not that heinlein

the aussies do have a sense of humor. at least that’s what we thought when we came across this historical marker along the lake in our neighborhood the other day. it’s like a sign saying, ‘on this date in 1926, we started pouring raw sewage into the river.’

now i could be wrong. to be honest, i didn’t do my due diligence as a journalist and even bother to read the fine print (or even the headlines). if i had read it, i might have found that this is an architectural and engineering triumph or some such, so better to be a good journalist and not let the facts get in the way of a good story.

the kangaroos have already stopped being a novelty. they’re everywhere, lying around under trees, cluttering up the golf courses.

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gotta say they seem very sweet, and unperturbed by passing humans, but the natives warn they do have a vicious kick. the main concern everyone tells us about is having one hop out in front of your car while you’re scooting about at 100kph (or 130, which is 80mph). such encounters are so common that auto insurance policies specifically exclude coverage for roo hits.

Sister cities

out walking in the neighborhood the other day we discovered the beautiful beijing garden nestled alongside the lake. turns out beijing and canberra are sister cities, and the chinese built this stunning arch to commemorate the friendship between the two peoples. the entire garden is a work of art.

it’s quite fascinating to learn the crucial role china plays in australia, and how a disruption in this ‘friendship’ is affecting normal life here. first, an authority on the subject told me today that there are now 1.2 million first generation chinese living in australia. that’s in a country with a total population of 25.5 million. my source, who is a senior china expert in the australian home ministry, says that number includes hundreds of thousands of chinese students who have come to study in australian universities, many of whom have chosen to stay on.

of course china is the big player in the indo-pacific region, and is working hard to increase its influence by many means, not all of them above board. australian and other officials have expressed concern that china is taking advantage of free press and free speech laws in western countries like australia to keep up a stready propaganda stream aimed at ethnic chinese in australia. this is in great measure to keep them in touch with the government narrative, thereby preventing them from being influenced by local news and information sources. at the same time, beijing works hard to prevent its own people in china from hearing news from outside, thus keeping a lock on the domestic narrative.

we’ve also discovered that supply lines from china have been slowed noticeably, causing a scarcity of chinese goods that stock the shelves of australian stores. for instance, we discovered a severe shortage of trek bikes when we went shopping today. treks, like many big brands, are all made in china. the slowdown is clearly china’s retribution for australia’s aggressive posture in demanding that china be forthcoming about the source of the corona virus. beijing reacted furiously after canberra led the international push for an investigation into the origin of the virus

the weather’s been colder the past week than during the two weeks in quarantine. the low tonight is expected to be -1 degree celsius, or about 30 fahrenheit. so we’ll expect ice cubes in the pool. even so, the afternoons have been gorgeous, nice swimming and running weather. the local say the canberra mountains are green this spring in a way they haven’t been for a long time. they say the winter rains have been the best they’ve been in decades, after something of a drought. so the place is blooming beautifully. we who don’t know any better think it’s just going to be lovely weather all the time, but we’ve been warned that in a few months, it’ll be 45 degrees celsius, or above 110 degrees fahrenheit. great fun.

now back to the sewer.

free at last, free at last. thank god almighty, we’re free at last. i hope i don’t get busted for cultural appropriation, but martin luther king’s words seemed appropriate as our 14 day divine incarceration came to an end at midnight last night.

i must admit that at 12:01 a.m. i walked out the front gate (in a light rain) and walked up the street to the edge of the park i’ve been ogling for the past two week from our front window.

this morning pernille and i got our shoes on shortly after morning coffee and went out for our first exploratory expedition through the woods and down to the lake’s edge, about a ten minute walk.

from there, through the rain clouds, we could see the communications tower on the hill across the water. we also spotted a family of kangaroos enjoying the morning sun. it’s hard to see in the picture above, but mama roo had a little one in her pouch.

later on, after the rain eased up, and after a bite to eat, we went out for another look, this time each to his/her own devices. pernille with her bird book and binoculars, i with my running shorts and hokas.

by this time the sailboats were dancing across the glassy surface of the water, and families were wandering the trails and picnicking on the lawn. runners and bikers and dog walkers share the park with the kangaroos.

it was a lovely 17 degrees celsius in our yarralumla neighborhood, about 62 fahrenheit with a warm sun that began to beat as the kilometers mounted. not bad, but if this is the first weeks of spring, i have a feeling we’ll be roasting soon.

as with many reccie runs, i wound up logging a bit more than i planned. toward the end the pace slowed as i chugged up the hill toward home, but i cranked out a tad over 9k in a bit over an hour. not what i would like, but it is what it is.

pernille identified several new birds. in her two weeks in canberra, she’s been able to ID nearly 25 different species. she’s tenacious.

i think we’re going to like this place.

and oh yeah, i met our other side neighbors today. they’re macedonians. the guy’s name is naum. his dad is victor. didn’t get too much info on them because i was exhausted and drenched in sweat after the run. but they are going to be great neighbors, just like the family on the other side. we are indeed lucky.

and though i didn’t take a picture, we did check out the canberra mosque, which is just across the street, next to the embassy. it’s a pretty busy place. lots of activity. and down at the end of the street is the mexican embassy. damn, we just missed the 16th of september observance. of course in this COVID area all diplomatic functions are on hold, but we still have wonderful memories of yelling the ‘grito’ at the mexican embassy in whatever capital we happen to be in. the mexican ambassadors are always great people, and i feel almost mexican, having been growed up within spittin’ distance of the rio grande.

tomorrow, the embassy. pernille’s first day in her new office. the routine is about to change.

got a note from australian health authorities today (four emails, actually) informing me (pernille, too), that we complete our quarantine at 11:59 p.m. (not midnight) tonight. it’s strange but i’m not sure how to think about this. quarantine has been delightful, serene, cleansing, introspective, all these things and more. pernille and i have had a very sweet time eating well, reading, (we even watched a few movies, which for us is rare), birdwatching (the birds of australia are exceptional), swimming, and maybe best of all, just being us, together.

met our next door neighbor over the fence today. cindy seems like she’s going to be a great neighbor. she has two teenaged boys, 15 and 14, orlando and hugo. they also feed our magpie friends. she said they feed them crickets, which they also use as feed for the big lizard that lives in the house. crickets? we’ve been feeding our gal oats and granola. she seems to love them.

cindy says she’s from ‘the country’. don’t yet know what that means. but we’re about to bust out and find out this country’s secrets. ‘the country’ could mean anything from half an hour outside town to the northern territory. we’ll see. starting tomorrow morning with a walk in the park nearby, maybe to the lake. of course the weather forecast is for rain all morning. 100% until about 9, then less and less till early afternoon, so we may have to wait a bit. don’t know when my first run will be but sure looking forward to it.

we still don’t have a car, or even a bicycle, so our travels will be limited at first.

the weather forecast indicates some pretty cool weather is still ahead. down to the mid-30s toward the end of next week. but spring is in full riot. every day more trees and bushes spring to life. still a few to go, but it’s getting to be full on sneezin’ season. today i lay out in the sun for half an hour after swimming, and it won’t take much to bake. the aussie sun is notorious for cancer causing burns.

taco fridays are on!!! pernille’s keen eye has spotted the mexican food section on the woolworth’s website. woolworth’s, which used to be the five and dime place in my youth, is the groceries mega monster in australia. at least as far as we know. in our quarantine (day 11 now) we’ve become hooked on ordering in our groceries, and it looks like the habit may stick. why run up to the grocery store when you can just find the item online and have it delivered in hours. there is a catch. delivery is free only on orders of $75 and up, so we may wind up spending more because we have to add a few extra items to reach the limit. but hey, what’s a poor boy to do?

but as you can see, we’ve got most of the essentials for tacos, which essentially boils down to taco shells. after that, all one really needs is some spices, filling (chicken) and cheese. so we’re set for friday night. (oh, i forgot to mention beer).

we’re getting tantalizingly close to the end of quarantine, and are desperately eager to start exploring the neighborhood. we still don’t have bicycles, and mine won’t arrive till probably november, but we’re within walking distance of a lot. we just have to figure out which direction to walk in.

interestingly, the main canberra mosque is just next door to the embassy, so that’s one of the first things on my list of things to check out. from what we can see from our garden, it looks impressive and modern. there were quite a few cars parked on the street last friday afternoon, so it’s apparently quite well attended. pictures when we’re allowed outside the gates.

today we’re actually going outside the premises for the first time. we’re being picked up this morning and driven to a health facility for our COVID tests. if we pass, we’re free as of midnight saturday night. if all goes well, and the weather holds (it’s been magnificent) sunday will be a run day, the first in a while. i have a tradition of running on my birthday, so this will be my birthday run more than a week late. whatever. every birthday on which i can still run is a victory. of course the minutes per mile number is getting bigger and bigger. and given the state of my right knee, it’s becoming more like hobbling, but at this rate of improvement, i’ll soon be able to run as fast as i can walk. stay tuned for results.

yes. the quarantine is beginning to grind. we keep telling ourselves how lucky we are compared to everyone else arriving in australia who has to stay confined to a motel room for two weeks. now THAT would be hell. but this is not much fun, either. we find our tempers short, our attention span shorter, our nerves frayed, our bodies bloated, our muscles gelatinous, our stomachs sagging and our eyelids drooping. (of course some might say not all of that is due to jet lag and quarantine)

the good news is that time seems to be zipping along. we’e now past the halfway point of our two-week confinement. my silly magpie pal still comes by a few times a day to provide a bit of comic relief. he sits on the windowsill and begs for food. when i do give in and put a few morsels of granola in his cup, he always looks at me and gives me the sweetest warble of thanks before digging in.

tonight pernille and i perused the internet for cars. we’re eager to get on the road and see as much of australia as possible. we’ve seen everything from a suzuki jimny (a mini SUV if there ever was one, but apparently a popular option for aussies of ordinary means), to a bentley mega SUV that sells for close to half a million aussie dollars.

right now we’re leaning toward the subarus. one is even called the outback. we still have fond memories of our subaru forrester, which we had when we lived in the wilds of new york city. we figure if a car can make it across the brooklyn bridge, it can make it to ayers rock, which i just discovered is now known primarily by its aboriginal name, uluru. i have a feeling that a trip to uluru is more than just a weekend outing, but we’re hoping to have a vehicle that’s big enough and sturdy enough that we can sleep in the back instead of having to stop at every holiday inn or motel six in the outback.

so we’re heading into week two with a promise of some better weather. sunday was gray and lifeless, much the same as me. afternoon temps edging up into the 70s as the spring approaches. lovely running weather. eagerly awaiting the day when i can run.