stop and smell the roses

It has been a quiet and slow week while Colin recovers from surgery and while in theory there’s been time to ‘stop and smell the roses’, you would be hard pressed to do so because they would be bending at 90 degrees trying to survive the blasting wind. We usually take a daily walk, well Colin hobbles, slow and steady, just a few hundred metres (it gets longer each day). There’s a spot along the way, sheltered from the wind, where you can sit a moment and feel the sun warm your body. It is just the right distance for a rest when you have shuffled as far as your sore and stiff body will take you. Johanna is eagerly anticipating the day when ‘dad can walk like a normal person!” When there’s no sun and a windy walk is not inviting we amble to our favourite café and find respite and a good cup of coffee there instead.

Between rests and naps, short walks and work related phone calls, emails, planning and writing, Colin has passed the week away. It has been strange having him around and it has certainly thrown our usual schedule and routines into turmoil. Johanna’s tongue in cheek remark about sums it up, “Dad you’re mucking everything up…” What creatures of habit Johanna and I have become.

The weekend heralded the end of the wind for a few glorious days. Blue skies, sun and warmth reigned. It finally felt like the Sunshine Coast that we have come to love and enjoy; August’s unpleasant weather receding to far distant places in our memories. There is something about beautiful days and seeing people out and about relaxing and enjoying the beach. It is good for the soul and apparently for the body as well; Colin finally managing to ‘walk like a normal person’ and make it all the way to Kings Beach and back…