Wedding eve

This might have been my 28th wedding anniversary but it will live in my memory as the night before Liam & Catherine's wedding.
The bridal party and close family are staying at the wedding venue, a Georgian inn, outside Sydney in Mittagong.
As we drove down here in the late afternoon there was thick smoke billowing from a fire not far away.
And as I changed for dinner I realised that my freshly washed top smelled strongly of smoke because it had been drying outside as ash fell over our house.

One of the bridesmaids has just today been evacuated  as fire claimed part of her family property not far away and there are still fears for the horse who couldnt be persuaded into a float.
Her continued attendance here at a time of such loss is remarkable.
One couple of guests is not able to come because of road closure.v

For the first time in his life Harry is  sleeping on crisp white hotel linen, snuggling up to me for comfort. He is enjoying this place full of friends but it overwhelms him.

We are safe here and all will be well but what a story this will be in years to come.

Maths

Just over a year ago I lived with my husband and four adult children, plus beloved Harry Dog.

6+1

Then my husband left.

5+1

And the next day, Liam.

4+1

A few months passed and we adopted the adored Lucy-fer.

4+2

A little later, I was told that I will, at some point, be made redundant.

Two months ago Briony went a seven hour drive away for a ten week prac teaching placement.

3+2

A couple of days ago the school offered her a job.

If she accepts, Lucy-fer will most likely go too.

3+1

And in April, Keaghan will marry and move out.

2+1


It's a lot of change.

Fire and other catastrophes

Life around here has been a bit full on. I've been working hard, trying to get my head around the idea of my little boy (one of them) getting married in a few weeks, wondering what to wear to the wedding and what to do with my hair. My office mate had a car accident and I drove her to a couple of appointments as well as offering support while she navigates her way through some tough times.

I was wondering why I felt a little as if I was drowning but now that I write it down, it makes sense. And I haven't even factored in catastrophic fire conditions, anger at politicians in the midst of the crisis or the installation of a new fence last week which was quite stressful given that the neighbour insisted it be done on his schedule and in his way, leaving me with an expense I wanted to defer and a problem containing the dogs.

Did I tell you the pantry is full of  moth? Insects will have the last laugh.

I live in deep suburbia so I am not afraid of bush fire but I can't discount the risk completely. In last Tuesdays extreme conditions there were expectations that embers could be carried up to 30km from a fire front, which would make pretty much the entire metropolitan area susceptible. Fortunately, the fires which did start on Sydney's outskirts were quickly controlled. Schools were closed and people were urged to have a fire plan, radio stations interrupted regular programming to talk about the fire risk and politicians stated that climate change is irrelevant and they didn't want to politicise the fires which inspired a state wide state of emergency.

We are now at the very beginning of fire season and there has been more loss already than would usually happen in several seasons. If that's not a poliitical issue, I don't know what it could possibly be.

Saving the best for last: I have applied to study Chaplaincy next year. We had a cohort of Chaplaincy students on campus this week and as I walked past the classroom at one point I heard the teacher say "our job is to provide hope"

I'm cautiously excited about having that in my future.