Category: son

freedom · friends · son

Leaving on a Jet ‘Plane

Joanne7 Comments
When you were a little boy, did you ever dream of the countries you would visit one day?

He’s leaving on a jet ‘plane this morning. He’ll be at the Brisbane airport now; his luggage will have been checked and probably loaded onto the plane. He’ll also probably be on the plane himself, sitting with two of his best mates from his childhood.

Have they been allocated good seats? Who else will be on board the plane, taking the twenty-two hour flight with them? Will he enjoy the movies he watches? His only concern about his entire trip was the flight there and the flight home again.

No, no, don’t get me wrong, he loves air travel, that’s not his concern; it’s the boredom; it’s the wasted days.

“Try to focus on the adventure ahead of you, of seeing a whole new country on the other side of the world”, his father had suggested. “That will make the flight seem shorter.”

The clock on the mantelpiece strikes 11 am. Is the ‘plane running to schedule? Is he comfortably sitting aboard the plane, perhaps in a window seat, watching as the ground races past his window and the ‘plane takes off, lifting higher and higher, the ground becoming smaller and smaller?

When I speak with my blogging friends in the U.S.A. why is it that they feel so close to me, yet when my son is taking the twenty-two hour flight to the other side of the world, it suddenly feels as if he is going to another planet?

Travel safe, my boy. Enjoy your adventure. Make the most of the trip that you and your mates have planned for months.

Your room will be waiting here for you when you return. I will be so excited as the days draw nearer to your return home, just as I have done when you have travelled overseas before.

Why didn’t Japan or Sri Lanka seem so far away? I believe I am only taking on board your concerns as my own. But haven’t I always done that?

The “Big Apple” awaits you, my son; your five-week adventure begins today. xxxxxx

~ ~ ~

Australia · gratitude · music · nostalgia · old house · son · spiritual

Capturing the Moment

JoanneLeave a comment
Home for this eight legged fellow.

“Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no delay, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”~Lord Chesterfield.

The above quote sums up an important lesson I have learned during 2011.

Web of diamonds and pearls.

With my camera at the ready, as I see a magical moment unfolding, I photograph it. It’s no use in thinking we can go back to the moment later. If we fail to seize the moment, it will be lost to us, forever.

During the year I have captured many moments in time with my camera. We are fortunate enough to live in a generation when we can click away to our hearts content, transfer the photos to our computer and edit later. No more messy and expensive film processing for us!

Most of my captured moments didn’t make it to my blog page, for no other reason than there were so many of them! What better time to share some of my year as it draws to a close.

Memories of my childhood home.

 

During my visit to the Blue Mountains in April this year with my youngest son, I captured days which will live in my heart forever. There are those who say you can’t return to your past. Well, I didn’t do that; I re-discovered my past surroundings, through the eyes of an adult. The home where I grew up is obviously loved by its present owner, with both the building and garden being well maintained.

A Generation Later

Watching my son ride his skate-board along the same street where I had played as a child was one of those special moments, in need of capturing in the instant of the time.

School Days

My old school, the one where I began kindergarten at the age of four, seemed to me to be captured in a time-warp. A well maintained time-warp I might add!

Echo Point, Katoomba.

The award for the most surreal moment of the year, when time literally stood still for me, happened when my boy and I visited the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains. As we headed towards the lookout, the sounds of a didgeridoo echoed throughout the expanse of the valley. If you are not familiar with the sound, I have found a sample on You Tube, which you can listen to here…

The man responsible for the Magical Sounds kindly allowed me to photograph him, then complimented my son on his choice of cap he was wearing, a glossy, purple, checkered number he had found a few days earlier!

Making memories with loved ones is really something special; seizing the moment and recognising it for what it is embeds the moment in your heart.

Treasuring the moment, and moving right along in the direction of the next memory is absolutely priceless.

gratitude · happiness · inspiration · son · Tweed Valley

As the Day Winds Down…

Joanne8 Comments
The day is ending

I’ve been parousing my photos this afternoon, looking for a particular series taken in May of this year, to add to Facebook.

Feathers or leaves?

However…I’m easily distracted!

Instead, I have come across another series of photos, taken not so long ago, which I think are really good. Not that I’m any kind of photographic expert, but I do believe that if you see something special in a photo, chances are, someone else out there may also appreciate it.

Norfolk Pine

So, why not share?

Down the lane

My husband and son were still hard at it, killing weeds and mowing the lawn; my contribution to their efforts was to take their photo!

Silhouettes

Don’t the leaves of the trees looks beautiful against the sky? One of my favourite photos to take is at the time of day when the sun decides to peer through the branches and leaves of the trees foliage, so sparkly and pretty.

Back now to the original task…Facebook awaits. 🙂

 

friends · nostalgia · old house · son

Revisiting Homes of the Past

Joanne6 Comments
Side Veranda

During my recent visit to the Blue Mountains, the area in which I spent my earliest years, I paid a visit to a number of homes throughout the area that had played a significant role in my childhood days.

At one of the homes I found more than I had bargained for, as the home had a huge “AUCTION” sign attached to the front fence.

This home had belonged to the family of my best friend in fourth grade, Christine. Standing outside of the front gate of the house, after all of these years, the memories of childhood playtime came flooding back.

Christine’s house had seemed very old when I was a child; now the old house sat among the uncared for gardens looking for all the world as it had the last time I had played there, baring the neglect.

A quick visit to the real estate agent confirmed the house was vacant and I was given permission to explore the property.

Thirteen year old Adam (who accompanied me on the trip) was a tad wary of the old home, proclaiming it to be “spooky”. I assured him that the home was indeed old, although one of the friendliest homes you could ever wish for. No bad vibes at this property!

Adam and I, with my trusty camera in hand, explored the front back and both sides of the garden, which to my amazement looked almost exactly as I remembered it.

Had anyone cared for this home at all since Christine’s family had moved away, I wondered?

Stairs to the Back Door

The rickety old stairs, leading up to the back door looked the same. The wide verandas around three sides of the home, where Christine and I would play together on rainy days hadn’t changed a bit.

Would you use this tub?

Underneath the back of the house we located an old laundry room, complete with cement wash tub.

Potting Shed

To the right hand side of the house I was delighted to find a lovely little building, which I imagine would have been a potting shed in its day. Funny, I didn’t remember the little shed, although perhaps it had been off-limits to us children, or overgrown with vines, which had recently been cleared away, no doubt in an effort to spruce up the property for its sale.

Too Spooky!

By the time the potting shed discovery was made, Adam had begun to ask if we could leave. The potting shed really gave him the spooks! But I loved it!

Lucky horseshoes in the potting shed

With a bit of encouragement I convinced Adam that it was completely safe to go onto the verandas to peer inside the windows, just to get a glimpse of the rooms with the high ceilings, fireplaces and wooden floors that I remembered.

And what exactly did we see through the windows?

That’s another story….for tomorrow. 🙂

Changes · nostalgia · son

The Long and Winding Road ~ An Adult Perspective

Joanne2 Comments

This morning, before he went to school, I took thirteen year old Adam, (um…fourteen before the month ends!) to the dentist.

He was just a tad overdue for a visit and well, yes, he has grown a lot this year, in fact he is now taller than I am. As we walked up the stairs out the front of the dental surgery, Adam commented, “these stairs used to be so much bigger!”

Isn’t it funny how we have a different perspective on the size of our familiar surroundings as we grow up?

A couple of months ago I took a long overdue trip back to my hometown, revisiting the once familiar surroundings of my childhood.

Since returning home I have realised that it will take me quite some time to get my head around my trip. It was certainly a wanted trip. I would even go as far as calling it a needed trip. And while I am progressively sorting out the events of my time back in my hometown in my own mind, there’s one thing I’m certain of….everything seems a whole lot bigger when we’re small!

A perfect example of this fact would be a road that I travelled along on countless occasions as a child. The road went on, and on, and on….

Not only was the road long, it was (and still is) a winding road. Some of the sharp bends in the road take you around a full one hundred and eighty degrees!

Realising that my child’s perspective differed greatly from my adult perspective on a number of occasions, I needed photographic evidence that my winding road was indeed as winding as my child’s mind remembered it, hence the above photo, taken by Adam from the passenger seat of my car, as we approached one of the extreme bends.

And as for the length of the “long and winding road that went on and on and on”? I would estimate the bendy section would last for a maximum of maybe two kilometres. The whole road itself, from the entry of the road and ending at my old home, is seven kilometres, a far cry from what I thought was around twenty kilometres!

Taking a journey back in time can be a real eye-opener!