Some Days Things Just Happen

We’ve all had ‘one of those days’, and they can start in the most ordinary way.  I awoke feeling refreshed before my alarm had gone off. This was surprising because yesterday I had ridden to and from work on my bicycle, and I gratefully realised I was feeling alert and pain free. I put on a load of washing and felt self-righteous that I should be so organised that I would have time to hang it out before I went to work.

I had to be organised for the ‘tow truck’ which was coming to take my car to the mechanic for some much need attention to the cooling system – essentially there was no longer any water to be found in the radiator and I am waiting to hear what needs replacing.  The tow truck is, in fact, a rather impressive Outback Recovery vehicle, so I was sure I would hear it arrive.  

About 20 minutes before it was due there was a loud noise over the back fence. I thought I should check that it wasn’t the truck, and to my surprise I found a bike and rider sprawled on the ground. I asked the obvious “Are you okay?” which he clearly was not.  A rogue rock had been responsible for his unexpected crash into the fence and he suspected a broken collar-bone.  Two other folk walked past, offered assistance, and one commented on his state of calm. I couldn’t drive him to the hospital, and doubling him on my bike was not a good option, so I got a chair for him while he waited to be picked up. 

Not long after he had left, the truck arrived and I sent my car to the mechanic.  The washing was done and I was on schedule.  The 9 month old puppy I share the yard with came around to supervise the pegging process, but found something else to amuse her.  Like most puppies, she likes to dig, and so she started digging a hole right next to me.  Alice Springs, like my radiator, suffers from a lack of moisture and the ground beneath my washing line is currently quite barren and dry.  Said puppy was by now getting quite into the rhythm of digging and changed direction slightly – just enough to send all the red dirt into the basket of wet washing – not a pretty sight! I had no option but to wash it again and hope that the dust would leave no marks. The puppy is extremely lucky my current night time reading is Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff  by Richard Carlson.

I was now too late for my first option of riding to the town campus and getting the students’ bus to work, so I headed off on the 45 minute ride, aiming for a quick drink stop halfway.  Stop I did, but a little earlier than planned.  In two places I had gone off the path to go past walkers, apparently to my detriment.  I felt a slight change in the back tyre and realised it had a puncture caused by one the quite sharp burrs we have here.  It was my first puncture with this bike, and I still had 5km to go.  I wasn’t sure how to remove the chain, so while I pondered what to do, I rang my students and told them I would be another hour as I had to walk.  Almost immediately I got a message saying one of my students would come and pick me up.  This afternoon a work colleague drove me to the bike shop so I could get the tyre replaced.  One of my favourite philosophies is ‘Pass it on’, but I was not expecting to be the recipient of kindness so soon after helping someone else. 

With a new anti-puncture tyre with special goo to reduce the likelihood of more problems, I was thankfully on my way again, just in time to see the Enduro bike challenge up ANZAC Hill, one of the events in the 2014 Alice Springs Masters Games.  The interesting thing about this event is not so much the skill in scaling a steep winding hill, but the fact that a costume of some sort is a pre-requisite – I have never seen so many superheroes, pirates or gents in onesies before. Fake muscles and a very large blow up kangaroo were the order of the day, and the costumes seemed in no way to hinder the upward progress.  One lady in a spotted dress, as the first competitor, held the winning time for all of 10 seconds – I take my helmet off to her in salute of her reaching the top at all!

 

If I had not had the puncture I would have missed the fun of watching the hill climb. However, I will not be disappointed if tomorrow is less exciting.

My next challenge is to remove my rodent flatmate once and for all. More of him/her another day.

Rainbow over the Heart

I can't possibly explain the overwhelming emotion which engulfed me when I saw this on the way to work yesterday morning. Awe followed by the joy of such magnificent beauty, and then the tears formed. A colleague took a shot showing the complete rainbow arcing from the East Macdonnells to the West Macdonnells. It gradually became more vibrant and the colours started from yellow again after the purple.  There was a buzz of excitement as each person arrived at work having been treated to one of nature's creations. A few hours later the sky was completely cloudless,  but 

for those privileged to have seen the rainbow, it will stay in our hearts forever. 

Come and Walk in Her Shoes, too

I've decided to kick start my fitness program by supporting the Care Australia Walk in Her Shoes challenge to help women and girls lift themselves out of poverty. I'm going to walk at least 25 km this week and if you would like to join me - in person or in your own neighbourhood - I'd love to walk with you. If you don't want to walk, maybe you would like to sponsor me.  You are invited to go to :
http://www.carewihs.org.au/PersonalPage.aspx?registrationID=739099&langPref=en-CA

I'm hoping this will be the start of improving not only my health, but the health and well-being of many others. Today was a slow start but I'll get up earlier tomorrow morning. Want to join me?

Djuki Mala - The Chooky Dancers

Living in the Centre has widened my horizons more than I could ever have anticipated.  In the geographical sense, my horizons are no longer stunted by the two storey house next door, the city office blocks or the multi-level shopping centres.  There are some ranges out here, but they, too, run for vast distances, accentuating the distance to the horizon.

For many years I was blessed with having my 'people horizons' stretched - working with and teaching folk from a variety of continents and countries.  I have 'sons' and 'daughters' scattered around the world and although I have not travelled to all their countries, they have given me a taste of their homelands through language, food, music, dancing, photos and sometimes even sharing their families with me.

Now my 'people horizons' are being extended in another way - to the various communities where my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students live.  I have learnt the names of places I had never heard of, met people whose daily lives are often vastly different from mine (I've never hunted for dugong. Have you? - but that's a story for another day). I have opened my eyes and ears to anything I can learn about this ancient land and the people and culture which have been developing for tens of thousands of years.

Last night I was treated to a wonderful display of dancing by Djuki Mala, aka the Chooky Dancers, from Elcho Island.  I have students from Elcho Island, an island of the Arnhem land coast of NT, so I was interested in seeing the performance.  The six dancers performed dances from a variety of genres, but I won't give away too much - I'd hate to spoil the experience for you. The most well-known dance, and the beginning of their popularity, is the Zorba the Greek Dance - a tribute to a Greek nurse - again - that's all I'm saying.

The dancers oozed joy, and their sense of humour had the audience laughing out loud - almost non-stop. The dancers really impressed me with their dedication to their art, their desire to ensure the culture of traditional dance lives on, and the sense of responsibility to the younger generation - the hope that dance and their own dedication will encourage others to live a healthy, fruitful life.

Djuki Mala - THANK YOU!

If you have the chance to see the show, don't miss it!

Have a look at this clip of  the Zorba dance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv9NKELlXKE


Prefer Gene Kelly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbwub56LUf4


If you would like to hear the story behind the dancing look at this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz-rmO3xAiI

Graduates who turn academic dreams into reality

In 1993, The Seekers, one of my favourite bands of all time, recorded a song by Bruce Woodley entitled ‘Keep a Dream in Your Pocket’ – you can find the lyrics at http://www.maxilyrics.com/the-seekers-keep-a-dream-in-your-pocket-lyrics-aa07.html

For some people, achieving your dream can seem to be completely beyond the realms of possibility.  Lack of encouragement, insufficient finances, overwhelming responsibilities and an inability to recognise your own skills, talent and potential are just some of the factors which can hamper reaching your goals.  Thankfully there are individuals and people within organisations of all kinds in Central Australia working to provide the encouragement, opportunities to develop skills, self-belief and resilience to help Indigenous students to achieve their dreams.

The following article from the NT News demonstrates that dreams can become realities with the right support:

Alice Springs Triathlon

I headed off from home at about 5.45 after a 5 o’clock alarm awoke me from what had been a rather restless night – I’m pretty certain I saw every hour and a few half hours during the night. I’m not sure if it was nervousness, excitement, or just another hot night in Alice Springs, but it was not the best preparation for the upcoming event! That aside, as I wheeled my bike out the back gate, I was treated to the early morning light and a stunning sky.  It was the first time I had cycled with my new lights and I was very impressed – vision was great and I was confident that I could be seen on the road – not that there was much traffic at this time on a Sunday morning. Ten minutes or so later I was putting my bike on a rack, and learning the way to lay out my towel so that it would absorb as much water as possible while I was changing for the bike leg of the event.  With number 20 in thick marker pen on my leg and arm, I viewed the growing numbers of competitors arriving and creating their own little nest for the event.

My bike is closest to camera - the East MacDonnell Ranges in the distance.

The rules and routes were clearly explained and we were told the first wave would be the males, followed by the second wave, which would be the women and children and those accompanying them.  I slid into the water for my race and there were the ranges in the background – I felt elated. I could do this. Five times across the pool – mostly freestyle with a bit of backstroke thrown in, run to the bike, stand on the towel so it could soak up some of the water, don’t touch the bike until your helmet is on and done up. Pull on the shorts, shirt and socks, shoes on, bike off the rack, walk to the mounting line and hop on. Turn right, left at the ABC corner [remember the road rules], left at the Memo Club, left at the Highway, left at Tom Brown Roundabout, back up Gap Road, left at the ABC and get off the bike, run back to the rack and replace bike before removing helmet. Now for the run/walk. A brisk walk to the ABC, right at Gap Road and back again to cheers and encouragement as I ran over the line and through the finish.

I had just completed my first triathlon!  My time: 34:09 for those who want  to know these things.

 It was a taster event and there were many newbies like myself, families and teams where each did a separate leg of the 100m swim, 5km cycle and 1km run, or in my case, walk. I thoroughly enjoyed the event – it was well-organised by the Alice Springs Triathlon Club and Get Physical, a local gym.  People were friendly and helpful and there was ample encouragement right down to the final finishers cross the line.  A well-received breakfast of cereal, juice, bacon and eggs greeted us at the end and some lucky number prizes were handed out. My reward was the joy of completing the race, walking around with number 20 on my arm for the next few hours – a great little conversation starter – and the bright orange swim cap I was given before the race. It went beautifully with my bright pink cossie/bathers/swimmers/togs [depending on which state/territory you come from!]

 Still standing at the end - somewhat wetter than when I started!

Mayor’s Prayers Answered

While city people generally complain about rainy weather, wishing for rain is part of the Alice Springs psyche.  With vast blue skies to greet us most mornings, clouds are a godsend for photographers at sunrise and sunset, and a sign of hope for the residents.   True, a series of cloudy skies, but dry days, can dampen the spirits of the townsfolk.  Should the clouds produce sufficient rain to actually reach the ground, the mood is elevated to that of children on Christmas morning, with cries of ‘It’s raining!’ and ‘Can you smell the rain?’ echoing throughout the streets and workplaces.

Recently we've had some promising cloud and some short light showers which barely touched the ground and failed to register in the rain gauges.  Yesterday, for a brief time, I drove through a rain storm where I could hardly see, even with the wipers on full.  This should have brought joy to everyone in town. 

Uncharacteristically, Mayor Damien Ryan, has been praying for fine weather.  He’s not the only one.  The English Cricket Team is in town to play the Chairman’s XI, and rain is the last thing on the agenda.  With bumper crowds expected, and cricket fans bearing grins to rival the Cheshire Cat, I’m sure I heard a collective cheer as I went for my early morning walk and saw the last clouds disappearing behind Mt Gillen.

Who knew the Mayor had quite so much influence?