it is the dead of winter in perth, WA. how do i know this? why do i have pictures of the beach if its winter, you ask?? or a more common question, does australia even have a winter? well, that depends on how you define the term "winter". because to my aussie comrads, winter means pulling out the wool socks (the ocean breezes tend to get a bit chilly!), slapping on a wetsuit before braving the waters of the indian ocean, and spending the evening hibernating indoors due to the dreadful cold of the winter nights (some even get down to 5 degrees celcius- shocking!!).
no wonder i am an oddball here. first of all, i see ocean and that means swimming. i will not lie on the beach for hours. ew. so no matter how white and pasty i am, and how weird i look diving through the waves while everyone else is covered from head-to-toe with an ultra-heat retaining wetsuit, i'm gonna be in that water. sask lakes have taught me a thing or two... mostly about hypothermia and how to make use of your limbs when you've lost feeling in them, as well as the best methods of recovery once your lips are blue and your sentences are slurring. we're tough up there.
next of all, i have not owned a pair of wool socks for at least 15 years and i intend to keep it that way. if i can manage through -30degree weather in canada, i think these "winter" temps of 20+ degrees celcius (thats around 70degrees for all my american friends) will not be my undoing.
and finally, i have struck up an unlikely yet beneficial friendship with a young girl named Cuba. we have similar interests in mind...enjoying the coolness of the evenings, walking together along the river, pondering the greater things in life. no words are necessary between us. she is longing to escape the confines of 3 fences and the back of a house, and i am looking for a protector, a little security. its really quite beautiful, actually. cuba is one of the only aussies who will join me on my night time outtings to take in the AU stars and revel in the beauty of the amazing landscape here...it seems that all the two-legged aussies prefer to hide behind their tv screens and space heaters (shocking statistic- australia currently has the highest obesity rates in the world!) at least until the end of august, i am told.
no wonder i am an oddball here. first of all, i see ocean and that means swimming. i will not lie on the beach for hours. ew. so no matter how white and pasty i am, and how weird i look diving through the waves while everyone else is covered from head-to-toe with an ultra-heat retaining wetsuit, i'm gonna be in that water. sask lakes have taught me a thing or two... mostly about hypothermia and how to make use of your limbs when you've lost feeling in them, as well as the best methods of recovery once your lips are blue and your sentences are slurring. we're tough up there.
next of all, i have not owned a pair of wool socks for at least 15 years and i intend to keep it that way. if i can manage through -30degree weather in canada, i think these "winter" temps of 20+ degrees celcius (thats around 70degrees for all my american friends) will not be my undoing.
and finally, i have struck up an unlikely yet beneficial friendship with a young girl named Cuba. we have similar interests in mind...enjoying the coolness of the evenings, walking together along the river, pondering the greater things in life. no words are necessary between us. she is longing to escape the confines of 3 fences and the back of a house, and i am looking for a protector, a little security. its really quite beautiful, actually. cuba is one of the only aussies who will join me on my night time outtings to take in the AU stars and revel in the beauty of the amazing landscape here...it seems that all the two-legged aussies prefer to hide behind their tv screens and space heaters (shocking statistic- australia currently has the highest obesity rates in the world!) at least until the end of august, i am told.
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