“In the winter time
When all the leaves are brown
And the wind blows so chill…”
I was thinking this morning that what my site needed more than anything else was more Steve Miller. What better way to fill that requirement than as accompaniment to a smugly self-satisfied post about the Australian winter.
One of the 900,000 things that worried me about moving to Australia was the timing. By arriving in late April we would be coming into late autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. What made this worse was we had just trudged through another soul-destroying British winter. Well, as was the case with most of my anxieties, this one proved groundless. Thus far, as this gratuitous baby photo attests, the winter in Oz has pretty much exceeded the “summer” in Blighty.
Now if you’ll pardon me, I’m going to go sing “Rock ‘N Me” on the beach.
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by Angel
17 Jun 2008 at 21:44
I love these pictures that show us bits and pieces of OZ. One of my dreams has been to live there, and while I’ve lived in other countries, they’ve always been places that follow the same seasonal path as the United States.
I’ve always wondered if I’d be able to live “backwards”. If I’d be able to celebrate Christmas in a tanktop and shorts.
by CDV
17 Jun 2008 at 22:01
I grew up in Florida, so have on occasion celebrates Christmas in a tanktop and shorts. But your point is taken.
by arizaphale
17 Jun 2008 at 22:05
Feels bloody cold from where I’m sitting…..
The Palm House at the Botanical Gardens was one of my favourite things as a kid. It was so Victorian England it seemed to be from another place and time. I’m really pleased that although its function has been mostly replaced by the Millennium Conservatory, the Palm House remains as a tribute to days gone by and as a vivid reminder of my youth. Mind you, it now contains one of the ugliest fountains I have ever seen!!!!! Did you see it?
arizaphale’s last blog post..Answers To The Quiz Question
by Alex
17 Jun 2008 at 22:13
The Steve Miller Band…my first concert at Six Flags over Georgia way back. Not only my first concert but also the first time anyone ever asked me for rolling papers. Go figure.
by CDV
17 Jun 2008 at 22:20
I love it that you see Australians wandering around shivering in parkas and ear muffs with the temperature drops below 20C, Arizaphale.
Clearly they thought you had the look of a smoker, Al, or a midnight toker. Couldn’t have been a gangster of love, could it?
by Angel
17 Jun 2008 at 22:21
Well yeah, when I lived in Texas, every year I’d worry it wouldn’t get cold enough to feel like Christmas, but luckily it did.
It’s just the “idea” of Christmas being during the “summer”, I guess. At least in Florida, it’s still called “winter”.
What can I say, I’m weak-minded!
by CDV
17 Jun 2008 at 22:21
The fountain, yeah. The grotto looking thing? Butt ugly. Also no longer a fountain, just a grotto like hole.
by CDV
17 Jun 2008 at 22:31
It’s kind of like seasonal jet lag, Angel, still wake up feeling like I should be on summer holidays.
by Jessica K
17 Jun 2008 at 22:59
Bright green grass and palm trees don’t look much like winter to me either! Though in Alabama winter just means walking around in sweaters wishing it was cold enough to wear them.
Enjoy your beach day!
Jessica K’s last blog post..TV Crack… Just say YES!
by Ray
17 Jun 2008 at 23:29
Stevie “Guitar” Miller will always be integrally associated with (US) summer in my mind. Something to do with an 8-track of ‘”Book of Dreams” and three months spent cruising around in a friends Delta ‘88 while it played almost nonstop (interspersed, as I recall, with The Ramones.) Feels like I might be brewing up another of my patented melancholic nostalgia blog posts.
Ray’s last blog post..Fathers Day
by Nathan B.
18 Jun 2008 at 00:05
I must be one of the crazy people that actually enjoys the winter…but it needs to be a proper winter, with plenty of snow. Missouri winters, with all the ice, sucked.
by Not Afraid To Use It
18 Jun 2008 at 00:24
Isn’t amazing how one country’s “winter” still blows the hell out of another country’s summer? Hubbie still gets pissed at me on a chilly morning when he bitches about the cold and I say “Ahhh…feels like Swedish summer.”
Not Afraid To Use It’s last blog post..And You Can Be My Cowgirl
by Matthew
18 Jun 2008 at 02:59
I have to concur with Nathan. Living in Cali, last winter I found myself missing snow, but only the snow. I could live happy without sleet, hail, ice storms, etc..
by Jamie
18 Jun 2008 at 04:13
Hello from a fellow Mizzou alum who’s hoping to make the leap to Oz one day soon. Keep up the good blogging!
by Vixen
19 Jun 2008 at 05:08
Oh how I adore Steve Miller Band. That you appreciate them raises my already esteemed opinion of you.
Vixen’s last blog post..Inside my screwed up mind
by Gypsy
19 Jun 2008 at 23:32
Steve Miller always reminds me of the beach and Michelob Light and dirt weed. Good times.
Gypsy’s last blog post..When nothing else matters