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Morning, off to see Grandma now, was with her yesterday till quite late and she was either holding my hand and alert or sleeping. She seems quite strong to me and while her breath is laboured I'm not sure Annie can be brought down :) I will keep you all posted.
Love you, Chloe
Chloe I know Grandma Dunn is comforted to have you with her right now
She knows she is not alone when you are holding her hand. Love you sister
Hi Chloe, just up it is around 6:30 am here. We are off to Litchfield National Park to see the waterfalls etc.
Your grandmother is a strong woman! I'm sure having you there is a comfort to her. Love Mom
Saturday, April 28th
Up at 7:30am after watching a British police thriller I probably won't ever see the conclusion of! Cora Lee was already up and told me that she she had just heard from Chloe informing us that Mom had suffered a heart attack the night before. We called her shortly after hearing the news and reached her at Mom's bedside. Apparently nursing staff said that they would know more by Sunday. If she is not able to take medication orally then not sure of the outcome. I had decided, in consultation with Jean Clarke, our family doctor, that no extraordinary measures were to be taken to prolong Mom's life, in the event of something like this. I suppose I have always had such an occurrence in the back of my mind whenever we leave for a trip, whether it be for a weekend to the Okanagan or for an extended trip such as one we are on at moment. At any rate, Chloe is coping well and as she said, "Grandma is a tough old bird and has outlived many others around her so let's just wait and see."
After a quick breakfast of yogurt and mandarins we walked to the bus stop to catch a #4 to Parap Market. Arrived at 10:00am and since we knew the layout of the food stalls went straight to the kiosk selling Cambodian rice balls and ordered the ones with bacon. Absolutely delish and we wandered the market, munching as we went, enjoying the sights and sounds and appetizing smells. We hoped to meet Jenne and Saveeta at some point, as we'd made tentative plans to do so when we said goodnight and goodbye, last Tuesday, so we made our way the length and breadth of the two or so blocks which make up the market, splitting up to cover more ground, but didn't come across them. Did run into John, chap who'd given us a lift to the Art Gallery last Saturday, as well as Nancy and Brian Devlin, another couple we'd met at the table when we first met John and Elaine, his wife. The Devlin's were grand-parenting their 18 month old granddaughter, Amy, as the parents were attending a yoga class. Cora Lee and I had arranged to meet back at an area near the start of the market where a number of picnic tables had been set up and we did just that, joining John and Elaine and some of their other friends, in particular Patricia and Muriele, two sisters, from France. We'd met them a week ago, as well, and then bumped into them the next day at Nightcliff Market. Darwin is a small town!
We chatted amiably for half an hour or so, sipping on our Coconut/Lime fresh fruit shakes. Hoped Jenne and Saveeta might walk by but they didn't. Either they decided not to come or else we simply missed them. Nonetheless, we decided we would leave just before noon so said goodbye to our new acquaintances and made for bus stop. One we caught took a more direct route and we were back in town in little more than five minutes. I hopped off at the stop closest to Advance and Coriandre returned to hotel to see what changing our flights might entail. We had decided to go to Litchfield, another National Park, about 180K from Darwin, for the day and renting a car, even with the cost of gas, ($1.57/l in Darwin, $1.67 to $1.77 in and around Kakadu), was cheaper than booking a tour. Plus the fact that it gave us more flexibility once there. Roads are terrific and speed limit is often 130K so one can really fly!
I booked the car, ready for 8:00am tomorrow, and walked back towards hotel, stopping at Coles for a few groceries. Her Majesty was tired of bbq'd chook so had ordered an assortment of sliced meats. Picked up a couple of dips to use as spreads on her large round rice wafers and a couple of fresh buns for myself. Back at the hotel I put perishible items in the bar fridge, had a glass of fuzzy water, and we set off for the Chan Contemporary Art Space, located immediately opposite the entrance to Parliament House. We'd been there together last Monday but it was closed. Open today so we enjoyed Art of the Nomad.
Not a huge exhibition but extremely fascinating nonetheless. Placed at intervals on the gallery floor were numerous digital prints, (Siying Zhou & Leanne Waterhouse), of Trevor Jenkins' Scarecrows, 2012. Jenkins is a local artist and homeless advocate "who walks each day collecting "rubbish", (palm fronds, cardboard beer boxes, plastic bags, etc.), which he ritualistically piles by the side of the road creating 'scarecrows'". More like tripod structures rather than what I think of when I think about the image of a scarecrow but still arresting, fetching and amusing in terms of shape and arrangement of material. Funnily enough, there were a number of these "scarecrows" on the patio outside the entrance to the gallery when we walked by, last Monday, and I remarked to Corinne that they looked like sculpture made from found materials. Was a bit hard to tell with most of them as the wind had been quite strong earlier and some of the "scarecrows" had collapsed and their constituent fronds and associated detritus were scattered all over the patio.
Another display with related works was entitled Triumph of the Bogans, Jeff Blaney, Melbourne, 2012. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, I quote from the gallery brochure: "The word bogan has had a bad rap of late--still associated with wife beaters, flannelette, (not sure what this refers to myself), VB, (Victoria Bitter, beer), utes, (utility pick-up trucks), and mullets, (type/style of hair cut)." Again, for those still not sure about this sort of individual, some combination or amalgam or cross/hybrid between a red-neck, trailer trash folk and/or a Surroid! Colin Holt's Boganopoly, 2012, acrylic paint on wood, glass top, was uproariously funny. A traditional Monopoly Board transformed into one the shape of Australia with properties/locations that define bogan culture. Chance cards read "Forced to see an art exhibition, Go back 4 spaces!" Get out of Jail Free has an entirely new meaning in this context! Pieces one moves are small model cars, Fords or Holdens, boganmobiles, I gather, and shaker for the die is an empty VB beer can!
Last work, Ode to those who didn't stay, 2012, projection and sound, by J9 Stanton, is truly remarkable. Onto a slide of a large clay pipe set into a wild lawn individual faces, one at a time, gradually come into focus and then dissolve to nothingness down into the blackness of the pipe hole. I was reminded of Alice disappearing into the rabbit hole almost immediately but as I sat watching the faces "bloom" into focus and then just as quickly dissolve, I was struck by what an incredibly powerful metaphor this was for the nature of our own lives and some fundamental aspect of our relationship with others, the passage of time and the way we "drift" in and out of the lives of those around us, through blind luck, happenstance, serendipity, karma, kismet, fate, call it what you will, whether close friends or immediate family, passing acquaintances or strangers in the night. As if this wasn't puzzling enough, to me at least, the flashing images also caused me to think about memory itself and how it relates to our known reality, or indeed creates it. As Harry B sang so long ago, (memory once again, Dear Reader!), "It was clear as mud but it covered the ground/The confusion made me head go round!" Time to head back to the hotel for a cold Blue Tongue!
To be continued...
Your grandmother is a strong woman! I'm sure having you there is a comfort to her. Love Mom
Saturday, April 28th
Up at 7:30am after watching a British police thriller I probably won't ever see the conclusion of! Cora Lee was already up and told me that she she had just heard from Chloe informing us that Mom had suffered a heart attack the night before. We called her shortly after hearing the news and reached her at Mom's bedside. Apparently nursing staff said that they would know more by Sunday. If she is not able to take medication orally then not sure of the outcome. I had decided, in consultation with Jean Clarke, our family doctor, that no extraordinary measures were to be taken to prolong Mom's life, in the event of something like this. I suppose I have always had such an occurrence in the back of my mind whenever we leave for a trip, whether it be for a weekend to the Okanagan or for an extended trip such as one we are on at moment. At any rate, Chloe is coping well and as she said, "Grandma is a tough old bird and has outlived many others around her so let's just wait and see."
After a quick breakfast of yogurt and mandarins we walked to the bus stop to catch a #4 to Parap Market. Arrived at 10:00am and since we knew the layout of the food stalls went straight to the kiosk selling Cambodian rice balls and ordered the ones with bacon. Absolutely delish and we wandered the market, munching as we went, enjoying the sights and sounds and appetizing smells. We hoped to meet Jenne and Saveeta at some point, as we'd made tentative plans to do so when we said goodnight and goodbye, last Tuesday, so we made our way the length and breadth of the two or so blocks which make up the market, splitting up to cover more ground, but didn't come across them. Did run into John, chap who'd given us a lift to the Art Gallery last Saturday, as well as Nancy and Brian Devlin, another couple we'd met at the table when we first met John and Elaine, his wife. The Devlin's were grand-parenting their 18 month old granddaughter, Amy, as the parents were attending a yoga class. Cora Lee and I had arranged to meet back at an area near the start of the market where a number of picnic tables had been set up and we did just that, joining John and Elaine and some of their other friends, in particular Patricia and Muriele, two sisters, from France. We'd met them a week ago, as well, and then bumped into them the next day at Nightcliff Market. Darwin is a small town!
We chatted amiably for half an hour or so, sipping on our Coconut/Lime fresh fruit shakes. Hoped Jenne and Saveeta might walk by but they didn't. Either they decided not to come or else we simply missed them. Nonetheless, we decided we would leave just before noon so said goodbye to our new acquaintances and made for bus stop. One we caught took a more direct route and we were back in town in little more than five minutes. I hopped off at the stop closest to Advance and Coriandre returned to hotel to see what changing our flights might entail. We had decided to go to Litchfield, another National Park, about 180K from Darwin, for the day and renting a car, even with the cost of gas, ($1.57/l in Darwin, $1.67 to $1.77 in and around Kakadu), was cheaper than booking a tour. Plus the fact that it gave us more flexibility once there. Roads are terrific and speed limit is often 130K so one can really fly!
I booked the car, ready for 8:00am tomorrow, and walked back towards hotel, stopping at Coles for a few groceries. Her Majesty was tired of bbq'd chook so had ordered an assortment of sliced meats. Picked up a couple of dips to use as spreads on her large round rice wafers and a couple of fresh buns for myself. Back at the hotel I put perishible items in the bar fridge, had a glass of fuzzy water, and we set off for the Chan Contemporary Art Space, located immediately opposite the entrance to Parliament House. We'd been there together last Monday but it was closed. Open today so we enjoyed Art of the Nomad.
Not a huge exhibition but extremely fascinating nonetheless. Placed at intervals on the gallery floor were numerous digital prints, (Siying Zhou & Leanne Waterhouse), of Trevor Jenkins' Scarecrows, 2012. Jenkins is a local artist and homeless advocate "who walks each day collecting "rubbish", (palm fronds, cardboard beer boxes, plastic bags, etc.), which he ritualistically piles by the side of the road creating 'scarecrows'". More like tripod structures rather than what I think of when I think about the image of a scarecrow but still arresting, fetching and amusing in terms of shape and arrangement of material. Funnily enough, there were a number of these "scarecrows" on the patio outside the entrance to the gallery when we walked by, last Monday, and I remarked to Corinne that they looked like sculpture made from found materials. Was a bit hard to tell with most of them as the wind had been quite strong earlier and some of the "scarecrows" had collapsed and their constituent fronds and associated detritus were scattered all over the patio.
Another display with related works was entitled Triumph of the Bogans, Jeff Blaney, Melbourne, 2012. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, I quote from the gallery brochure: "The word bogan has had a bad rap of late--still associated with wife beaters, flannelette, (not sure what this refers to myself), VB, (Victoria Bitter, beer), utes, (utility pick-up trucks), and mullets, (type/style of hair cut)." Again, for those still not sure about this sort of individual, some combination or amalgam or cross/hybrid between a red-neck, trailer trash folk and/or a Surroid! Colin Holt's Boganopoly, 2012, acrylic paint on wood, glass top, was uproariously funny. A traditional Monopoly Board transformed into one the shape of Australia with properties/locations that define bogan culture. Chance cards read "Forced to see an art exhibition, Go back 4 spaces!" Get out of Jail Free has an entirely new meaning in this context! Pieces one moves are small model cars, Fords or Holdens, boganmobiles, I gather, and shaker for the die is an empty VB beer can!
Last work, Ode to those who didn't stay, 2012, projection and sound, by J9 Stanton, is truly remarkable. Onto a slide of a large clay pipe set into a wild lawn individual faces, one at a time, gradually come into focus and then dissolve to nothingness down into the blackness of the pipe hole. I was reminded of Alice disappearing into the rabbit hole almost immediately but as I sat watching the faces "bloom" into focus and then just as quickly dissolve, I was struck by what an incredibly powerful metaphor this was for the nature of our own lives and some fundamental aspect of our relationship with others, the passage of time and the way we "drift" in and out of the lives of those around us, through blind luck, happenstance, serendipity, karma, kismet, fate, call it what you will, whether close friends or immediate family, passing acquaintances or strangers in the night. As if this wasn't puzzling enough, to me at least, the flashing images also caused me to think about memory itself and how it relates to our known reality, or indeed creates it. As Harry B sang so long ago, (memory once again, Dear Reader!), "It was clear as mud but it covered the ground/The confusion made me head go round!" Time to head back to the hotel for a cold Blue Tongue!
To be continued...
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