02-06/09-2020: Rain, rain, rain

Well, Australia is continuing to treat us to historic weather events. From terrible drought, to horrific bushfires, to a cyclone on the western coast, to now rainfall amounts that have not been seen in decades. It has been raining on the central coast for 4 days and the forecast is for rain for at least the next week. This morning it is pouring rain with significant winds. Friday and Saturday we had rain essentially all day and night. This area has had 8 or 9 inches of rain in the last 3 days. Where Tony and Liz are in Coff’s Harbour, the rainfall has totaled about 17 inches in 3 days. As I mentioned, they are involved in a big cleaning job at the International Stadium where a national junior Oztag (think touch rugby) is underway. I can’t imagine what the conditions are like out on the playing fields, let alone in all the indoor spaces with all those wet feet tracking through. We saw a news photo of a lady walking through near knee-deep water across the parking lot. But unfortunately, out in Rylstone at Margaret’s, where the drought has really taken its toll, there has been almost no rain. Coastal weather patterns stall out going over the Blue Mountains, so the rain never makes it to the inland areas. It’s a real shame that we’re soaked and they are dry as a bone. We keep looking out the window at Lou’s garden and say how much taller the grass has grown and that we’ll be consumed by jungle soon.

Needless to say, the weather has put a damper on our activities. We’ve been a bit house-bound. We’ve done laundry, caught up on emails, taken naps, looked at Lou’s photo albums, watched Malta videos, and have just generally lazed around. On Thursday, we went down the road to a cafe for lunch to meet up with some longtime friends of Lou’s, Brenda and David. With them was Brenda’s brother Brian and his wife Lorraine. It was lovely meeting them. Brenda met Lou about 40 years ago and was a model doing work for Lou in one of his shopping centers. They have been friends ever since. Christine and I know the value of good friends and it’s nice to know that Lou has such good friends. Brenda is also now 77, but looks 20 years younger, a very handsome woman.

Friday evening Lou’s brother Len and his wife Sandra came to dinner. We had a really fun evening with them. Len is a real jokester and comedian and kept us entertained. Sandra is a wonderful woman and the two of them together are lovely. They have 4 daughters and 10 grandchildren and it is obvious that they have a very close happy family.

Saturday we drove to Palmdale, the memorial park where Lou’s parents and one of his sisters are buried. Lou goes every month, but this month is especially poignant because his mother died on February 5. We didn’t go on the 5th due to the weather, but we did go on the 8th even though it was raining and rain in the forecast for the next week. We didn’t want to put it off any further. We had been to Palmdale in 1997 just after Lou’s father had been buried. We were on our way to Australia when he died. I remember how beautiful Palmdale was from that visit. And even in the pouring rain and soaked ground, it is a very beautiful memorial park. We did get a very brief respite from the rain while Lou placed flowers on his mother’s grave and his sister Angela’s grave, but then another downpour came and off we went. The creek running through the park was overflowing as were some of the roads we passed.

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This central coast area is all about water. You can’t travel far without hitting water. There are 29 beaches, two river systems, four coastal lagoons, three estuaries, 10 major creeks as well as hundreds of smaller creeks and a foreshore spanning 173 kilometers (about 125 miles). Now imagine 10 inches of rain and what that will do to especially creeks. Many are overflowing and tides are higher causing the lagoons and estuaries to fill beyond normal. We are very soggy and will be for several more days. The flooding will only get worse.

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Saturday late afternoon we attended church with Lou and sat with Gloria and Alex. Afterwards, Alex took us to dinner at the Davistown RSL club. I thought it funny that they were having an Elvis festival. One Elvis impersonator came through the dining room all decked out in skin-tight white sequined suit and pompadour.

After dinner we came back to Lou’s with Alex and Gloria for ice cream and fruit. Christine and Gloria are a real hoot together and they laugh and laugh. It’s wonderful to see them together.

So that brings you up-to-date with our Aussie adventures. Sometimes it is nice to just hang out at home and do whatever.