It was the most glorious day clear blue sky, warm but without the Queensland humidity. The neighbourhood was quiet, but for bird song and the rustle of the breeze in the trees no traffic, no planes overhead, not even sounds of children playing.
Starting very early, I worked all morning on my laptop with the cat as my constant companion. I have been organising teaching material to deliver online after the Easter break. I wonder if I have prepared enough, or too much, and speculate which of my students might struggle depending upon the commitment of their parents, or the facilities they have at home. I stopped for a 15-minute break and repaid the cats kindness by giving her a brush. Then I made some short teaching videos explaining new concepts. I taught myself how to edit them - learning something new every day.
There was just enough of the left-over roast lamb for a lunch-time sandwich, which I ate on the verandah overlooking the lush late-summer garden. Cream confetti drifted down from the large flower bracts on the Alexandra palms. The strelitzia (bird-of-paradise plant) is in its full colourful plumage after the rain we had 6 weeks ago; the bees were busy at the blue ginger; the Cooktown orchids are almost in full bloom ready for Easter; the early flowering camellia is beginning to show pink around the buds.
I lay on the bed to read, and woke up an hour later. I wandered around the garden pulling out the odd weed, and contemplated pruning the lobster-claw heliconia, and how much would fit in the bin. I put the sprinkler on the lawn where the grass is beginning to dry, and within minutes there were birds playing in the water sprays, taking a shower. The pruning will wait the bin is full.
Later I watched the news, and the splendour and beauty of the day vanished.