Sunday, October 25, 2015

A town like Alice Part 2 and Reflections on Life (reposted)

Hello All
I though I had better let you all know I am still around.
Having been in Alice since mid July, it is now getting a bit warm for weekend trips away but I will try.
The 7 day forecast reads..............39c, 38c, 38c, 35c, 35c, 36c, then back to 38c

Now that the weather has warmed up the tourist season is well and truly over, with only a stubborn few Backpackers and Grey Nomads remaining.

I think I have been here long enough to form some sort of opinion..........which is...........a nice place to visit but I don't want to live here......my six months will be enough for me.

Why you ask? maybe you don't LOL
Well, while there a lot of lovely people here, there also seems to be an abundance of what I call..........self appointed Big Fish in a relatively small pond.
Let me explain that statement............people who think they are "top shit" here, but in the real world of maybe Melbourne or Sydney would be eaten up and spat out  very quickly indeed. The only reason they are employed at all is because this is Alice Springs.
As the old saying goes..............you pay peanuts and all you attract is monkey's.

OK moving on......................
The other thing I have noticed since temporarily rejoining society, is how material people have become.
If you don't have the latest IPhone or newest car then you are treated as some sort of Leper or Weirdo.
Personally I cannot understand why people are so eager to give away their hard earner money on things that, in the "big scheme of things" aren't really important at all.

This leads me to the next topic...................it is 2 years ago tomorrow (26th October) since my beautiful loving Mother Passed away. 
Although I have travelled a lot of this country since, and seen a lot of things, I still miss her greatly and think about her every day.

Miss you Mum RIP

So I thought i would re post my "Reflections on Life" from 2 years ago, not only as a tribute but also as a reminder to those who have forgotten about the IMPORTANT things in life.  

Next month is time for my 6 monthly review of the Camper and Ute and hopefully I may get a weekend away too.
 
 Bye for now............

Monday, October 28, 2013

Reflections on Life

This post is not one of my usual destination or trip based story, but then again maybe it is.............. this one is a few ramblings of mine about life's destinations and a bit of reflection.
 A year ago I made a few life decisions, I thought long and hard about where I was in life, what I wanted out of life and future directions.
Maybe it was a mid life crisis, I don't know..........
Sometimes we devote a lot of time to the things that don't really matter, yet often forget to give time to the things that DO matter. We also tend to devote a lot of time to being greedy and the quest to have the largest Television or the best car in the street. With this in mind I concluded that I needed to work until I was at least 85 years old to get everything I would like.
If I chose to lower my expectations a little I could achieve a lot of my dreams a lot sooner, maybe not so comfortably, but I am 30 years younger and if I retired at 85 years old it wouldn't be easy climbing up Uluru or King's Canyon with my walking frame or getting into Twin Falls in Kakadu with a mobility scooter.
With all this running around in my head I chose to leave my office life in Melbourne, the hustle and bustle and traffic woes to return to my town of birth and spend some quality time with my elderly mother, who was starting to slow down a little and needed a bit of help, interspersed with regular camping trips.
Little did I know how short that quality time would be....................October 2012 was retirement, June 2013 my mother had a stroke and after a hospital stay needed to go into assisted living as doing basic things herself was no longer possible. September 2013 another stroke and major deterioration in mobility, sight, speech, and awareness. October 2013 my beautiful loving mother lost her fight and passed away.
The point in all this is I chose to devote more time to the things that DO matter. That choice enabled me to spend a lot of quality time with my failing mother. The memories of the time we spent together, even in the last days, when communication was difficult, will be cherished and remembered far longer than that big TV or nicer vehicle I could have purchased had I stayed in Melbourne. I am so grateful I made this choice and got the chance to help my loving mother when she needed it most and repay her for all the times she helped me unconditionally when it was needed.

Mum 19/12/1922 - 26/10/2013

With tears we saw you suffer,
 As we watched you fade away, 
Our hearts were almost broken, 
As you fought so hard to stay. 
We knew you had to leave us, 
but you did not go alone, 
For part of us went with you, 
The day you left for home.

Rest In Peace Mum all the pain and suffering is over. Thank you mum for everything I will never forget you and love you so much.
I have treasured memories which I will never forget that are far  more valuable to me than having the largest satellite dish in the caravan park.
So I suppose this blog is just to remind people to be nice to each other and to take the time to smell the roses and enjoy life. Don't get tied up and stressed out trying to achieve something you think might make you happy, but probably won't........concentrate on the things that really matter.