Questions:

What song always gets you out on the dance floor?

There is no song that would get me up on a dance floor in public ever. I do dance around the living room with whatever pet is handy to a number of things. Anything from Strauss to Steppenwolf if I am in the mood.

What’s your favorite sleeping position?

If I am getting into a cold bed I’ll usually start on my side until I’ve made a warm patch for my back then I turn over. I like to sleep on my back with my head a bit elevated but if I’ve got a back ache I may favour one side, left usually. David used to sleep on his stomach. I could never understand how he could do that. I find it very uncomfortable.

If you could snap your fingers and instantly make the world better, what would you do?

That’s a no brainer, make Covid-19 go away.

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done, and why did you do it?

I tend to avoid doing scary stuff but I remember when we were travelling on the train from Moscow to Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands back in 1990. You were supposed to change all your Russian money before leaving the country but I had not found a place to do that in the station due to there being no English signs whatsoever. We came to the border and when the usual passport checks were carried out the officials asked if any of us had Russian currency. Of course I said yes. Stupid really, I’m sure that they would not have searched me if I had said no. Anyway, I was escorted off the train to change it in the station. David did not come with me and after changing the money I found myself in a long line of people waiting to go through passport and ticket checks to get back on. I had not brought my handbag with me, just the offending cash. I hadn’t even brought my coat and this was February. I was extremely nervous that I would not get through the line in time to get back on the train and pictured myself stranded in some Russian outpost with nothing. Of course it wasn’t like that at all. There were very few westerners on the train and while the memory is hazy now I think that some official took pity on me and sped me through the crowd and back to the train. The Russians were not friendly but they did look out for dumb Australian tourists. As for why I did it. I didn’t want to tell a lie to a Russian with a gun.

I did think their uniforms were very smart even though I found the guns unnerving. It always makes me nervous when I see armed guards with guns at foreign airports and railway stations. I think that up until I first went overseas in 1977 the only gun I had ever seen was my stepfather’s shotgun, which he never used while I knew him.

Gratitude:

Naomi came up to visit last weekend and we paid a visit to a lovely shop at Sisters Creek which is up on the Bass Highway not far from us. It is an antique shop with a cafe attached so we had a light lunch there first. We were served our pot of tea in a china teapot and had real china cups and saucers. Then we went in to look at the shop. We must have been in there a while because when we came back to the counter to pay for some things the girl who served us lunch said “Are you still here?”

We intended to go home after that but we were talking and missed the turnoff to Sisters Beach. It was a fine afternoon so we decided to carry on to Wynyard where we went for a walk down the main street and then to the park where there is a nice walk beside the river.