Eggs are a symbol of new life. Because of Jesus' resurrection from death on that first Easter Sunday, long ago, we can indeed have new life. Happy Easter.
Our nephew David is crossing over Bass Strait to try out a life in Tasmania. It is not at all because of the 'hung' parliament just occuring after the election down there. He is off on a new adventure by taking a new step of faith. That is all we can do. Peter likes to imagine that each day is a new adventure with God and to start the day with that in mind.
David has packed all his worldly possessions into his ute and they'll both (he and the ute) travel by ship to Devonport. We and Dan saw him off in Greensborough by sharing some time with him at a cafe.
This pool was opened 45 years ago and is thus relatively new. It became an icon of Greensborough and a mecca during the hot days of each Summer. Because it was an open air pool its business always fell away in Winter. Victorians began to lose their thick skin for taking to the cold water that they were once known for and have voted with their feet to frequent the heated waters of indoor swimming centres that have increased around Melbourne. The Greensborough Pool must be one of the last surviving outdoor pools and it to has met its end. The council has decided to yank it all up and make a modern ($33 million) aquatic and recreational centre in its pace. To be honest, though we have walked passed this pool on countless occasions we never got into it. We are not really water people but we feel sad at its removal none the less.
This time Joy took Peter and Barb on the route. It was one of those Autumn perfect days... again. Barb was able to come this time and Craig was not well and so had to give it a miss. So it was three of us again riding by the lakes at The Lakes.
This time we stopped at the Lakes Cafe for a cuppa. In time the people here could make it a more attractive place to break their bike ride. There were too many parked cars and we were the only bikes at the time.
What happened here? What could have transpired? This is our secret. We enjoyed the ride and will have to make it a more common occurance. 
We drove up last Saturday to spend some time with members of Gord's family out from Canada. They would be on a pretty busy schedule following this so we made the best of it while we could. What goes well with family are times when we eat together. This was no different. First the lunch.
Then the supper. We made use of the last few weeks of daylight saving to have it outside and prepared a meal on the new decking. John barbecued the steak. He was glad that Gord had failed to find kangaroo meat. He was not looking forward to that. So it had to be steak. Phew.
Later the Piper and Jasper got about Bill for a story. Bill was great with them. It had been a big day. The women and kids had gone to an animal sanctury and the men had gone four-wheel driving. The day had been so just right.
We don't really need to say too much here. This is yet another birthday celebration for Piper who is lapping it up. Jasper looks on patiently hoping that when his birthday arrives he will get something of a similar deal. Already there is discussion about what his cake will look like to help him to wait well.
The extra celebration is to share the birthday with Ann and John and Evelyn and Bill. Ann made the horse shaped cakes and iced the larger one, while Piper worked on the smaller one. Bec had found the horse shaped cake tins at IKEA.
Bec lit the candles and Piper is pretty chuffed. Again Jasper looks on and notes the ritual that he will soon experience when his own day arrives. The body language seems to say it all. 
Then there comes the special moment that most kids like. It did not matter how many breaths were needed. It was pretty fun and we all shared a 'Piper cut' piece in all shapes and sizes. 
Piper has a nice collection of birthday cards, each one a special memory for her. But that is not all this blog is about. Both Piper and Jasper held up a large welcome card on a stick at the airport to attract and encourage their Opar and Grandma (Gord's parents), and Uncle Bill and Aunty Evelyn (Gord's uncle and aunt).
Because St. Patrick's Day had just passed there were green fancy dress outfits on sale for half price at Spotlight. Since Zone was having a fancy dress night a few days later, this was well timed indeed for Peter who snapped up a bargain and went as a leprechaun (a very tall one).
Zone is mostly games. The last one was on the Winter Olympics and this was random fancy dress. Next time it is all to do with dots. The picture above shows the small devotion time after the games and the supper. They are a great bunch of kids. 
Peter, with friends Tom and Marg, travelled up to Kinglake to see how the land has changed since Black Saturday which is now about thirteen months previous. There are a lot of new houses getting built. It seems that the ravages of the fire will remain evident for many more years to come though. The trees' regrowths, though very encouraging, make them look like they are covered with a green woolly jacket, so they don't look very normal. At least they were able to survive. Whole pine plantations had to be rooted up.
We have never had much success with a Summer garden, but we try anyway. This time we threw pumpkin seeds all over a bare patch. That we have a few pumpkins coming on is a great encouragement to us.
We take our opportunities when we get them to have a cuppa together. These times have been so helpful for our sanity. Sometimes a heart will form on Barb's and encourage her greatly. That's us in the middle between our cups. Babies of the heart and the cross.
Because of Melbourne water restrictions, Peter gets out there the two mornings a week between 6 and 8 am. Just after 7 am, the world about him starts to glow. Really nice it is. Worth a snap.
"Religion is for people who believe in hell. Spirituality is for people who have been there." A quote from George Vaillant, The Natural History of Alcoholism, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983), 190-93.
Here is a 1987 memory captured in Townsville at Peter's Nan's place before she decided to sell up and move to a retirement village. It was a special time of coming back to a place deeply etched into his memory before the memory was taken away.
A detail of the snap shows Simon making a unique statement about who he is. That image of his son has always stayed with Peter.
So when grandson Jasper did something similar just recently in front of a camera, Peter was reminded of Simon and prompted to consider a generational personality link. Nice.
Love in action. A great tree of care and compassion drawing from the depths of God's call. Its trunk and branches growing in the guidance of the radical example of the revolutionary Christ with its sap invigorated by God's Spirit.
We were able to get there a day late so this was yet another moment for Piper to remember her birthday. We opted for the safety of clothes and the dress from MYER which is under Piper's left hand was well received. So was the pink jacket.
We stayed for the whole afternoon of the Monday Labor Day Holiday. We had a delightful mix of cold meat, cheeses and salad for lunch and in the evening Gord effortlessly brought together a roast chicken meal. Everyone was impressed.
Little Jethro is aiming to avoid crawling altogether. He enjoyes this particular table because he can pretend to stand like the rest of us. When he desires to get to another place in the house he "bums" it. Why crawl with an alternative like that?
While Gord was carefully cooking the roast to perfection, he continued his garden steps project. He has that gift of spontaneous acceleration of project work and seems to do it best when there are a lot of things to do at once.
Any morning it is good to wake up and know we are about to have an adventure with God. This Sunday we went to a Catholic Church closer to the city centre to be at the baptism of Sarah and Sienna both recently born to daughters of Mo and Ha the Vietnamese family we helped to sponsor to Australia from a Malaysian refugee camp in the 1980's. The family has done so well over the years and the five daughters have all grown up and have husbands/partners and children of their own... Sarah and Sienna being the two most recent. It is a work in progress.
Ha ordered a whole cooked pig. It arrived warm and was cooked to perfection with the crispiest skin. Ha was very particular about what he wanted. Very impressive.
Barb had opportunities to hold both Sarah and Sienna during this family celebration. Barb had been able to see Sienna at the hospital with her mother Loan, the eldest of the sisters. Sarah is the daughter of Thu the next sister after Loan. At this moment Mo and Ha have six grandchildren but this is soon to be seven. May God bless the precious arrival.
This is the moment to cook up a score
