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ANZAC DAY

Today is Anzac Day. My dad always used to march in the parade, when he was younger, and then go to the pub and have a few drinks with his mates. This is a picture of him, taken in his army uniform in 1942. He served in the Australian army in Papua New Guinea, but he didn’t talk very much about it. He was in an engineering corps, so I don’t think he fought in the front line, but maybe memories of war are such that people sometimes lose them, to avoid the pain. They also say that returned soldiers often don’t talk about their experiences with anyone, except their army buddies, because if you weren’t there, you just couldn’t understand.

Anyway, I won’t have the chance to find out any more about my father’s war experiences, because he passed away last year, on Sept 15th. I made a mosaic cross to put on his grave, and on it I put this picture of him, looking young and handsome, in his army uniform.  I thought, if it were me, I would rather have people remember me like this, rather than old and frail and stooped.

Around his picture, printed on a ceramic disk, I put the rising sun, which is the symbol of the Australian Army. When my brother was here from France, in November, our little family walked to the cemetery on our property and had a ceremony, where we buried the ashes and erected the cross. He we all are:

Me, Colin (my partner), Bryan (my brother), Brendon (my nephew) and Banjo our dog, who also is no longer with us.

I went to visit the grave last week. It was my father’s birthday on 14th April. I lit some candles and sat beside the grave in the quiet and still of the evening. I had a beer and a chat with my dad. It is a nice resting place. I thought how important it is to have a place where you can go and connect with someone who has passed away - I suppose that is why we have such symbolic places as graves and memorials. And that is why people make pilgrimages half way round the world, to see a field of tiny crosses or a plaque or a statue. And why many peoples of the world have celebrations, like “The Day of the Dead”, and have a big party by the gravesides of their ancestors.

Solomon

Solomon

Originally uploaded by Wendy Tanner

I love this photo of Solomon, just one of the wonderful students in my ESL class at Coffs Coast Community College. This was taken at Woolgoolga Beach, just north of Coffs Harbour, where we had lunch at our end of year excursion. About 80 of us, in 2 big buses, travelled to the blueberry farms, where the students gorged themselves on blueberries. Then we went to the Indian Sikh Temple.
What a lovely way to finish our year.

fortress ruins, Khulm

fortress ruins, Khulm, originally uploaded by Wendy Tanner.

I wonder, as I scan my 33 year old slides of Afghanistan and upload them to Flickr, and then post them to this blog …..whether Flickr, or this blog…or indeed, even the internet, might still be around in another 33 years!!???

Kitsilano Beach Sunset, Vancouver

33 Kitsilano Beach Sunset, Vancouver, originally uploaded by Daniel Dray.

and here is the original!!

Dan – my cover boy

Guess who is a proud mother!!?? Danny is featured on the cover of the Coffs Coast Community College Term 3 brochure. It is his “buddy icon” for his flickr site, too: www.flickr.com/photos/danieldray

Colin in his element

SANY2053, originally uploaded by Colin Dray.

My Darling in Zion National Park, Utah

Danny and Tilda

Tilda & Dan, originally uploaded by Colin Dray.

Colin (with Matilda’s help), has just flickred his first lot of photos from Utah, North America. These are my two darling tiddlywinks!!!

Colin, Matilda, Danny & Dyl at the Grand Canyon

127 Dad, Matilda, Me & Dyl at the Grand Canyon, originally uploaded by Daniel Dray.

The rest of my family are holidaying together in the States. When I look at Danny’s photos on flickr, and read his email about his latest exploits, I feel a bit sad that I was not with them, and that they had this adventure that I did not share. Oh well….I’ve had heaps of adventures in my lifetime …no regrets for me!!

yet another face of Japan

DSC_0175, originally uploaded by bellogallery.

I really like this photo of Ute’s of this “older” Japanese woman. The soft light under the hat shows her nicely weathered face.