Greetings from LAX, our first international stop!

We made it here from Sacramento in routine fashion, and are now cooling our heels and my sweaty brow in the international departure lounge.  Unfortunately, aside from lounging, it is quite a wasteland.

We went through security early, i.e. still three hours plus until boarding, so we could enjoy the interesting shops and restaurants, of which there are none, unless you count a plastic wrap embalmed croissant as French cuisine.

So, Ann may brave her way back through security sans baggage (which I will supervise on the other side) and hopefully return with some fine dining, perhaps Italian of the pizza to go variety. (FYI I got meatloaf and a cheeseburger, to both of our satisfaction.)

It is so nice to be on our way.  So fine to sit back and exalt in the resonating vibe of so many good wishes, love, family, and friend support and encouragement.

Thank you.  Thank you mates….

Well, not quite to the argot of mates and shrimp on barbies, but thank you all.

The translation transition will begin in about eighteen hours, when Melbourne becomes “Melbin”. 

Still here, soon enough to be there, and then it will be here, which fits perfectly to the absence of a “t”. 

My brother Bob has his birthday tomorrow, Tuesday, July 9. Interestingly, I will miss it completely, as Ann and I leave on Monday July 8 and arrive on Wednesday July 10. 

Aside from losing a day, we gain so many days and opportunities for the almost year to come. I love the perspective of settling in to a new culture. 

The petri dish of Warrnambool and environs will be nourishing.  It is so pleasurable to be able to walk in, through, and out of a town. It may not happen right away, but a sense of being part of a new community, and belonging and contributing to it, is a real gift that lies ahead.

I look forward to living on the ocean. Estuaries, where land and sea come together, is a creator of great comfort and delicious complexity, all the while offering the peace of immutable simple day to day sameness.

So, what will I do?  “Being There” first and foremost.  (A chance gardening moment so to speak.)

On the purely objective, linear plane, I most certainly will check out the local city council, the Brophy Family Center (youth at risk services), and the regional governmental homeless programs that operate out of Warrnambool.

I am excited about daily beach walking (ok, weather permitting), and even more excited about being support to Ann in her endeavors.

Non-linear subjective Warrnambool wanderings still to come.