The Pendulum Swings

I had the dream again... I think I'm playing basketball, but actually I'm anesthetised, topping up the bank accounts of members of the ATO's top 5 income earners while they re-attach my tendons to the wrong parts of my skeleton.

This was the shittiest beard I could find on a Lego head.

My favourite exercise was the one where I used a wooden spoon to push and stretch my arm away from my body. The physio couldn't have known that I would have the Official Bradism Long Wooden Spoon For Tall People in my kitchen.

Combined with my discipline for rehab, I quickly regained mobility and strength. After a few weeks I felt like I could win an arm wrestle against a toddler.

I asked if I would be able to dunk a basketball after 6 months and he said yes! That will definitely make this worth the investment...

Sometimes I think I'm feeling nostalgic about those early days of rehab. Sitting in the backyard listening to audiobooks and drinking cups of soup. Watching NBA playoffs on the couch. Excused from having to work and write and exercise and needing to floss and (briefly) shave. In reality I know that nostalgia for days in pain is really just nostalgia for days in pain where I didn't also have to work eight hours a day.

Now the pain is starting to fade, and I can use the wooden spoon for its intended purpose again. I'm looking forward to a return to the gym and the writing desk and maybe the basketball court, and putting this behind me - which I can currently do to about 50% of normal range of motion. I can move on and embrace the future. Yay!

Left Handed Photography

Fleurieu Weekend

A short but sweet trip to some of the dog friendly attractions of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Friday Night - dinner in the garden at Forktree Brewing overlooking the ocean at sunset.

Starting the weekend with the appropriately named Sunset Amber Ale

Saturday morning, balmy and cloudy, a view over Encounter Bay after a sunrise drive through the backroads and hills.

Nash gets a quick pet stop on the way to the top of the hill.

Top of The Bluff. The Victor Harbor Heritage trail along the cliffs led to some rocky beaches and pools.

After a coffee, early lunch at Port Elliot bakery. Steak and onion pie, followed by caramilk donut. Good thing I climbed that hill first.

After a nap at the holiday house, a brief trip to Normanville for another walk and some late afternoon sunshine.

Saturday Night - the only board game in the holiday house was the 1983 edition of Trivial Pursuit. After three hours someone finally managed to answer a pop culture question.

Sunday Morning - walking the length of the Carrickalinga Esplanade Walking Trail.

Sunbody That I Used To Know

There's a point sometime in April...

Matching Pairs

Sunrise

Today was always going to be the best day of the year to see a sunrise.

Sadly, Adelaide is not the best city in the world to watch a sunrise. You have to drive a long way in order to escape the collar of eastern mountain ranges that shield the city from daylight a few extra minutes each morning. We chose to drive to Lyndoch, and take cereal and yogurt to the trails of the former quarry up Altona road. Also, the best sunrise colours happen before sunrise, so even if you get a bit of a sleep in you ideally need to be up and out about thirty minutes before the scheduled sunrise time. And if being up and about means driving an hour out of town then even on the best day of the year to see a sunrise you'll need to be out of bed before 6AM.

Dishes Drying, 2021

Transplanted

There are a lot of dark times in your average Adelaide winter, and though 2020 wasn't your average winter, it certainly contained its fair share.

But as tends to happen mid-September it feels like one day you wake up and find yourself in a garden full of flowers. For my tulips, literally.

As the sun rises earlier and earlier in the morning I forced myself out of bed before the end of the golden hour so I could capture a few photos of spring in my garden, as a baseline to tell me how good or bad I got at maintaining this through whatever shit is brought to the world by the next 12 months.

The birch waking up slowly.

A bird of paradise waiting for the strawberries to turn red so it can get trapped under the bird netting.

Nash inspecting a dutch iris.

Mulberries to be.

A sea of leaves on my lawn, at conception.

And if isn't my old mate peeking through the sprouting canopy.