Sunburnt Suburbia

Listening to 'Millennium Trilogy'

This week we finished listening to The Millennium Trilogy - fantastic books of our time. Stieg Larsson has created intricately detailed works that engaged us through their direct style and spare prose. They seem books that depend upon the Internet, both as a central element of the stories, and as a source of background details. 

The density of characters and detail of events described show Stieg Larsson's journalistic background. Together they create a the steady, grim pace leading to a series of violent encounters upon which the stories revolve and resolve. 

They are long books, and have flat spots, but they dragged us in to hold our attention for 80 hours of listening. 

Impromptu dinner with Kingwills

Yesterday we had an impromptu family dinner with many of the Kingwill family. Susan's sister Barbara came up to Melbourne with Amy and their friend Natalie. Bryony is living with her older Kingwill cousin Laura and her partner Aven; so they all came to dinner too. With Callum, Bryony and Will, we added up to a table of 10. 

Susan and Barbara organised it all quickly, and as a result of their skill we had a great time. 

Habitat for Humanity

Today we went to a working day in Hazeldene, organised by Habitat for Humanity. This area lost many houses in the Black Saturday fires of February 2009. Habitat for Humanity focusses on helping disadvantaged people get into reasonable quality, long-term housing. This includes some victims of these fires.  

We went to clear the block of one the houses destroyed, as the extensive regrowth from the last two years prevented its rebuilding. The resident was living in a caravan while trying to organise rebuilding of his house. 

There were 30 volunteers from all over Melbourne. The day was well organised, with plenty of equipment and food provided. I spent the day using a brush cutter, while Susan did lots of picking up. I was nervous using it. If I made an error, or it behaved unexpectedly, at the wrong time someone would get a serious cut.However I did learn though that a lot of safety results from the careful imagining of possible events with negative outcomes, and then avoiding these events. However I suspect that an effective imagination of negative events requires significant experience.

30 people can achieve a lot in a day. By morning tea we had already cleared a substantial area. By the end of the day, the block was almost completely clear and certainly ready for building. We felt tired and good. 

Showing of Dandenong Hills

Yesterday we had a day out with Jill and David, friends from our church in Earley, England. To start the day we went off to Puffing Billy, always a fun activity for visitors that also introduces them to the Australian forest. 

After their journey, we had a picnic at the Emerald Lake Park. The park teemed with picnic groups, which struck me as the essence of being human in a contemporary world - strangers gathering at one special place to celebrate a meal with friends and family. Connecting with friends and family is core to our well being, being able to do this comfortably within easy distance of strangers is the evolutionary change we have achieved over the last few hundred years. 

After lunch we visited Grant's Picnic Ground to feed native birds. This time all we fed were Sulpher-Crested Cockatoos, which didn't provide as much variety as Susan has previously experienced. 

We finished the day out at Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens and walk in forest around Sherbrooke. At the picnic ground there we fed some rosellas. They were friendly, and so I suspect refugees driven from Grant's Picnic Ground by the cockatoos. 

We always enjoy showing off Melbourne to friends from overseas. Our home city has its charms.