a quiet day in the country

Today my cousins took me to an art gallery where there was a special exhibit of post second world war haute couture. The displays were terrific, but I think I enjoyed the photographs taken for Harpers Bazaar and Vogue the best. The lighting, the contrast of the very rich and the poorer people and surroundings, the decadence, was captured so perfectly in black and white. Some of the styles of clothing I recognized (in muted and less expensive form) from pictures of my childhood.

It has been quite restful being with my cousins, and really nice to meet family on my dad's side. My father was a bit of an 'afterthought' (or lack of thought) in his family, quite a bit younger than his other siblings. And then he fathered me when he was 47 - I'm the youngest of three. Which means all of my first cousins on his side of the family are dead now, and most of my second cousins are older than I. These folk outside Melbourne are second cousins, and there may be a once-removed involved but I forget what that means. But they are still Vindens - very much into music, and they bear the family resemblance (which I don't...but they remind me of my father), and we discover other little similarities the more we are together.  Family is good - I've had so little contact with extended family during my lifetime, growing up in Canada with almost all the relatives over in the UK.  It is great to make contact.

My cousin Peter is a prof in the forestry department at the uni, which has a branch out here in the countryside where they live.  They have 55 acres on a hillside, with an olive grove and lots of fruit trees, including many cider apples.  I'm about to sample the cider now.  In addition to olive oil and olives, they also make fantastic chocolates and marmalade.  All this while working full time.

Peter and another prof have invented a way of microwaving wood to make it dry and porous, and then 'filling' it with resin to make it durable. The entire process takes about two seconds (with a very strong microwave beam!) and the wood looks exactly like normal wood, but is 7 times more durable. They are looking for a company to get on board (no pun intended!) with them to mass produce it. It would be an incredible way to save forests.

Tomorrow I'm of to NZ, wondering what adventures await me there. I'm hoping for a more restful time there as well - Queensland was great but I was up very early every day and then it was go, go, go all day long.

By the way...I forgot to mention about my trip 'up north' to warmer climes (!) - I also saw a field of wallabies.  And I licked a lemon ant.  Repeatedly. Yes. It does taste like lemon. I was going to eat him but felt he would probably like to go home and tell his friends about his adventures.

Now, for the poetry lovers among you - do you know the origin of the following lines from a poem about ants? Well, actually, it is really about modern life, culture and identity:

Then word goes forth in Formic,

"Death's come to Jerry McCormic,

Our fearless forager Jerry."

(p.s. Formic is an acid excreted by ants, which is like a trail for other ants to follow)