I Didn't Know Her

Well, we arrived home from Newcastle yesterday afternoon and today I am feeling rather melancholic. We had such a fantastic time away and although it is always great to come home to where we live, I feel like I'm coming down off a great precipitous high.

Our garden is overflowing with abundance, our chooks are well fed and laying, and our friends are calling in to see how we are. And we are well. We travelled on planes that didn't crash, on legs that were strong, on bicycles that carried us far. We had a meaningful, productive family holiday, we met great people and learned lessons each day. But today I feel hushed.

This morning was Vivien Hodgins' memorial service. She is one of the Australians who died in the recent Pacific Ocean tsunami. I never met Vivien, though I have met her husband, Rod May, who's a councillor for our local shire and an organic farmer who does weekly vegie boxes.

There are so many great things about our residency that I could tell you today, so many photos I would like to post, but instead, it feels more relevant to post these photos of Rod May's hands that I took several months ago at the local Farmer's Market. Hands that are the colour of the earth.