it's about life, my life, quilts, midwifery, and whatever else occurs to me.

19 April 2009

walk to Mt Coot-tha





Friday was a beautiful, sunny, and not humid day. I decide to take a walk up to the top of Mt Coot-tha. There's a trailhead just up the road from our house. (Emphasis on UP.) So off I go at about a quarter to noon. By this time it's quite warm, even without the humidity. It's not too taxing a walk over the first half or so of the 1450 metres. I start to wish I was more of a morning person, because then I could get up early and do this walk before breakfast and, more importantly, before it gets hot. No problem! I could do this! Then I notice the trail starts to incline more severely upwards. Still no problem; have a hiking pole with me. Slog along, but now it gets even steeper...
Some considerate person has arranged the trail so that about every 10-15 metres, it flattens out a bit, so I stop, catch my breath, look back at what I've just climbed, and look ahead to --- oh geez, how the hell am I going to get up this next bit?? Climb, stop, breathe, look around, repeat.
On I climb, ever so slowly. All thoughts of daily morning ascents are now entirely gone from my head. I start to hear children's voices. This is good because it means I'm nearly at the top. I stop one last time to see where I've been and realize that NO WAY am I going to hike back down this hill, by myself, with these knees. After a brief stop at the summit to document my climb (see photo of sign with hiking pole leaning against it) and admire the view, it's the long way home for me: down the access road, past the botanic gardens, over the new pedestrian bridge, and along the bike path until I have to leave it and take surface streets. A short hike ends as a 2 1/2 hour trek, and I decide I can blow off an afternoon run around the reservoir.

06 April 2009

the iPhone is back!

Sometimes things really do work out. Someone found my phone in the bathroom Friday afternoon. When I picked it up yesterday, it seemed unrepentant for having jumped out of my backpack. I don't know what sort of wild weekend it was expecting, but what it got was a quiet one, locked safely away in the School of Nursing & Midwifery office. I suspect I'll have to be on the lookout for more signs of incipient rebellion and keep a firmer grip on it in future...

05 April 2009

Oh where, oh where has my iPhone gone?

Sad to relate that sometime this past Friday, my iPhone went bush. I last saw it in Susannah's office at the School of Nursing & Midwifery in Ipswich. A search of the vicinity by campus security turned up nothing. I'm hoping that some kindly person found it and turned it in to the School office, but I'm not too optimistic about that. I feel almost like I've lost a body part. Stay tuned for updates.