its oh so quiet - only human

i am having a wonderful and quiet half hour, Flynns at kindy, Eli is asleep, my house looks its chaotic self but i don't mind because its quiet and i deserve a lunch break every now and then. I'm taking in big breaths of fresh sunshiny air after days and days of rain. One night this week i was worried the house was going to flood we had water right up to our front steps, our cars were parked in knee deep water and it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. I'm happy the water subsided quickly and that today the sun has graced us with its hot presence once again. We are blessed with beautiful sunshine most of the time and hot humid days, but when the wet season rolls around and the mould begins to grow on your bathroom ceiling you question your choice of home. Why this place? When we know it can have big cyclones, yesterday the people who suffered the loss of their homes in cyclone yasi were on my mind. I wonder how those people are really going and how many chose to move away and how many chose to stay and start over. Australia can be harsh weather wise no matter where we are, in recent years its been hit with cyclones, terrible floods and massive bush fires.

So personally why Australia?  and why cairns in particular? its my home, i grew up here, i have lived in other places and i know how big and fascinating the world is but there is a comfort and a joy in this place i know so well. I love the big paddocks of sugar cane, though they are disappearing, i remember when they would be set on fire the drama of the flames and the ash was so beautiful. My boys love the huge tractors at harvesting time these days. I love how the mountains seem to rise straight out of the sea. I love the beaches with space on them to sprawl out, the sea may be filled with jellyfish but I'm happy just to sit on the sand and look at it. Its so green here vivid veridian green, everything hums with life (that would be the crickets, frogs and bugs and hundred of different birds). Whilst this town grows and shifts in small ways claimed by that horrid thing 'progress', it hasn't really changed its still a regional outpost at the top end of this country.