Then I woke up.
At 7.30am it was 3 degrees! That's cold for this neck of the woods! So I donned a jacket (believe it or not) and opened the door to the most glorious, sunny Winter's day.
As I pedalled, I kept one hand in a pocket to keep it warm, and then halfway there, I swapped hands. When I got to the bakery, I rested my hands on the glass of the pie display cabinet, to warm them up and after that, my coffee cup kept my hands warm.
Within 30 minutes of arriving at the Seat of Knowledge, my jacket was off and tied in a knot around my waist!
It was one of those perfect days when the sun shines brightly and twinkles like diamonds on the water. When the air is so clean and crisp that the colour of everything is vibrant and beautiful. When the warmth of the sun hugs every inch of your body and all you want to do is raise your face towards it and close your eyes and think of all the things that make you happy.
It was the kind of morning that makes you wish that time would stand still so that you can feel this perfect wonderfulness forever.
The birds were singing, the water was flowing smoothly with the tide, people were out fishing and rowing, walking their dogs, chatting in groups along the river bank, children were running along the beach or skate boarding on the side roads.
Holiday makers were sitting on the sun decks reading the Sunday papers and eating bacon and eggs.
I was pedalling deliciously slowly all over town and soaking up the perfect day.
Just before I got to the street that leads me home, I decided to ride along a dirt track through some bushland nearby. I'd walked part way through it before, but today, I discovered that the track went right along the river to a place where we once picnicked with friends.
The picnic area was partly destroyed in the last floods and the Council removed the table because the land was too unstable with heavy erosion.
Anyway, along the track, I came across a dead rat. I was pretty excited with this find and I stopped the trike to pick it up with a plastic bag that I had in the basket of my trike.
When I related this story to Adoring Husband, he gasped in horror and looked at me like he wanted to trade me in on a 'non picking up dead rats' wife. Hilarious! Especially when I told him that it was still warm and soft and that no rigor mortis had set in yet.
I wanted the dead rat so that I could lure a kite or eagle down for a swoop shot with my camera.
So I put it in my trike basket and rode on to Picnic Point, where I immediately spotted this guy.
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| Collared Kingfisher |
Then a Kite landed atop a tall tree nearby, so I grabbed my plastic bag and took the rat over to the concrete pad where the picnic table had once been and lay the rat in the middle of it.
I hurried back to my trike and grabbed my camera, ready to aim and fire.
The Kite had disappeared. Ugh.
So I set myself up near the fence so that I could use the fence post as a tripod to steady my aim.
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| Waiting ... |
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| ... waiting ... |
Even the kookaburra that perched itself on a tree branch nearby, wasn't interested in my rat.
So I figured it was time to leave.
On my way home, I came across a huge flock of Stilts and Curlews making a hell of racket! Just as I got my camera ready, a dog came running across the sand and scared the birds into flight.
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| Frightened off |
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| The Culprit (looks a bit like a dingo!) |
I might take the same route tomorrow and see if my little rat friend is still there! The forecast is for the same perfect weather, but I'll have to cut the morning short to go into town and print out some of my photos for the exhibit.
Ah well, a little glorious Winter sunshine is better than none at all!
Nite all.
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