Melbourne Reunions

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Melbourne Reunions

If the only benefit of parting is the joy of meeting again, it couldn’t be more true than with family. The sad moments of separation give way to rejoicing at the reunion. Words, which are too often clumsy and inadequate, are best dispensed with and replaced by a hug, the desperate squeeze of which communicates a remarkable depth of love.

Melbourne, what a fun place. Simone loves it, and Georgia and Byron have adopted it as their own. Their backyard is filled with great adventures. An early morning visit to the dolphin pond, with its dolphin and other sea creature statues, is the first stop in an adventure-packed trek. The next stop is the fountain with a peaceful statue of a water bearer, that sits atop a slight hill, along a track flanked by fragrant bushes. Then it is down to the JUNGLE, with its strands of bamboo and taller trees, a stream and a narrow, makeshift bridge of wooden planks. Once out of the jungle, it’s a bee line for the duck pond, to dispense yesterday’s bread. There’s often two ducks there, and even more frequently, a water fowl with bright red feet, that for the sake of getting fed, convinces Byron that it’s a duck.

There’s a pretty bridge where the creek opens to form the pond. Georgia and Byron love it. It has a special quality, and their antics of climbing over it and along the outside of it add to its enchanted appearance. From there, like homing pigeons, G & B head for the playground, with its Dragon slide where they climb over its head, up its neck, along its back, and slide down its tail. They call, “to infinity and beyond” as they slide down.

It was a month of reunions. Glenn and his sons, Morgan and Cory, and Morgan’s girlfriend, Natalia, visited. Morgan and Cory have Glenn’s remarkable knack for overachieving, and so does Natalia. John and his family came for the footy. The MCG was sold out, so we all walked back home and watched it in our lounge. The place was happy and packed. The following morning Georgia got up to just Simone, Byron and I, and with a glum face told us “All our friends, gone!”. Too cute.

The Yarra Valley’s siren song called us to Domaine Chandon. I tagged along as an extra does with movie stars on a set. The sky was grey and moody, giving a lovely contrast to the picturesque rows of green vines and sky-coloured lake. A few glasses of wine added to our appreciation of the scene, and the food, enough to inform you that it is delightful, but inadequate to satisfy the hunger of an anorexic hamster, was delicious.

There were so many times we would have frozen time if we could. A sure sign of a happy life.

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