Filled the Day

What a day!

This has been a pretty epic kind of day.

This is how it started …

1.5 million people protesting in Canberra. A farmer even opened the gates to his farm for people to park and camp. I’ve received pics and videos all day from my tribe who travelled down there on Wednesday. They are beside themselves with positivity and enthusiasm and I am envious.

This was followed by a fantastic day of sales at the shop. It was flat out and the shelves are looking much emptier.

At 1pm Adoring Husband and BGWLBH arrived to help close and pack up for the day.

AH dropped us off at Traviston Park for the Burrum Heads “Know Your Rights” rally where we set ourselves up in the shade of a tree.

We arrived just in time for the proceedings to begin.

There were six speakers, all knowledgeable, articulate, passionate and full of positive ideas on how to make change and create a better future for ourselves despite what’s happening right now.

BGWLBH and I were very impressed and each speaker held our attention for the entirety of their speech.

As I expected, so many people from our town, Hervey Bay, Maryborough and surrounds were in Canberra, that only 50 were in attendance at today’s rally and I only saw three familiar faces.

We arrived at 1.30pm and called AH to pick us up at 4pm. The time flew!

Another very surreal circumstance happened while we were there.

The local One Nation Party member for Hinkler, Zak Menhennett was in attendance.

In the 80s, I was in a relationship for almost four years with a guy who’s surname was Menhennett - it’s an unusual name. That guy passed away in 2013 (I mentioned it in a blog post some time ago) so I went online to checked his obituary and sure enough found Zak mentioned as his nephew.

While Zak was speaking, he mentioned that he was from the south east coast of NSW, which happens to be from where my Menhennett came from.

So after he spoke, I found the courage to go ask him.

“Is your Dad’s name Brad?”     Yes

“Did you have an Uncle named Tony?”    Yes

“Is your Grandma’s name Brenda?”    Yes

I told him who I was and how I loved his Uncle all those years ago. He was so happy to hear my story and gave me a warm hug. Then he asked if I knew that Uncle Tony had died and while I told him yes, my emotions got the better of me and he hugged me again as I shed a tear. He was lovely.

We chatted for about ten minutes and he handed me his card and asked me to keep in touch suggesting that I might like to share some old photos if I had any. He looks so much more like his Uncle than he does his father and he loved that I pointed that out.

Such an unexpected encounter and also very nice.

BGWLBH and I walked on the beach for short distance before calling AH to pick us up.

Paleo pizzas for dinner and then an early night in bed - not that you can tell because it’s almost 11pm!

Anyway I’m exhausted and need to sleep because I’ll be working tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday.

Speaking of Sunday … HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Chicklet who turns 11 on Sunday! She’s having a birthday extravaganza on Phillip Island with surfing lessons and a special cake baked by her new grandma. I wish I could have been there and I miss her so much but I’m certain she’ll be having a blast.

Nite all.