10.08.2010

honey

Been home for two weeks. Trying to hold on to a sense of spaciousness and calm and not get too frantic too soon. It is inevitable that things will start to speed up and get busy again, especially in the lead up to The Carnival of Mysteries, the wonderful, enormous project I am part of in the Melbourne Festival, but in the meantime I am trying to stay a bit free, a bit floaty, a bit slow.

I got a new bike. That’s part of it. I’ve been meaning to get a new bike for about two years, but knew it would take time. So the other day, having some hours up my sleeve, I went to a bike shop, where they are very nice, and where they have been having a sale, and test rode a few different models, and then a few different seats, and in the end I settled on a bike and got my basket fitted on it and then rode it home. It’s very lovely; it’s a silvery-blue colour, a Giant Cypress, and it has gears and great brakes and…it works!

Since then I’ve really been enjoying riding around, (it feels so easy,) seeing the small things that have changed since I got home. There’s been lots of building, for example there is a new building on the corner of Nicholson St. and Brunswick Rd, and another new one on the corner of Queensberry St and Bouverie St. On the other hand a building has disappeared on the corner of Grattan St. and Royal Pde. That’s a strange thing, that building had been there since I was a child. It’s weird to see all that new space.

The smells are great too. Yesterday I smelt hyacinths and wattle and muddy water, and then on the way home I went along the bike path past the spot where the trees smell like honey.

And am also slowly catching up with friends and loved ones. Which also smells like honey.