Victor Harbor shares the nickname of God's Waiting Room with all the other retirement communities around the world adjacent to uncreative humourists. It's also got a few nice places to walk and is in close proximity to a good bakery. When I planned the weekend away with Vanessa and Nash a couple of months back I hadn't expected it to be much different to previous Nash holidays where Nash excitedly follows us up and down hills and through waves and then has a huge snooze while I drink a beer and then backs it up when the light is good for photography again.

Nash has been a bit limpy lately, but only when she gets up from lying on hard tiles ignoring the bed only metres away. I'd dismissed this as possibly mild arthritis coupled by her pretending to be a pretzel on our rock hard floors. Yes she is a decade old now, and her face is going a bit whiter around the edges, but I have never doubted that Nash wouldn't be a huge jerk slash adorable body of fluff for years to come. She's a mix breed, full of energy and sass, and I pay loads for high quality dog food for her.

The limping has become a bit worse over the last week and a half. I limp sometimes too, and I get over it, so I am hoping that's the case for Nash too. I can't help noticing how much older she looks when her limp affects her walking. The age seeps out of her. She looks so confused because the last time she looked in a mirror she was a chunky, golden, zooming, unstoppable beast. That's how I remember her too.

Nash had a great day today. She cruised country roads smelling cow pats, then climbed to the top of the bluff, then took a break for coffee. After coffee she walked to the rock pools out past Petrel Cove and over hills of granite. She's been there before and she loves it, teasing the waves and submerging herself in the rock pools and then zooming across the sand.

It was a real challenge to get her all the way there. Her legs, or her spirit, gave up on her. She enjoyed herself immensely once she arrived, and the destination of the car was motivation to complete the walk back, but while I watched her having fun at the beach I really couldn't stop myself from thinking that this was the last time she'd ever visit this place and have this experience. That was tolerable in the moment. I could handle these feelings while it meant Nash got to have a good time.
It was during the walk back, watching her trot with noticeable preference for one side, that I had to stop myself from hyperventilating. It's not the last visit to the beach for a dog that depresses me, it's the walk back to the car afterwards.

Nash is not dead and I think she will continue to rock out for a couple more years yet at least, but today was another gruesome reminder that life is cruel and that all of the awesome things about dogs risk being cancelled out by their far too short lifespans. I aim to keep her in God's Waiting Room for as long as possible - and by that I mean splashing in rock pools by The Bluff, not suffering for my benefit - until the time has to come. And then, good luck God because you have never met a dog like Nash.

It's always jarring when you realise how much you can enjoy life over a four day weekend, and contrast that with all the five day work weeks you live through in your life. Always better to have loved and lost, though. So here's some memories in photo form that my brain will confuse for actual memories a few years from now.

Good Friday began with a sunrise walk around West Lakes and several fish impressions from Nash. And breakfast.

Cowan with his haul, despite wearing an inappropriate shirt for the occasion.

Later on, it was the 18th annual Easter Beer Hunt. I continue my decline and again finished last in terms of found beers. But I still have love for the game.

On Saturday we enriched our usual morning stroll to the Central Markets with some home-made dark chocolate and apricot eggs, to go with excellent coffee and then a spree of cheap fruit and vegetables.

On Saturday evening we had dinner at Mum's where among other things I enjoyed these over the top table decorations.

On Sunday morning the usual bakery was closed, but Nash was kind enough to tolerate a full size sausage roll from one that was open.

In the afternoon, to mark our anniversary, Vanessa and I went to Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens for a walk and a few rounds of Articulate.

There weren't a lot of autumn colours yet, but it was still sunny and pretty.

After a lot of walking in the sun, we chilled in the beer garden at the Crafers pub and I drank this triple choc easter stout which was very chocolately, and delicious. Actually contained more chocolate in a cup than the table at Mum's.

After beer it was pizza for dinner with my beautiful wife. I also ate some of that pizza on Monday and Tuesday, to keep the anniversary going.

Monday was a more chill day, but I did have time to make a batch of hot cross buns that I also ate some of today to keep the easter holiday going. I also did some work on a professional blog site, which is not pictured here.

I did not got to any big box hardware, which I am very happy about.

In the final week of Spring I was putting the finishing touches into the musical playlist that I intended to embed memories of the past months in. Spring 2023 had been pleasant, as best as I can recall it now. The fading glow of Giunio 23 had carried me through Winter. My work/life balance was correcting itself. My body parts were coming together with enough cohesion that I was even able to complete a mini, late-30s equivalent of Bulktember. A more age appropriate approach. Rehab repetitions prioritised over moving weight. Balancing pain signals with progression. I suffered only moderate lower back pain.

By the end of November, despite a recurrence of my dodgy, left shoulder I was moving well, energised by technology and the future. There was bacon in the Barossa, panini on lunch breaks, lamb roasts in the slow cooker, burgers before basketball games. Lots of coffee. Flowers were blooming, the outdoors was calling, and by mid November my index finger had some blood back in it.

Life was not perfect, but I was enjoying it. It felt like, as spring turned to summer around me that in my life too would bloom into sunshine and blue skies and a semblance of control.

Alas, storm clouds approached, as spring will do. Literally, initially, as late November rain pummelled the house and got into the gym literally hours before we were to set off on a cross country road trip.

December from start to finish was problematic. The road trip that was supposed to be a break was plagued by injury, weather, snakes (actually those were cool) and actual plague. Driving long distances in the rain just to isolate in cheap motel rooms was not fun. It was becoming apparent that my wrist injury was not minor, and the Napoleon movie totally lacked historical accuracy and nuance. In fact, I was craving a return to home life and work routine by the end, knowing fate would choose that moment to at least clear out my sinuses. We returned to a mouldy, ruined gym, more rain, a sad puppy and a whole train of minor inconveniences. The final two work weeks of the year did bring some sense of normality back, and then I got covid and missed out on Christmas. By the time it was 2024 I was exhausted. And I'd felt comfortable enough with where my feelings were to share my Spring playlist that just served to remind me of happier times.

Time never stops though. And through all of this, and the continued wrist pain, insurance drama, back pain, life stress, and shoulder pain it did feel like I've done this all before. It did feel that all I had to do was keep getting through work days, keep doing rehab morning, lunchtime and night, keep going to the beach at the end of hot days, keep making phone calls, keep taking the dog for a walk and mowing the lawn after limbering up that things wouldn't necessarily get better, but they might average out. I listened to the Spring playlist a lot, and of course new music and so I added to it already aware that I was now making a Spring/Summer double album playlist. In some ways it made sense, under the influence of the narrative fallacy: Spring was a rise and fall, summer would be a fall and rise. The perfect sine wave. With gym repairs scheduled and two weddings at the end of February to look forward to it seemed appropriate that by the end of summer I'd feel balanced and I'd have a second collection of songs.

Well, it worked to an extent. My wrist still hurts most days but not that much. I have no idea if the next storm will flood some part of my house. Jobs still cause stress. But I have a Spring/Summer playlist. And I know that I will listen to it for years to come sometimes when things are going bad and sometimes when things are going well and sometimes when some things are bad and other things are good. This is life. I am accepting it. Because I can't change it. Seasons will continue to come one by one and I'll relish posting a mixtape for each one for as long as I can.

Memories of:
Driving down South Road in sunshine. Lifting light weights in the gym. Driving to a bonfire. Books about Mars, and Nipples. Taking coffee breaks in the backyard on WFH mornings. Being in the groove in front of VS Studio while looking out over the Adelaide hills. More hours on my back on the rubber mats on the floor. Long stretches of country roads. FLOWERS BLOOMING. Feeling sad. Being in the groove in front of CS Studio with the air conditioner on and the curtains drawn. The same walks around Croydon. Memories of Paris. Passionfruit. Trying to hold a plank.

My lips are cracking already. Tonight's sunset was exactly 12 hours after sunrise. Luckily my heated gloves just arrived. I am ready to try winter again.

Today was almost a quintessential South Australian day. Here's an itinerary so you can relive it.

Get In - We're Going for a Trip

The morning started with a free ride on Adelaide's tram. Destination: a stroll along the magnificent boulevard of North Terrace (for about 50 metres) and then a visit to the Adelaide Central Market. There I bumped into people I knew, and enjoyed a large, strong coffee before loading up a backpack with fresh, cheap fruit and vegetables.

After another free tram ride and some Foodland yoghurt and locally grown passionfruit for morning tea, it was time to get stuck in South Road traffic. Then there was lunch at one of Adelaide's iconic Vietnamese takeaway restaurants for a Bún Bowl.

After lunch and some more weekend traffic it was time for another Fringe show as part of the fabric of the end of summertime festivities. I've been to a few shows this year, today's was the Sleep's Hill tunnel, an audio visual display of colour and mushrooms in an old, disused railway tunnel south of the city.

Me in a tunnel.

Following the Fringe, and more South Road traffic, it was time to take a road trip down to the south coast. There, after even more South Road traffic I enjoyed a dinner spread by one of Adelaide's spectacular beaches. The day ended with a sunset walk overlooking the cliffs of Aldinga, before dealing with road works on the expressway on the drive home, and then more South Road traffic.

Not pictured - traffic.

It was also good to see two lots of extended family, two lots of old friends and families, and two dogs.