Dissonance ... and a little incongruity

As it turns out, The Big House did have an Australia Day function - actually two of them ... but not quite the event it has been in previous years ... no, this time it wasn’t a barbecue ... it was a ball ... The Australia Day Balls – with one at lunchtime and one in the evening. We went to the lunchtime one ... and while it wasn’t quite the same, it was good fun (although it would have been more fun with the games and the ice cream van) ... and a free lunch - so we were happy and very grateful to be invited.

It was odd though – with a few contrasts ... like a tuxedo-clad American tribute band performing against the backdrop of an Australian farm – red soil, green and brown gum trees, the brown of the sheep in pens, the black of the sheepdog on the verandah, and the white of cockatoos flying overhead. The fact that the function room was done up formally but that the dress was “informal” – or so lots of people seem to have been told – was another mismatch.

I still can't believe I missed the special entertainment though. I was out of the room when the rope-twirling, whip-cracking, line dancing folk made their entrance and appearance! I did catch the last minutes of the line dancers so it wasn't a complete fail on my part. And heaven knows I have always been proud of our pseudo-American heritage! But at least the American tribute band (Sweet Central?) did a couple of Aussie songs – “Waltzing Matilda” and “I still call Australia Home”.

I don't know why they refer to weather as "wild and woolly" but it certainly has been. We've been lucky and apart from lots of wind and rain it's been fairly uneventful. Alas, the same can't be said for other areas of the Gold Coast There have been massive power outages - including on Mt Tambourine which has been without power and water for most of the long weekend – and last I heard it still hadn’t been restored. We're so used to having services – power especially - that I think we sometimes forget how much we rely on them! And how much we need them for - not the least of which here at Latimers is for pumping water. We are very grateful to have power - especially as lots of the surrounding suburbs do not. And it was just a bit on the hairy side to drive through some of them on the way to work this morning because the traffic lights were out! But at least the creek hasn't flooded (too much)!