Endearing Australia

Check out our calender for April - it's a great example of two attributes of Australian culture that I find so endearing.  First of all, Oz is a place that doesn't wear its theism on its sleeve.  Note that Easter day is not indicated on the calendar.  On the other hand, Australians are known for their love of a day off.  So Good Friday gets a mention on the calendar - it's a public holiday.  The Monday after Easter is also a public holiday, so it needed a name, too - thus "Easter Monday", which Alisa and I had never heard of before.  The Taswegians, figuring that the only thing better than a four-day weekend is a five-day weekend, went ahead and added "Easter Tuesday."  And, to make the whole thing complete, there is the touch of mystery that still governs our interaction with this country.  Saturday isn't a special day off, so why is it called "Easter Saturday" if there isn't any Easter Sunday on the calendar?

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Meanwhile, we got a text letting us know that Marls, one of our good dopplegangers, had her baby this morning.  Alisa's due date is only four days after Marls', so I guess we're now on high alert.  We have an overnight bag packed for Elias, and Ingfried, our Maria Island friend, has kindly offered to take him if the baby arrives before Alisa's mom gets here on Friday.  We asked Elias if he would mind staying overnight with Ingfried and Mike and their two girls if Little Baby Brother came early and he said, "I would love it!"

There's a world of self-confidence in that simple answer.

Realizing that Everything Is About to Change, last week I took a break from my routine of boat work and writing, and Alisa and Elias took a break from their routine of going to playgrounds and the beach, and we all went up to Mt. Field National Park.


We savored the feeling of taking a day out without packing diapers.

Our yachtie friend De also came by to help Alisa get started in the job of making a new sail cover for Pelagic.

I'm taking bets - will Alisa finish the sail cover before the baby comes, or not?