasons

Our last full day with our Australian friends before they headed back to Melbourne dawned gray and bleak.  I am pretty sure the weather managed to achieve the maximum level of bleakness possible for a sun-less day in January in Pittsburgh.   Around about 3pm we congregated around the dining room table, some of us exhausted from the endless chauffeuring that weekends bring, others exhausted from packing and re-packing suitcases, and all of us with spirits that matched the weather.  Fortunately Gillian happened to scroll back to a photo of McConnell's Mill I sent her last year, and when she showed it to me, I said, "Let's go."

My expectations, frankly, were low.  I anticipated muddy paths against a background of boring grays and browns.  It wasn't the way I wanted them to experience one of my very favorite places.  But it had to beat moping around the table, we figured, and sure enough it did.  In fact, McConnells Mill did more than that.  It surprised and delighted all of us in spite of the overcast skies.  A thin layer of snow increased the natural beauty of the setting, and as the light began to fade, more flakes began falling.  It added the perfect touch to a day that suddenly seemed beautiful rather than dreary, peaceful rather than tense, and invigorating rather than dull. Not bad for this modest-but-lovely little corner north of Pittsburgh.

Hanging Out in Washington DC

When we lived in Melbourne, we spent so much of our time sightseeing around Australia that locals joked with us that we knew their country better than they did.  There may have been some truth to those claims.  We were certainly motivated to see as much as possible, and it was exciting to explore in a different hemisphere. We have not done nearly so well taking our kids to see stuff in the United States.  They have toured the capital cities of both Canada and Australia, but Washington D.C.?  No, at least not before last week.  I guess it's appropriate that it took the encouragement of our Aussie friends to finally take our kids to the American capital city.  Visiting D.C. was in fact not only their idea, but (I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit) we relied on them to serve as our tour guides as well.