the birm*

There are only a handful of things I really hate in this world. Getting my wisdom teeth pulled out would have to be at the top of the list. A close second would have to be being sick (throwing up).

I still don’t know what it was, the left-overs? The profiteroles? The Old? In any case, a few hours after getting home from Carissa and Gav’s engagement party on the Central Coast I was sick as a dog. I kinda slept on and off the rest of the night and Sunday til about lunchtime, at which stage I went downstairs and slept in front of the TV for another few hours. I was so trashed and light-headed all day, only having drinks and 2 bits of toast. Not a nice feeling! I guess, though, in the scheme of things I could have been worse off…

I was never going to grow it long (even though it was longer than it’s been in 4,5, 6 years?), but I finally got the bop chop while I was in Burleigh Heads. A combination of things I guess: I had the clippers, Nome was looking bored and it was getting out of control. I was gonna leave “the wings” but it just didn’t happen this time. so I’m back to a #1, my beard being just a wee bit longer than my hair.

What with being holidays and all, how was I supposed to remember what day it was?...

A very kind Stittman drove me to the airport (thankfully twas only Newcastle) on Tues at 7am so I could fly up to the Gold Coast to see my parents and Nome and Adam, the parents to be.

I thanked Stittman, got to the check in, gave some ID and the girl asked me who I was flying with. I thought it to be an interesting question, since I was at the VirginBlue counter…she then asked me where I was going. After telling her Coolangatta I was surprised to hear her say that there were no flights there today…I got my booking info out and looked at the date: 12^th July… I looked at the date on my watch: 11^th July… “oh, bum, is it Tuesday today?...ahhhhh, holidays. I’ll be back tomorrow”. The hostess just looked at me in disbelief. I imagine, had she not been trained to be polite or had she not been at work, she would have (rightly so) called me a brain dead moron! I got on the blower straight away and thankfully Stittman had only just driven off. In the end it worked out ok, I had a “spare day” to hang with Stittman (we watched DVDs), get some stuff in order and go bouldering at “the house of pain” (from which I was subsequently sore all over for the next 3 days…). The next day Stittman was at my place at 7 and we did it all again, except this time I actually hopped on the plane…

It all started when Mike told us he was playing at the Central Coast’s premier live venue Lizottes. The date was the 6^th of July, in my holidays. Doorbell and I had originally planned to go down with a car load. Plans change and, since he was going to be in QLD, I decided to kill a few birds with one stone (4 to be exact). The thing is I have some great friends down on “the coast” but never get to see them (even though it’s only an hour’s drive south). This time I made it happen.

It started with brunch at Tim and Kate’s place at Norah Head. Great company, good food, amazing coffee and an excellent “catch up”. After some eggs and b., we were off to check the surf. It looked amazing. We donned the wetties and were in the water: cold, crisp, glassy and off-shore. Due to my lack of surfing in the last 5 months (none since easter) and my thick-and-not-so-stretchy-steamer (which made for hard and tiring paddling) I was a little apprehensive to take off on these 4-6ft sucky screamers. But just sittin’ on the board chatting and admiring God’s power and beauty was pretty cool. After frostbite set in we went back to Tim’s to have another coffee and some salmon sangas.

After bidding this great couple farewell and went back to where we’d surfed to meet my friend Carissa, at the take-away in front of the small Norah Head beach. After a hug, some smiles all round and a brief chat, Carissa had a coffee (having already had 2, I just watched) and we chewed the fat. The people around us were getting excited, pointing to the sea and getting up…”whales”, so we went to check out these beauties frolicking in the ocean (which Mike described later on that night as being like kids playing…the only difference being they’re the size of trucks…) and then went off to meet Gavin, Carissa’s fiancé, at work. From there, Carissa n I hung out for the rest of the arvo in and around Gosford shopping centre. We went to pick Gavin up and were off to Wagamamas (or something like that…a Japanese restaurant chain). After some delish food we headed to Lizottes to see Mike play.

What a gig! Mike played with “his” band (the guys he recorded his new album calm wind with) and were absolutely superb. The ambience was terrific, the company excellent and the music beautifully relaxing. After an hour or so set and a bit of a chat I left with a signed poster and album in my hands. I said good bye to Gavin and Carissa, hopped back in the brown boar and drove home, getting back in time to see the end of stage 4 of the Tour de France. Calm wind has been on high rotation in my house ever since…

I had just got the washing off the line and noticed the sky on fire. Due to the lack of cloud it had been a while! I quickly got the espresso on, nuked some milk, grabbed a couple o’ bikkies and some Dream choc and ran down the stairs, out the front door and hopped onto the roof of Doorbell’s parked car. There I sat,  just admiring the sky going from pink to red to orange to yellow and finally to black, sipping on some bitter coffee and munching on some sweet chocolate. The wind was crisp and gave me shivers. I could have gone to get a warm coat but didn’t want to waste any of this… the picture that the artist was painting was ever changing. I thanked him for the opportunity to be still in front of such grandeur. The plethora of colours I watched and the wind I felt on my face, Kookaburras claiming the day, laughing, chatting, singing and the bitter-sweetness I could smell and taste…almost too much to take.

Well well well… I was on the coast hanging out with Carissa when ma phone rang. It was my sister Naomi. Strange, I thought, she doesn’t usually ring me during the day… “hey Dan, have you received my letter?” I explained that I hadn’t but that it prob had got there during the day and that I’d get it tonight when I got home. “Oh, that’s ok”, she said, “I just thought I’d let you know before anyone else does that you’re going to be an uncle”… wow! WOW! BOO-YAH! So there you go, in Feb sometime, before I head to France, I’ll be an uncle. Congratulations guys, well done! I guess les viocs can stop bugging you now :)