I read Revelations 19, 20, 21 and 22 this morning. Revelations 21 was particularly riveting. It felt like an operatic theater not unlike the scene in Genesis 1. I guess that is a benefit of reading through the bible in a sweeping fashion, in as short a time as possible. The recurring themes and imagery come through much more clearly. These verses in particular, capture the end product of God’s work in a way which soothes and provides hope:

²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of Godgives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Notwithstanding the grand theme however, chapter 22 – the last chapter of the Bible – God again reached out to us in very personal terms, which call for personal response.

It has been a good 10+ months of reading through the Bible end to end. Kindle and early train rides helped the cause immensely. I have to think about what I do now – maybe from Monday onwards.

Standing under the showers in the gym this morning, I was thinking about ways and reasons (excuses) I could avoid getting into the office. The day is unusually cold in any event and staying home would have been unpleasant in some ways. It would have been very nice in many other ways, not least the thought of settling into our new sofa set and watching some old movies.

I had been feeling tired and a bit under the weather, 10 minutes into my run on the treadmill. Such that at the slightest hint of the knee pulling up again, I slowed down to a walking pace. I followed this up by re-programming the session so that it becomes one of a walk on a steep ascent. So the hour yielded only a bit over 6km but I was sweating anyway so I felt I did my (albeit minimal) share of physical workout today.

I manned up and came into the office and after doing some “easier” pieces, gave up the idea of taking the day off sick. Maybe the breakfast fixed that. Perhaps there is something to be said after all, about a breakfast that comprised a health nut’s concoction. Truth be told I did enjoy the cold and refreshing shake. The sweetness from the banana, carrot and tinge of honey with the freshness of the celery hid the wheat germ well. The Greek yoghurt made it all smooth and the milk provided the liquid to carry the whole mix – and made George Foreman’s work easier – and delivered a boost to rid that initial sense of wanting to curl up under a blanket for the day.

Nearly an hour later my boss walked in. We exchanged the usual greetings and 5 minutes later he said he had to go home again as he had forgotten his reading glasses. Some 10 minutes later as 9am drew nearer the team started to trickle in. By the time I started this piece I was ready for our usual coffee run but the team was distracted this morning so I decided to write this instead. The zing from the cocktail had dissipated and I felt like going home again. Strange that, because it was supposed to be a low glycaemic index concoction and it was meant to burn slower. Maybe there was simply too little of it and I needed more. Or maybe it really was time for coffee.

I guess it is going to be one of those days…

As we left the M1 and snaked up towards the G at glacial pace, we decided that our passenger and I should walk the rest of the way (only a couple of km). Tress and I swapped places, she got into the driver’s seat and our passenger and I started walking. Or rather, I walked and he started to jog lightly. It was about 6.30 – about half an hour before the marathon starting time.

Our passenger is the father of an acquaintance. We did the usual Asian thing and simply called him “uncle” and we’re yet to learn his name as of now. Uncle is 77 years old and was about to run his 53rd marathon. He had flown into Melbourne from KL a few days earlier. We walked towards the starting point at Batman Avenue and just before I turned towards the G and pointed him to the starting line, I took a picture with him. It’s a picture which I can imagine a caption along the lines of “when I grow up I want to be like him”.

Mine was only the 10km – so I headed to the G, left my stuff in the bag stalls and milled with crowd till for about half an hour or so before my event started. I pushed hard and felt great till maybe the 7km mark, when my knee played up and the pain was bad enough to make me walk for a few minutes before lightly jogging and alternating between that and running at normal pace but letting the good knee do most of not all of the work. I also said a little prayer and after about a km or so was able to run better but definitely slower than I would have liked.

Running the rest of the course cautiously, I was glad to finish but was disappointed not just at the finishing time but also location – we didn’t run into the G this time, due to returfing work.
I had to get my stuff (with my phone) from the bag stalls before I could get in touch with Tress and when I did, we milled around and took in the atmosphere. It was a warm day and we wanted to meet the rep from the Victorian Autism organisation (Amaze). We found her on the other side of the G, where the half-marathoners finished.

Just after 10.30, we walked towards Richmond station and headed home. We went straight from the station to Madam Kwong’s where the wonton mee tasted even better than usual.

After cleaning up we did some work/pottered around the house and then decided to get some coffee from Nuts About Coffee –our newly discovered coffee joint near Blackburn station. Sitting outside the shop with Scruff on a warm and slightly windy day, it felt like being at the beach on a summer’s day.
When we got back, I had a buyer come in to buy the bike I picked up from Hawthorn FC the day before. The proceeds have been earmarked for more footy games next year…

With all chores done the day before, there was nothing left to do which had to be done and that was the best circumstances to finally and totally relax. With a glass of very chilled white, I sat down to watch some tv and then watched a DVD (JE Hoover played by Leonardo). We took the little fellow for his walk, take in – bask in – yet more of the day’s sun. Tress and I then prepared a salad for dinner and spent the rest of the evening just chilling out. As we did, we suddenly remembered we talked about going to the 6pm service at St Alfred’s, having missed our regular 10am service.

On the train this morning as I read John’s and Jude’s letters and reaching the beginning of Revelation, I realised how easy it is in a place like Melbourne, for people to think God and religion is baggage they could do without. Tress and I had a magical weekend. We could conceivably plan and organise weekends of similar activities or interests for as long as we are healthy and working. In as much as we are basking in the sunshine of the present, it shouldn’t take much for one to ask if sunshine, wellness, carpe diem and all such pursuits and mantras are really over rated and can become lies used to lure us away from our creator. Beauty and good things should draw me to Him, not away…

Climbing the umpteenth set of steps to get off Parliament Station yesterday morning, the few commuters and I came upon a set of sleeping bags, luggage and other items more suited inside a home, all spread across the landing of the steps just before the last flight of steps towards Lonsdale Street. A man and a woman each in separate sleeping bags were sleeping. Near the man’s head was a hand written cardboard sign saying they were a homeless family, the wife was pregnant and they needed help. Next to that sign was a large cup with a few coins inside. The weather had turned cool again and I had a woollen jumper under my suit jacket and I had a woollen beanie on. My large backpack with the usual gym gear, lunch and brekky for contents, shielded my back and added protection from the cold. I imagined the family must have been very tired to sleep on that concrete floor that was a staircase landing, over a cold night. It was about 6am, daylight had broken through and I could see the man’s face clearly. I had walked past the cardboard sign but returned to look into the cup, and checked that the man was still asleep. I saw him stirring a bit. I reached into my pocket and emptied out the coins – not more than a couple of dollars – to put them into the cup. I thought of leaving my business card with him but didn’t think that would do any good. I wanted to start a conversation with him, ask how his wife was doing and how else I may help. I didn’t. He was asleep. I had my routines to complete.

This morning as I approached that flight of steps I wanted to see if I could take a picture of that cardboard sign. I reached into the inside pocket of my suit jacket and realised then I had forgotten my phone. It must have been left on the bench top this morning. That man and his family weren’t there anyway.

Into the last 10 minutes of the cross trainer routine, sweating buckets and feeling spent – having already felt a bit under the weather when I woke up this morning – someone walked into the cardio area of the gym and lit up the room. Tress walked in, looked brighter than everyone and anyone else, and smiled at me a she left my phone, wrapped in a petite Myer’s bag, on the drinks holder of the cross trainer. She mouthed she was going to work now and in that instant, I felt like the luckiest man alive but also thought about that man in the sleeping bag on the steps of Parliament Station. At least he had his wife by his side. I have mine to bless me constantly, on top of all the other abundance I have been blessed with.
These past couple of weeks have made me wonder about the uncertainty of my world now. My employer has just been taken over by a competitor and the already fractured relationship between the shareholders and my employer’s board and senior management would now be compounded by the uncertainty emanating from the sale. While the uncertainty can be a source of stress, the idea that I have a promise that my needs will be provided, is a constant comfort. Even better however is simply knowing I will almost always have my wife with me.

Later in the morning, when the team went out for coffee, we walked past another homeless person. I have seen this lady numerous times. She was sitting on her mat/sleeping bag. It was still a cool morning. At 65 Degrees on Exhibition Street, other than my normal coffee, I also ordered a hot chocolate. Kim, the lady who usually serves me, was surprised by this. I just smiled at her. That homeless lady looked pleased (and surprised) to be given a hot chocolate but little did she know, I was even more pleased. Indeed, I think it is more blessed to give than to receive.

It’s been a wonderful day, for me. I hope the days get better for that homeless family and the homeless lady.

When we moved to Melbourne in 2004/2005 I was still crazy about United. I still am. However, slowly but surely the lure of AFL has staked front and centre attention.

It’s near impossible to miss the enormity of the code to Melbourne. In my first job at Sharrock Pitman, the boss was an Essendon fan. A colleague was a Pies man and I forget what the others went for. I remember though, barracking for St Kilda that year simply because it was the last Melbourne side in the finals. All the while though – having heeded Uncle Marloney’s counsel that if we wanted to go for a “local” side it was the Hawks – I wanted the Hawks to win. Sam Mitchell looked really good even then but Shane Crawford was the star. I was wanting the Hawks to succeed from that time on.

So by the time Hawthorn won it in 2008 (the first time since we moved to Melbourne), I found myself cheering on and feeling rapt. Shane Crawford’s reaction on receiving his medal was one for the ages – at least for me, a newbie AFL fan. From that time on however, I started watching more Hawks games than any other team but I was still watching them on tv.

Last year I watched as many Hawks games on tv as I could and went to a a couple of games at the G. More importantly however, we kept September free and ensured each finals game Hawks was involved in was respected. I held a couple of footy parties at home for the preliminary final as well as the Grand Final against Fremantle.

This year, our AFL involvement came came of age. Tress and I went to the G for Hawks’ games several times, including 2 in the finals series. We kept Grand Final day sacred – did a barbie and set it all up nicely. Like almost everyone else I was expecting a close game and had hoped for Hawks to just scrape through. The first 10 minutes of play said Hawks could probably scrape through. The hunger was immense and they jumped in first at every turn. Sharper, quicker, more efficient and demosntrably hungrier, they soon had the Swans rattled and it was a fabulous first quarter, followed by continuing and relentless domination by the Hawks midfield. Sydney was shell shocked, and despite expecting to see some reaction at the start of the next 3 quarters the outcome was soon becoming clear. Some 10-15 minutes into the last quarter, I started celebrating.

We continued the celebratory theme well into Sunday. After church and Madam K, I went for the party at Glenferrie Oval where players and the trophies were presented for fans to wallow over. Some fireworks and streamers were let off which caught some power lines that resulted in trains being cancelled. I had to walk from Glenferrie Station to Camberwell station and was told on arrival, that even trains from there had been cancelled. Tress came to the rescue – she drove to Camberwell and picked me up. It was good however to have walked through the 2-3km of streets in Hawthorn and get a feel of the happy mood in this part of town.

We got home, we did our usual cooking for the week, prepared lunch etc and then settled down to get ready for life in its usual cycle again. It was a magical weekend for our growing love affair with AFL and Hawthorn.

Grand Final Week.

Notwithstanding the social norms surrounding the looming “One Day In September“, there’s this to contend with. And so what some term WWIII commenced, with aerial attacks by US and its allies, on the Islamic rogues in Syria and Iraq. Some argue it is necessary military action. Some warn against the danger. Whether inaction is equivalent to appeasement in the days leading up to Nazi Germany’s WWII is something to be seen I guess. The atrocities committed by these Islamic rogues certainly seem to be driven by the same agenda of self aggrandizement albeit based religious instead of racial grounds and the systematically dealing of others unlike the perpetrators.

Then there’s the announcement by the management today, that the company has been sold. The new owners may or may not re-employ everyone, according to an FAQ issued by management. The art of corporate speak – saying nothing with a lot of words – is as infuriating as political talk. What can they do I guess.

Internal and external turmoil and the uncertainties they bring… such is life, so said Ned Kelly…

Climbing up the stairs from the underbellies of the Parliament station this morning, it was great to be greeted with light. The days are starting earlier now. It makes such a difference to once’s state of mind. The photo on the left was taken a few days earlier, the one on the right was taken this morning.

 

Not that I needed a positive state of mind. The weekend we just had has provided ample ammunition for that.

Tress and I got busy on Sat morning. After brekky at home we shopped quickly and then returned to cook the week’s soup dinners. With 3 dinners done and ready for the freezer, we headed to Madam K’s before coming home again for some gardening. All done at a frantic pace. We wanted these chores out of the way before we headed into the city.

Just before 4pm, he got into the G to soak in the pre-match atmosphere. The second prelim final between the Hawks and Power was about to get under way and we were seated in a section which was sandwiched between 2 Power fan infested sections. They were loud and well organised. We got walloped early on, and they ran us around in the first quarter. We edged them in the second quarter to go into half time with a 10 point lead but steamed ahead at the 3rd. It was the 4th quarter however which gave many of us near heart attacks. In the last 10 mins or so they kicked 4 goals to edge towards a near Hawks elimination but we held on (thanks to a brilliant Hodgey smother) to earn a 3rd consecutive Grand Final.

It was a happy train ride home from Richmond and we got home to again watch the game on tele – and realised what sort of drama the last few minutes provided. Being in situ was priceless however and I’d do it all over again in a heart beat. GF tickets would be hard to come by however…

After church on Sunday, it was lunch at MK’s again before we headed into the city again, but for a very different sort of entertainment. Les Miserables provided culture on the other side of the spectrum which this wonderful city offers (although geographically both the G and Her Majesty’s Theater are on the east). It was a brilliant display of a different genre altogether. It was mesmerising all the same and I was transfixed for the entire duration – all 3 hours of it.

We got home around 7, and settled down for another week at work. It is Grand Final week however… United’s overnight capitulation (losing 3-5 to Leicester City) was hard to take but I’ve had a wonderful weekend to amply cushion that pain. I’m sure Van Gaal will take us out of the underbellies of this transition into a new dawn before too long. Short dark days dont last forever. Neither do long light days granted, but it’s good to know light will almost always return.

I walked the little fellow around 6.30 last night and there was still light.
This morning as I got off the Parliament station and walked towards the gym I again noticed the day has started to break.
Warmer and longer days are approaching. Yay. ..

We watched both semifinal matches on the plush (but kind of old) couch in the B&B on Logan’s Beach in Warrnambool. They were very good games and the weekend was wonderful.

We left home early on Friday morning and drove through rush hour traffic to get on to the Princess Highway, headed out of town towards first Geelong and then Lorne. We had coffee and a quick brekky in Lorne, walked around the town for a bit and then pushed on along the coast past Apollo Bay and then stopped at Port Campbell, having taken the long way around the Otway National Park.

The 12 Apostles were as magnificent as when we first saw them, maybe in 2005. We had Kiddo with us that time. This time we had with us, the little black jedi instead. It would have been brilliant to have Kiddo with us again as well but he’d have to do for now.

After Port Campbell we pushed along and headed to Warrnambool, stopping only at the Loch Arc Gorge.

We got there around 3pm, checked into our B&B and then went into town to get some money, before heading back to our B&B which was right next to Logan’s Beach whale viewing platform. It was only about 100m walk for us. That evening we had dinner in town, at the Logan Café and Restaurant. Then it was back to watch the first game, when the Roos overcame the Cats – first upset of the semi finals.

The next day after a quick brekky at “home” we headed out to the platforms. I took the little fellow for a walk along the beach, then went up to the platforms to try and catch some whale sightings. We were there for a couple of hours but saw nothing despite some reported sightings.

At noon we headed into town, had some coffee and then drove around, stopping first at the Fletcher Jones building which has been turned into an odds and ends shop, selling memorabilia’s from all angles. We then went to the Proudfoots Historical Boathouse and had a late lunch there. The ambience was wonderful. The food was again good and the environment was lively.

After lunch we drove up to Richie’s Point, then went back to get the little fellow and drove across town to the Breakwater Walls and walked through the Promenade on the foreshores. We stopped by the viewing platforms again to see if anything was sighted but were not in luck. Back home, we caught the second semi-finals, which was another exciting game of footy. This time, Port came back to overhaul a big Fremantle lead and won the game. The Hawks await them at The G on Saturday arvo. I got the tickets and can’t wait.

The next morning, after another quick brekky at home we packed up to leave. Just before pushing off however we went to the viewing platforms again. This time we were in luck. We caught sight of the baby which was only less than a week old, having been born just 3-4 days before we got there on Friday. Satisfied, we left and headed back to Melbourne, reaching in time to get to Madam Kwong’s just before they closed.

When we got home we quickly did some shopping before going to cook (soup again), wash (Tress did the laundry) and get ready for the working week again.

We took quite a few photos and in one of them, I had felt really good. The weather was great, the sights gorgeous and we were really relaxed. I thought, not for the first nor last time, how I missed kiddo. We’ve had a number of good excursions into different parts of Victoria this year.

In January after dropping Kiddo off in Sydney we drove down the coast to Gippsland and stayed a the Lakes Entrance. In March we spent a weekend in Dromana in Mornington and in April we drove to the high countries and stayed at Bright. We went to Singapore in July and in August we spent a weekend in Flowerdale near Strath Creek. Then it was the Great Ocean Road and Warrnambool this past weekend. Each trip was special because the geography, food, air and season were all different. The constant was Tress. The constant missing peg was Kiddo, but ironically it is precisely because with her away I felt the need to spend more time with Tress and wanted to see more of Victoria with her. It would have been so much better to have had Kiddo with us, although I know her time now is in the far east, in such different surroundings. I want to see even more of Victoria but hopefully when we make the next trip, I’d have one added constant.