The Pass

This trip to Australia, the surf has not been accommodating. In Margaret River (Western Australia), it was supposed to be 10 ft, and it probably was, but you couldn't tell with the on-shore gale (although it was beautiful). No in Byron Bay, one of the most-beautiful beach towns in all Australia, it has been raining and on-shore winds too. "Blue Bottles" or Portuguese Man-o-war litter the high tide line.

Yesterday, I was supposed to skydive and shoot an XS video with the Eatons, a couple with a great business we support. It was rained out. Today, I surfed The Pass, a relatively famous wave here in Australia/Byron Bay, but it was still beat up, disorganized and generally a lot of work and not much return. Ce la vie!


We do not plan this
Life, it is what we choose to
Make of it. BIG FUN!

New Day for G

I've been a bit overwhelmed with travel and work and. . .excuses. Getting back into writing deliberately. Since my last post, I've been in Japan a bunch, did a family trip to the Netherlands (boating the canals of our ancestors in Friesland), Spain (surfing the Basque Coast) and France (more attempted surfing--unfortunately, the waves were 20 feet and not something we could ride with the equipment available). Also, our 10-year-old lab, Genevieve had to be put down while we were overseas. Something that is difficult and compounded by the fact that we were not there with her to say good-bye.

Genevieve, or "G" as we called her most of the time, was a sweetheart. One of the most 'soulish creatures' as Lewis called dogs, that I've known. I've written about her already as Genevieve the Meek a couple months ago. She loved us, and we loved her--we both gave and we both received from each other. We miss her dearly. It was hard to come home and see all her things, her bed, bowls, leashes. . .empty.

My brother, Joel, spent a lot of time with G. He was her alternate master and loved her and she him. Fortunately, he was with her during her sudden illness (spleen cancer) and departure from this silent planet (Lewis again). A wonderful family friend, Cathleen Falsani, was also with her when she passed on. Cathleen published this wonderful piece on her blog. It is beautiful.

http://falsani.blogspot.com/2010/07/godstuff_16.html#comment-form

Somehow I had felt guilty mourning a dog--something in my Dutch Christian Reformed roots. After reading Cath's blog I feel fully justified in missing our family member. There is a hole where G was in our lives that won't ever be filled. We will continue to pour God's love and our belief in, as Fr. Mac at Grace Episcopal said to young campers at one point: "The dogs? They all go to heaven!"


g, the golden one
a space that was love, now dread
soulish creature, home.