Christmas report

Merry Christmas from Freo.
It is christmas day here and still christmas eve in the US. We have a had a very relaxed and peaceful day. After opening gifts and having a nice breakfast of ham and eggs we got sunscreened up and walked to the beach. Santa must have had a huge load of boogie boards on the sled last night because not only did Margo and Grant get them but loads of other little ones were taking theirs out for a maiden voyage.

The waves were pretty small at first and within 10 feet of the beach. Not the best for riding. The tide was as low as we have ever seen and there were spots of gravel and shells that are normally submerged. It was fun to find beautiful shells and sit in the warm sun.

I took my snorkeling gear and went out to the grass fields that are in 10- 25 feet of water off shore. I love finding shells out there. I have been warned to collect the shells in a bag and not to hold them in the hand or keep them agains the body as there are poisonous octopi that live in discarded shells as well as a cone shell in which the mulusk can shoot a poisonous barb that can really hurt.

I stayed out for 30 minutes collecting interesting shells and starfish for the kids to see on the beach. When I returned we all gathered to look at the bag. After going through the shells margo and jeri were taking a closer look when they screemed and dropped the shells. A small octopus had popped out of one of the shells! We caught the 1 inch octopus and quickly made a hole in the sand full of sea water. We let the little guy go in there and watched as he swam around. I don't think it was one of the poisonous ones but it is hard to tell as they can change their color instantly.

Here are a few of the gift highlights:

Boogie boards for M and G
Shark tooth necklace for Grant
roman style fashion sandals for Margo
New sun hat for Jeri
New sketcpad and pens for John

As for Christmas down under: Lots of people wear a santa hats or those golf/cowboy style hats that are painted green or red. On chrismas day people go to the park or beach for a bbq. The kids all out for summer holidays at the moment so lots of vacationing and travel also.

As for us and travel we have some exciting plans for the next few weeks. On New years Eve we have been invited to camp out in a forest south of Margret river four hours south of perth. It is said to be very beautiful. We will stay there for a couple of days then I will be doing another artist residency in a town called dwellingup which is an hour or so south of Perth. It is known for its outdoor sports; rivers, mountains and forests. The residency is run by Alan Lamb, a cutting edge artist know for sound experimentation. We are looking forward with great excitement.

Life in the market is really fun. Today, being christmas day has been by far the quietest of all days here. on a normal weekday there are hundreds of people from all over the world wallking by our little front yard.

The kids went into the market last week and saw a really interesting set of magic pens. hard to explain really but very cool. The set was 30 dollars which we determined to be too expensive. We suggested that they might want to raise the money themselves. After some thinking they determined that the best way to their goal would be a lemonade stand. After all there are hundred of thirsty people walking right by every day. Once we started organizing for the sale we found out that our neighbor two doors down has a lemon tree and he was happy to help.

With Jeris help the kids made several pitchers of real lemonade. Margo and grant made the signs that hung over the low garden wall. Small glass $1 and a large $2.

The first customers were the street musicians that we have gotten to know. Soon crowds pickup up and the kids overcame their shyness. By the afternoon they had made just enough to buy the pens. It was a lot of fun and a wonderfull money lesson.

Left hand Traffic:
For the first week we were really confused and even walking across the street was stressfull. The flow of traffic was very hard to predict, especially on roundabouts.

Having a bicycle and riding in traffic helped me get used to it all. If it got too stressfull I could just jump up and ride and ride on the sidewalk.
The other thing that takes getting used to is knowing where to look to see a driver. we austomatically look at the wrong side of the car. I have glanced up to see what I thought was a 9 year old driving, or someone reading a newspaper. After a moment I realized it was the passenger. Not easy to overcome habits.


We have a car that is loaned to us by Carola whoo works at Artsource, the organization that is sponsoring my residency. It is a little hyundi Getz. Driving on the left is quite the transitiion for someone used to right hand traffic. On top of this challenge is the fact that the car is a manual transmission. Just remembering which side of the car to get into in a challenge.

As for the driving it is tricky. the pedals are in the same configuration but the gearshift is on the left of the driver and the turn signal is on the right of the steering wheel. IF I want to indicate a left hand turn I usually turn on the windshield wipers. For a right hand turn I do the same thing...

Following other cars is pretty easy. The tricky part is when in a parking lot and everyone is keeping to the left by instict. Margo and grant have been trained to yell "stay on the left" randomly from the back seat to help me remember.
Driving is a totally saturating task at this point.

staircases, sidewalks and grocery store carts all go on the left also.


Anyway, Happy hollidays to all. It looks like the weather is pretty rough in the midwest and north east. We miss you all!

j