The Waiting Man

What's the nice sunny day, after 2 days of rain? That's a Monday! (To the tune of 'That's Amoré')

Except it rained today as well... just not the whole day. The sun came out in the afternoon enough to remind us that, even though the calendar has ticked over into Autumn, the heat's not done with us just yet. And don't mention the humidity... after nearly 3 days of rain

Other than that, not much to report for the day - just another Monday at work, home to feed the cat & visiting dog, then ourselves, before starting season 2 of Altered Carbon on Netflix. So far, it doesn't have the same brooding, quasi-Blade Runner-like atmosphere of the 1st season, but we'll give it time...

... it was safe to go back in the water... So the tagline for Jaws II went, back in the day

Well, according to eyewitness reports, Jaws has come to Sydney & has taken up residence in a lagoon on the northern beaches, feasting on stray ducks...

Sydney is having a bit of a clean-up day, following the wild weather yesterday. Plenty of power outages, fallen trees, landslides, flooded streets & cars stuck in them... pretty much everywhere needs a good sweeping - including here at work, where the southerly winds blew against our windows & entry doors the whole day, forcing water, dirt, debris & even a few worms(??!!??) under the doors, much to my cow-orker's squealing disgust. I have relocated the worms to the nature strip outside. Our timber floors copped a bit of an unscheduled washing in a couple of places, but whether it was enough to make them swell & distort will only be known in the next few days

WaitingManor survived unscathed... no leaks, no fallen trees, just the usual minor flooding in the back yard that always looks like it will breach the back doors, but never does. The only thing I've had to contend with is Bella - who normally roams outside & does all her personal maintenance out there as well. Stuck inside, she's been sharpening her claws on the sofa (Which we're hoping to replace soon anyway) & using the litter box in the lounge room... which became apparent last night when I was watching TV & a particular aroma wafted my way...

... on the just & the unjust alike.
But mainly on the just
For the unjust hath stolen the just's umbrella

After a baking hot weekend, which saw us use 3 fans in our bedroom at WaitingManor, just to bring the temperature down to a level you could sleep in, the rain began last night & continues this morning. Not stormy downpours, but a nice, constant fall that is more useful - as it gives the soil & plants time to soak it in, without having the topsoil washed away by too much water, or trees losing their limbs from too much wind

One of our large gum trees in the back yard did drop a branch though... Not a huge one, but big enough to do some damage to the plants underneath it! Fortunately Bella was neither climbing that tree at the time, nor walking past it at the wrong moment

Having finally picked up a copy of Leonard Cohen's posthumous album 'Thanks For The Dance', about 10 days ago, I played it for the first time last night & came over all misty-eyed. It's a short album, only about 35-40 minutes & you couldn't say Leonard does much singing on it (some may argue he never did!), but he intones & recites in an affecting way which, barrel-scraping future releases aside, we'll never hear again - signing off with the words:

"Listen to the hummingbird, whose wings you cannot see
Listen to the hummingbird, don't listen to me..."

Sorry Len, I think I'll still be listening to you in both my near & distant futures. Besides, there aren't many hummingbirds around in Sydney at the best of times