Day 212 2015: And the ghosts may be heard...

Day 212: ...though you don't know what you've got, 'til it is gone

I'm probably breaking some rules there, dear reader, using lyrics of songs like that. But there was an odd feeling today as I reached the end of the first week of semester 2 with all its trials and tribulations but found myself at Dicky Beach this afternoon. 

It was a planned visit of sorts. Yesterday, the authorities removed the remnants of the wreck of the SS Dicky. I had visited earlier in the year, you might recall dear reader, so I was always interested in going back to see what it looked like. When I realised we were expecting a full(ish) moon rising as well, I figured it would be worth a trip down to the beach for that alone. When I saw the moonrise was 5.11pm, my first thought was about the perfect light and colour opportunity at that time of the day, photographically speaking. And no clouds on the horizon.

In Japan, it is not unusual to visits places of historical interest only to find the 'ato' (跡), the remnants of a building, often a castle or temple or the like. I heard they were removing all the visible ribs and bits and leaving the parts of the Dicky that were safely covered by the sand. I guess I expected to see 'something'. 

I wasn't expecting to see, well, nothing. Just tyre tracks. Maybe there are some artefacts under the sand. The other people who were there seemed to share a sense of 'it's gone' too. Of course, it was removed for good and sensible reasons, it struck me as dangerous back in January. But still...

Here's my tribute to the day after the remains of the Dicky were removed...

First view...all gone

And up came the moon

The moon rose as the waves rose

Suspended

...and the...ghosts?

Moonlight on the shore

A ship passing...

A remnant? A branch?

Sun setting, northwards

The tide starts to come in...all trace of the Dicky begins to disappear...

Tractor marks

Going...going...

As the moon watched over

It's been a perplexing week at work, I have to spend the weekend rewriting a course because the bookshop ordered the wrong text, I really have to get cracking on some other writing projects and then, it begins all over again next Monday. But at least I get to finish my week with a full moon, and a ghostly wreck, on a beach. In 'winter'. Really. 

Regrets? I've had a few...but after this view today, too few to mention. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 75-300mm, 5.09pm-5.42pm]

Day 211 2015: A spray, and then...

Day 211: ...some calming moments

The semester, timetable-wise, is already interesting. Each week is going to be a long week, and each late night is going to feel like, well, an eternity. The next twelve weeks are stretching out...a long way ahead. 

Last night, I discovered that the textbook I ordered for one course was not the one in the bookshop. Today, I confirmed it. I felt...I felt...

I felt just like this fountain...roughish edges and all. A spray.

A bit of a spray

I needed a little bit of calming. Wrong text and prepared course outline now need to be aligned. That is going to be one heck of a weekend job. I'm not exactly happy about it. I had so much to do this weekend. Oh well. 

Bubbles and lily pads...
calming

Then, out of the blue, another ABC request, this time the local SunCoast station for a bit of an afternoon chat on the Thursday Project with a colleague. Just like last week, it was a last minute request to fill in for a sudden absentee. Off I went, always happy to oblige. We covered a few topics of interest and relevance. 

It did mean getting back late to work to continue preparing tomorrow's class (it's OK, I've double-checked the text, they got that one right). That's why I have nothing but night shots tonight. Somehow, all the time in the day and it all went so quickly. Before I knew it, the day was almost over. 

At least by the end of it, the initial spray had turned into something of a smoother flow.

Smoothing out the rough edges

But we know, dear reader, it is just a trick of the eye, a flick of the camera dials. The lens disguises that we sometimes do not wish to see...

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 9.12pm-9.16pm]

Day 210 2015: What the silhouette tells...

Day 210: ...the stillness reflects

The question this morning was whether or not to get up and at it early, my usual 5.00am start, or delay it all a little knowing that this day will be the first Wednesday for the next three months or so of late finishes...really late finishes. 

People who work nine-to-five, Monday to Friday, probably don't have to worry too much about such things. But such is the life of a lecturer that the natural expectation is that we shall be available for teaching hours anywhere between 8.00am and 9.00pm. Yep, that's the spread and it is the luck of the timetable lottery each semester as to where you end up. I have to say, mine is all over the place this semester. Pretty rubbish actually. But, there you go. 

Anyway, dear reader, I was on the verge of staying in for another few minutes when I glanced outside: 

You know the tune...kookaburra sits in the old gum tree...

...one of my favourite scenes, the silhouette of the kookaburra on the old gum tree with the light behind it. I don't care what time I'm due to finish work, I really like this effect. 

And then, in motion...

But before I could finish singing...away

Stoked, as the young people say, stoked I was. (Actually, 'stoked' was lingo when I was young, once, too.)

There were a couple of worthy snaps at work too, one just as I arrived, the lake its usual hive of activity...

I'd like to think we've a juvenile swan here...but maybe not

And the other, the stillness of the lake at sunset as I went for a walk before the lecture started, a moment to gather my thoughts to talk about International Security and how to make the world a better place. 

Still, smoke, sunset, onto 'security'

We should just all take photos, breathe in and breathe out I reckon. 


[Camera : Canon, EOS 60D, 75-300mm, 6.14am-6.15am, 10.01am; 28-80mm, 5.38pm]

Day 209 2015: A bit of a spray...

Day 209: ...waves in the dark

Moffat. The beach. It is where I like to go when I can, before or after work. Of, course, I'd like to be there with enough light to take some pics, but I have to say, I am quite enjoying the challenge of the low-light photography once the sun goes down. 

There's something serene about the way the colours and shapes blend...the sand, the foam, the water...it could become a thing I reckon. And, if a wave crashes in the dark and nobody sees it, did it really happen?

On the beach

Waves, foam, wisps

waves recede

The teaching semester has finally commenced, my hours have increased unexpectedly, I can expect little of my own time over the next 13 weeks or so. That's about three, and an almost full, moons. 

The moon over the water at Moffat Beach

Let's see how it goes. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 75-300mm, 6.51pm-7.11pm]

Day 208 2015: Women hold up half the sky...

Day 208: ...and the rest...

Today was the first day of semester. I also had two functions to attend in Brisbane: one as a delegate to a women's equity forum, the other as host on behalf of the ASPG, a parliamentary study group, our lunch to acknowledge the 100 years since (white) women were given the right to stand in Queensland Parliament. We also recognised that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island sisters were granted those rights much later and that there is much to do to redress this. (We resolved to meet again in 45 years time, for the next centenary due.)

I am fortunate in my job that the things that aren't my day job, but closely related, involve meeting people who share equally my passion for making the world a better place. One couldn't help but come away from today feeling the energy and the passion from women from all walks of life: union, parliamentarians, past and present, students, teachers, women for whom the best we can be matters. 

It is on these days that I feel like we can achieve anything. So much to hear from the lives and experiences from retired members Liz Cunningham and Yvonne Chapman, the former Speaker Fiona Simpson, the Deputy Speaker Grace Grace, the Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk and keynote Professor Anne Tiernan with a welcome to country by Aunty Lynn Matsen. 

The morning started with equally inspiring leader, Ged Kearney of the ACTU. And rounded out with an encore by the Brisbane Combined Unions Choir...

The Premier, Prof Tiernan, Deputy Speaker Grace

Former Speaker Simpson

Ms Yvonne Chapman

Some of the guests in the Premiers' Hall, Parliament House

Ged Kearney leader of the ACTU

The Choir and a song about...a certain speech about...misogyny 

After a day like today, really, we really can do anything, everything and all for the very best. We will.

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 10.21am, 12.46pm-1.47pm, 3.36pm-5.53pm]

Day 207 2015: All the fun of the fair...

Day 2017: ...or, Ekka in miniature

All my time in Brisbane, I've lived here on the southside. So many times, I've driven past the Mt Gravatt Showgrounds. A few times I've dropped in to see different sorts of exhibitions: antiques, art, dogs, curios and the like. And while I've always been aware of its status as a showground, and while I've always been aware of the Mt Gravatt Show, I've never managed to get to it. I guess, like many others, I mostly only have eyes for the Ekka (although that took a while given my childhood imprint of the Sydney Easter Show...a whole different level...). 

Anyway, dear reader, today I attended with my tai chi group to give a demonstration of the wonders of tai chi. I guess I jumped at the chance because...well, because I thought it would make me actually get myself there to check it out. Of course, I'm happy to help out with the group...plus, they were celebrating the 100th show, so that's got to be something, right?

And so it looked and felt like a scaled down version of its bigger cousin...and there were ice creams, dagwood dogs, fairly floss. And rides. 

Happy 100th MtG

Puppets, did I mention puppets?
<Old school>

Farm nursery

A taipan, as close as I'll get

Walking my alpaca...

Showbag pavilion truck

Sideshow alley

Arts and crafts

Colour

Rides for kids

And no show is complete without the Bertie Beetle bag...

All good fun. It was kind of intimate, and chintzy, all at once. And I bet everyone who entered all their crafts and cooking and art put just as much love and care into their works as people do for the Ekka. Plus, I'm lucky that I get to go to these things with my friend who also happens to be the person who co-authored the history of the Ekka. Bonus. I get all the fun and the historical context too. 

Now, on to the Ekka.

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 75-300mm, 28-80mm, 3.35pm-4.34pm]

Day 206 2015: Shadow plays...

Day 206: ...a new perspective

Saturday. Part play day, part chore day. Off to the city to do a few things including #lateagain to meet up with some colleagues organising a rally to oppose the language on a certain cheap camper rental company's cars. Nasty business. 

Then, off to a Beckett play. Now, Beckett is not what you would call a laugh a minute type--it was gripping, thought-provoking, pause-for-thought Beckett. 'Happy Days', though not for all. Tonight, the entertainment continues with an opera, Candide by Bernstein via Voltaire. I can't wait. 

On the way back from the play and towards the opera, I paused at one of the new vantage points at South Bank, the restored section of the Victoria Bridge, a beautiful sandstone structure I'm pleased they have preserved. 

I hadn't yet had a chance to get a close up look. I was at first intrigued by the shadows cast on the stone...

Pedestrians on the bridge

Walking the dog

Self-portrait with sportier types

And then the detail...

Sandstone, well-aged

Lines

A view of the 'new' from the 'old'

It's South Bank, it's all about the wheel, really

It will be a nice spot to get some different perspectives on the city...and that can't be a bad thing. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 4.21pm-4.33pm]

Day 205 2015: Now, it is down to the detail...

Day 205: ...the tiny, tiny detail...

Yes, it is over. The non-teaching time is over. The angst and regret set in. The angst and regret about things unfinished in the break that will now have to be deferred...again. Most of us today were again just wondering where that time went. We concluded 'we've been robbed'. Robbed of some quiet contemplative reflective time that our sort of work needs. 

Again, it felt like today was running around finalising details. The little things. In the end, the only details I really got to observe were those small moments in the garden before I left for work. I went out the back to try and catch the last of the fog lifting from the ridge but there wasn't sufficient there really. Like our semester break...so much promise, so much expectation...and yet...nothing like one anticipated. 

So I turned my attention to some of my favourite things, just the delicacy of the moss-like growth in otherwise heavy clay ground. Green where one mightn't expect it...

The green green moss

A sense of proportion

...brightness of the dandelion flower where one mightn't expect it...

Sunshine

Oh look, the teaching analogies have started even before the semester proper begins. What awaits us next week I wonder? 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 75-300mm, 9.53am-9.54am]