Hawaiian Graduate

“All that stands between the graduate and the top of the ladder is the ladder.” 

Author Unknown

When you put the ladder of elementary education against the wall and look at the seven rungs reaching skyward it creates a lump in your throat.  To make your 5 year old start climbing pulls tears from your heart.  Luckily the 60 or so other parents dropping kindergartners off for the their first day of school help with the process of letting go of that tiny trusting hand.  By the 2nd or 3rd annual climb up to the next rung things have dropped into a comforting cycle of Halloween, Christmas and Valentine celebrations.  I would suspect a Hallmark collusion if it wasn't for the inter-dispersal of Jog-athon, Spring Sings and Carnival in the school calendar.  After several years, just as you lock into the familiar yearly cycle, the heady heights of the 5th and 6th rungs arrive with rites of passage such as Washington trips and Wolf Camp.  And then suddenly its over, and that tiny hand has grown and is reaching out for a graduation diploma.  

"You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.

You're on your own.

And you know what you know.

You are the guy who'll decide where to go."

Dr. Seuss

There was so much emotion in the last few days of Montecito with ceremonies, graduation and luau parties.  What I need to do was finish packing so we could wheel the suitcases into a taxi and head off to the land of lai's and grass skirts.  Looks like Jazz is streets ahead of us all as usual. 

On the road again...

http://dumbblondeadventures3.blogspot.com/

Lucky to have been in the Lucky Country

"Carry the sun inside you 

and reach out for the dreams that guide you. 

You have everything you need 

to take you where you want to go then." 

Dainere Anthoney

Back in the warm embrace of Santa Barbara, it seems like our time in the lucky country was a fantasy, a dream time.  The colors and images swirl into a treasured Australian memory. 

"when we join hands we become one - one people, one place - and that gives a certain texture, a certain beat. It makes us want to shout for all to hear, 'this place, this tribe, this is Australia!'" 

Jack Thompson

We quickly became part of the people, enjoying the land, the sky and the sea.  It was our pleasure to join the Australians in their joyous pursuit of the great outdoors.

"Australia is a quirky country. It is happy to have as heroes Phar Lap, a racehorse who died, Les Darcy, a boxer who died, Ned Kelly, a bushranger who was hanged, and Simpson, a private soldier shot by a Turkish sniper. It celebrates a military adventure called Gallipoli that, brave as it was, was lost from the second day. We like gritty failures and folk heroes. Bradman , the folk hero who didn't stumble, is an exception. " Les Carlyon

We experienced the uniqueness of this vast remote island and took the time to watch the wildlife reveal itself to us, from the lizards camouflaged in the forests to the swooping aerial acrobatics of the eagles. 

"Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

 I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace."

John Magee

The magical ingredients of nature, twirled together as a sparkling cocktail of days on the beach and the warm caress of the Coral Sea.

  "Recipe for the Diamantina Cocktail: Mix a blast of Bundaberg Rum, a dollop of condensed milk, and one surely whipped emu's egg, pour briskly over bald ice, garnish with a gum leaf, and goodnight gungadin." 

Little River Band

"No matter how far

Or how wide I roam

I still call Australia home."

Peter Allen

"Sea waves are green and wet, 

but up from where they die, rise others vaster yet," 

Robert Frost

"A stark white ring-barked forest

All tragic to the moon"

Dorothea MacKellar

  "For those who've come across the seas 
we've boundless plains to share…" 
Australia's National Anthem

From the abundance of waves to the leaping dolphins we were blessed with the bounty of the ocean in so many ways.    

I was truly saddened to end this waltz with Matilda.  I will miss the quirky Auzzie humor, the warm hospitality and the straightforward honesty of all the 'mates' we made along the way.

I was honored to share this Queensland beach lifestyle of thongs, surf lifesaving clubs, lifeguards and surfers.  This wonderful, beautiful, incredible place where we chased our dreams. 

"Dream it. Dare it. Do it. " Catherine De Vrye

“Hold fast to your dreams, for without them 

life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”

 Langston Hughes

"And by and by Christopher Robin came to an end of things, 

and he was silent, and he sat there, looking out over the world, 

just wishing it wouldn't stop." 

Winnie the Pooh.