Wednesday, January 25

Happy Day

I wake with that knowing, I sense there's something waiting and I instinctively know to look at my sidetable. There they are; pre-loved treasures sitting demurely one on top of the other. I smile and my reaching hand is slow and unsteady with sleep as I touch each one wonderingly. What friends do the musty pages hold? What words of beauty hide coyly behind the untouched covers, waiting to be discovered?

I pull them off one by one and read their invitations. Outbacks, riverboats, and South Australian vineyards. I will start one now, taste the sweet nector while the anticipation is fresh, for I am still dreaming and to this dream I shall hold.

This is how it begins--my happy day.

I love mail days. I'm sure I've said this before. My week revolves around this one day; it's either about to be mail day or it's just been mail day. To me it's like waiting in anticipation of a mini birthday once a week. Sometimes I can guess at what's coming and sometimes letters and parcels come totally by surprise. Today a whole stack of books by my new favourite author Nancy Cato arrived.

I fell in love with her writing a few months ago when I found her book Brown Sugar tucked away, covered in dust on a top shelf of our nearly-ceiling-high bookshelf. She writes the most amazing Australian historical fiction. She's almost the Australian equivalent of the American Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind.

Strangely enough, her book Brown Sugar didn't completely seize me after I first read it. I appreciated it, but it wasn't until I was talking with mum about looking for more Australian fiction books when I remembered how much I'd enjoyed Brown Sugar. I showed the book to my mum and darling that she is, she spent the next few days that I was away in Dubbo scouring the net for second hand copies of Nancy Cato books.

My Mum is the coolest. When I awoke to see the books stacked high on my side table I was so excited. I started one right then and there and finished it just a few moments ago. I love how the richness of Nancy Cato's language wraps around me and makes me feel like I'm breathing and tasting the very dust of the land on which I live.

The weather was perfect today. Perfect for snuggling up in a chair and getting lost in a world of times past. Anyone else know that weather? It was rainy, the sweet smell of moisture was heavy in the air and the powerful, reassuring tread of thunder thumped back and forth across the sky.

Yes, rain! We got almost a whole two inches. Can you believe it. We haven't had a rain like this in nearly four years. It was so much fun watching it blow and swirl around out the door and wonder from every five minutes to five minutes whether it will blow over like it has so many times or stay and drench the ground as we've dreamed it would.

It was also Caleb's birthday today. He turned the grand old age of eleven. Because of the storm, the power went out and so we spent the whole afternoon battling each other in a game of Risk. As it would happen, Caleb won. Birthday luck.

Now I'm pondering the thought of rummaging around in the grocery box that came today in search of the avocadoes I know must be there. I'm so obsessed with avocadoes at the moment. I love how they're so soft and smooshy and--get this--good for putting on weight. After that I might have a shower and curl up with another of Nancy Cato's books. I love happy days.

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