But it was fine enough for us to bathed in the light of the almost full moon this evening ... truly glorious. September is the time when the moon is nearest to the earth - as celebrated with Chinese Moon Festival and the eating of Moon Cakes. I have often wondered if the moon looks different from the other side of the world and in another hemisphere or if it is the same aspect of the moon shining down on us all. I also remember that movie, although not the name of it, where the moon, having been hit by a meteor and falling out of orbit towards earth, is split in two by an explosion in an attempt to "right" the problem. Of course, as with all disaster movies, whether big screen or telemovie, humanity prevails.
Although in some instances it is the stronger species ... like cats. S is not sure how she does it (I suspect the powers of non-keen observation by someone has something to do with it) but as we were getting everyone ready for bed tonight, including the kids, she happened to look in Maggie's basket and find something ... now what was that word she used ... "horrible". It turned out to be some dinner Maggie had caught for herself (yes, we are feeding her enough)- or perhaps appropriated from one of the others - which we think she was keeping for a snack for later. Not any more.
It was an exciting day on the Coast today - including a high rise fire in Surfers Paradise in the Circle on Cavill building in what appears to have been a cooking accident which resulted in several floors of the building being evacuated, and a single case of smoke inhalation - plus much traffic disruption in the area.
Meanwhile, on the M1 at Helensvale, a motorcyclist who had been white-lining up the highway ("we were going 110kph and he went past us like we were standing still" one motorist reported) apparently misjudged the gap between two cars and slammed into the back of one of them. He is in an induced coma at the Gold Coast Hospital, in intensive care, but apparently in a stable, if critical, condition.
The spate of armed robberies (can you call it "armed" if there's a knife or machete involved) on the Coast continues. Bottle shops seem to be the target of choice although a taxi driver has been assailed, and the same perpetrators staged a home invasion soon after. It looks as though the police - currently under a lot of public scrutiny with the Crime and Misconduct Commission - have detained a suspect in relation to the last two events.
Organizers have come out to assure us that the Armor All Gold Coast 600 (formerly the Gold Coast Indy) will go ahead as planned even though there have been delays in constructing the "precinct" because of the continuing wet weather. This has been heightened because of a shortened construction period (possibly in a bid to cause less disruption to the surrounding residents and businesses).
Whales continue to make their way along the Coast and advertisements are now appearing in the Gold Coast Bulletin to remind people of the penalties for approaching too close to the giant sea mammals or approaching them from the wrong direction. Sea World's whale watching tours continue to guarantee sightings. We still haven't booked but will have to rectify that as we don't want to miss out and while we know you can sometimes see them from the shore, you don't get to see much of them - perhaps a flume (I thought that was a new word - cross between a "fluke" and "plume" - but it's already taken in the dictionary) - and that seems to work better if you're in a fairly high position ... hmmmm ... perhaps the Coolangatta look-out would be a fine vantage point - during the daytime of course because we know it's not advisable to be out and about just "looking" there - even if you're not peering into the windows of parked cars - at night!
S's vegetable garden continues to grow - helped along by the rain (did we mention it's been raining a bit here?). Hopefully somebody likes eggplant because it looks as though there's going to be some - and capsicums, and chilli, and more tomatoes. Not sure if the corn ever made it in - it was the wrong season when the garden was started - or beans. Which reminds me, it's time to wander down the back and check the bananas again. <Looks> Now where did we put that machete?
Pearl continues to wait patiently outside our room and is starting to put herself a little bit into the manchester nook rather than being directly in front of the door. Sometimes she can't help herself though but, thankfully, that's usually in daylight hours when we can see her. She likes the shower though ... and there's nothing quite like doing morning abluting while she, Maggie and Beazley watch. S usually entertains them while she's there ... singing the Pearl song ... and Pearl sings along as well. Maybe I will get her to teach it to me tomorrow.
