Author: Suzanne Buchko

right after first light at Uluru

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Around the base of Uluru there are natural caves which the aboriginal people have been using for thousands of years.  The caves provided shelter from harsh weather. They also provided a natural gathering place.  There were men’s caves and women’s caves and caves for all. They were places to teach, to tell stories and to celebrate.   The relatively smooth walls were excellent for painting. (We would see the ochre pits in two days time where many shades of ochre used to make the fat based paints could be harvested.) The caves paintings are only visible on the upper half of the walls because early tour guides attempted to enhance the colors of the paintings by splashing buckets of water on the walls. Continue reading →

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Uluru

B6E9B455-A9E5-430A-A145-2C21B92695B3After our Kata Tjuta walk, we climbed back in the van heading for a prime viewing spot to see the sun set at Uluru.  We were one of many tour groups but it was a big viewing site with plenty of space.  Our group was set up with wine and cheese and crackers and our first tastes of emu and kangaroo.  Continue reading →

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Kata Tjuta

img_7183-1Written on 7 July

It is unusual for me to have no time for writing and reflection for days.  I may choose not to write for days and I may have nothing worth publishing but usually I have the opportunity for both. 

Then four days in the Outback.  

We arrived in Yulara airport  Monday afternoon from Sydney, shuttled to a hotel close by and we’re picked up by our guide, Claire, and taken to our first fo three campsites.  There was no settling in, we were swept away to our first walk (walk or hike at Kata Tjuta. Most of what we did was doable without much strain. Experienced hikers would probably find it a bit tame.) Continue reading →

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Sydney 1

Saturday.

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Wonder Woman finds a friend.

Sydney.  Randwick is the suburb where our cousin, Steph, lives and is our first home base here.  I was admittedly pretty grumpy in awakening. Jet lag is the probable culprit. I woke up too early sure that I had under packed abommitably.  When Steph picked us up the previous morning, the outside was freezing and this second morning was cold enough for Julia to put on all her warm clothes at same time.   Just as I had read and been advised, the daywarmed up, we stripped off layers and I dug out sunglasses.  After breakfast, I wanted to walk and Steph took us to Coogee Beach. We have many Australian beaches in out travel plans but the first sight of the Pacific was magnificent!  Sun, blue skies and waters, white caps, jagged mock outcropinngs, white sand and many people reveling in the lovely day.  Julia couldn’t wait to be on the beach today although we resisted taking shoes off and letting the waves run over our toes.  We were still cold and the wind whipped our hair.  There were a number of swimmers, all without wetsuits which encouraged the belief that we too would be in the water soon. Continue reading →

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leave taking

9DE9F7E0-56EA-44C6-BCF5-3D07835EFED2Dallas airport.  Departure.  Madison to Dallas.  Easy flight.  Easy day actually.  Errands and small closing ups.  Yesterday’s packing left little difficult to do.  Julia had a problem when the bead kit she wanted to bring just didn’t fit anywhere.  Lots of reasons why it was a bad idea to bring a bead kit on vacation—the least of which is that she probably will not have time to touch it, but I was willing to entertain the request if I could get it in.  We are going to winter which while not harsh demands a few more warm things.  At first I wondered why the Alaska packing had space to spare but then I remembered we borrowed a larger bag. It worked for the cruise because we were not carrying bags around.  This trip we are carrying.  Rolling really.  The rolling bags and back packs are packed tighter than I prefer and  no beads.  Julia got stuck on this great deprivation (in her eyes) for a long time.  Australia was going to be awful and boring. She does know how to taunt me.  I am grateful that a late afternoon hard rain that we had to run through to reach the car washed the preseveration away.  A short run, we were drenched to the bone, enough complaining about such wetness to bring on giggles. Continue reading →

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the calm before

“How quiet, how quiet the chamber is . . .”

A line from one of my favorite songs (“Is Anybody There?”) in one of my favorite musicals (1776).  It is running over and over in my head, the voice I hear is, of course, William Daniels, the original John Adams.  

We leave for Sydney tomorrow evening.  I have a list, albeit short, to accomplish and two therapy appointments today.  If I finish what needs to be finished before the middle of the day, we could see a movie tonight but I am not depending on that extravagance. Continue reading →

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heaven in brooklyn

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Julia with our dear friends from Italy.

“And live like this is heaven on earth.”

Second morning waking up in Carolina’s apartment in brooklyn.  And for many reasons and no reason at all, I am very happy.  My dear friend whose living body is no longer on this plane, whose mind slowly faded for longer than Julia has been home, taken care of always by a dear husband, D.  We are staying with D and I take in the home as Carolina’s. We talk of partner death, our experiences as different as they could possibly be. And we are left the same. Continue reading →

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quiet

E5A05415-9239-4230-AA79-BC1EF0ADF90FQuiet.

Not much of that the last two weeks.  The city is tearing up my street, both streets on my corner.  The crew port-o-potty adorns my terrace garden bed. From 6:45 a.am to 6:00 p.m., 6 days a week—scrapers scrape, diggers dig and hit stuff in the ground, pounders, earth movers, buriers of huge pieces of metal and all of it beeps mercilessly when they back up.  I complained to whoever listened and grumped to myself often for days. Then I stopped insisting that my daily round remain the same and got out of the house as much as possible.  After awhile the persistence to hold fast to my daily round and the desire to escape as much as possible settled into some middle space—I stopped complaining and reclaimed the house when I needed it, mindful of my tolerance.  I needed to open windows and turn on fans and welcome (almost) the road dust.  I started greeting the crew outside my windows and they’ve been helpful making some space for me to get my car out of the driveway and out of my street.  I am on the verge of baking them muffins. Continue reading →

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soloing

DSC_9073West High School Choir concert last night.  Julia had a solo in the Freshman Choir’s rendition of Sia’s Rainbow.

There is backstory.

Julia has choir class every day.  We, the indomitable Anthony Cao and I, worked very intentionally helping Julia with appropriate choir behavior, that is, standing still, watching him and singing, not talking.  Julia and I have done a standing meditation since November to find out what her body does when it is still and lots of reminders (and lots of praise) for the other points.   Continue reading →

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