Semi Isolation Cnineteen

Just a few pics of my environment while I am still permitted to leave my dwelling. (Wherever that may be)

I have not posted about the impacts of C-19 community controls, there is so much that could be said about the ways we need to change our behaviour and how society is responding to the continual updates and adjustments to laws. 

In the NT we still have some freedoms that friends and family in other states lost weeks ago. 

It is only a matter of time before things become more desperate. But, before that time comes, we are still permitted to enjoy the little things that make life worth living.

Going for a walk is thankfully still permissible. 

Nightcliff Jetty just before the rain

Sample of blue colour extracted from the Clitoria ternatea flower

Planning to create a non alcoholic cocktail from ginger, coconut water and the flour of the Clitoria ternatea plant

Pizza made from scratch.

I've also been baking bread and making pizzas!

Fairy Rings

Stuffed up big time! I just found a really cool ring of mushrooms (known as a fairy ring)

So I stepped into the circle! Apparently to step into a fairy ring invokes a supernatural punishment and can condemn me to madness dancing round the ring for eternity! Or some other physical injury.

Now I'm gonna have to go back at night and run around the Damned thing 9 times to get them off my case! Why can't I leave these things alone?

Breathing Sorghum in season

Some photos from commute to life in rounds of days and hours....

Sorghum shines but a few days

Back on the beat

Life for me over the past month has been full of new experiences and  mostly joyful interactions and opportunities to share with others and learn about myself in new ways.

It has been quite wonderful to connect with new people and to explore aspects of myself in a safe environment where people don't feel judged or devalued for who they are.

I have made some new friends and have been spending time with new people...

In the business of these social adventures I have tended to neglect my own personal solo adventures, rituals and times for quiet reflection.

This week I have tried to withdraw slightly from the social and just spend a little time alone, in my own space, without company.

Over the past few weeks I've had access to motorized transport which has allowed me to zoom around town at my leisure. I have enjoyed the idea of getting back on a motorcycle and hanging out with other riders. I was looking forward to the camaraderie and the mobility that a motorcycle would present, went to the local bike dealership and found the perfect  second hand bike at a price that was too good to be true! A Suzuki Intruder 250cc. In great condition! I planned to buy it but held back... I thought about the personal gains I had made through riding my bicycle, the solitary time, sweating it out on the paths and trails, the health benefits... and I sabotaged my chances of getting that motorcycle by waiting until the end of the day to pay my deposit. When I got to the shop it had been sold!

I can't believe I didn't buy this beautiful machine! It was in perfect condition!

 

Foregoing motorized transport has been a little inconvenient back on my bicycle and am sweating it out on the time consuming commute to work along the coastal trail. It eats up a fair bit of my time but I know it is healthy for me in the long run.

Just thought I'd share this stuff as a marker in time. No matter how much I value the company of others, I do not forget the importance of solitude.

Weather

Finally Some decent rain in Darwin!

 Storm clouds building early morning

 

 Then at about 9am she came down! Big one Rain! Flooding everything. 
Interestingly the new Flood mitigation area near the airport appeared to make bugger all difference, Millions spent, large scale vegetation removal and excavation work to create a basin for water to stagnate in and Rapid Creek road was flooded as usual. 

I was working when I saw it and didn't have time to take photos but the flood mitigation area had a shallow pool of water sitting in it which would likely have been absorbed by the vegetation they removed to build the bloody thing anyway!

 

Blue faced honeyeater & the Rubbish Warrior

So I was down at Nightcliff foreshore with Trev and he was giving me a presentation of the comedy skit he'd been working on and would perform at Happy Yes that night. It was getting pretty animated (as usual) and this Blue Faced Honeyeater came down from the tree and started interacting with him. As Trev was waving his arms around the bird started dancing and squawking and came right up close. They were both bouncing around,flapping wings and waving arms making a racket at each other. Trev raising his voice so he could be heard, which only invoked more flamboyant behavior from the bird!

 
When Trev finally completed his performance he sat down and began to eat his pie. The bird stayed close and moved in fast to collect his share of the meal. He danced around on the table and took crumbs of the meat pie until his hunger was satisfied. 

Sometimes I wonder why I continue to live here in Darwin.... a small town on the edge of the continent (Island?), It's a hot and sweaty place too far from any towns worth driving to, if Asia wasn't so close it could feel quite remote... But things like this keep happening to remind me why I love it and I stay another year!  Where else could I possibly go after living here?