“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” ― Confucious

 I left my cardigan at the Art Gallery so went back the next day to pick it up from Lost & Found. I was early so pottered around the Botanic Gardens while I waited for it to open. 

I discovered a little corner I hadn't really noticed before, with a home to bees.

 I've walked past this part many times but purely with the objective of getting to the harbour, Botanic House or the Calyx.

We often look but don't really see what's there.

Sometimes wasting time brings new discoveries.

"The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust

And lastly, we finally got a pretty sunrise - still with cloud cover but not enough to steal the colours.

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“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” – John Lennon.

The John Lennon line sums up lockdown completely. You were busy with lots of things on the horizon and then wham. Nothing at all. And nothing to plan beyond what food you'd order on Friday and what could you do to lure the kids outside.

But life indeed does go on.

This week I have looked at accomodation in Thailand, and then a beach house in Sydney for January, hours of investigating only to book nothing. I can't work out what I think will be possible. Or what I will feel comfortable doing.

So begins the next phase.

I will be happy when we get our 10kms back and we can go back to the Botanic gardens.

And swimming somewhere.

And even a little 'bush walk'.

I will be extremely happy if we can go and stay in regional areas.

I miss everything at the moment but I'm also dreading the surge. I am very worried people don't really understand what it will involve. I do believe '‘the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members’ and I worry that yet again, we will be failing them.

These are not numbers and statistics, they are people. 

All I can do is hope somehow it skips us. I hope somehow we 'get it right'.

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Sydney - The Royal Botanic Gardens.

My 5km ends just metres before the Gardens start. I am very sad to have lost access to this beautiful part of Sydney.

I miss the city.

So much.

Not just the shows and activities.

The city itself.

As I roamed around the gardens that last afternoon, I was flooded with memories. My wedding was there. My sister-in-law's anniversary party was there. I used to take the children to follow the path of Alexander's Outing as toddlers. We went to the outdoors Wind in the Willows a few times. All the visits for VIVID.

High tea in the Calyx and visiting all those lovely flower installations with friends.

Fun lunches with friends in Botanic House and even an Alice in Wonderland party. 

I am lucky to love where I live. 

I just wish I could make the most of it.

Stay home, get vaxxed and let's get some of the fun back!

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Strange yet beautiful Flowers

While in the Botanic Gardens, before my 10 kms shrunk to 5km, I came across these colourful flowers.

To borrow from Hannah Gadsby's Graduation speech at the University of Tasmania, it's the 'diversity of diversity' that we should celebrate. 

If we actually seeking it out when planting gardens, why don't we do it with people?

Embrace all the colours of the rainbow in nature.

Human nature too.

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Echidna and Cassowaries

With our exercise radius shrinking, I tore off to The Botanic Gardens for one last circuit with a view.

I was delighted by the echidna that had replaced the koala. Something new in this stagnate, small world.

The whimsy of it gave rise to a joyful feeling that eclipsed the feeling of yet another loss, as the gardens fall in the 5-6 kms radius from my house.

The cassowaries remain unchanged, though this time were dappled in sunlight.

It's funny how the smallest things can lift your mood. As I've discussed before 'Little things are not tiny matters. ― Hrishikesh Agnihotri

"The little things are the big things. It’s a fundamental shift in...experiencing your world with joy.” ― Richie Norton

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Antidote

 On Sunday, I spent the day at Antidote - at three talks from midday until 9pm at night. We had a leisurely lunch at Botanic House and I saw 5 different friends across the course of the day. It was fabulous to spend so much time at the Opera House and Botanic Gardens, while also learning and thinking a little.

It was the perfect antidote to many of the COVID blues.

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What did you love this week?

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