Autumn has arrived

It's the end of term one this week for schools.   Term one is called "summer term" because it pretty much is 30 and sunny the entire time.  Technically autumn starts on March 1, but the fall equinox is March 20.

Autumn is looking a lot like summer, except we have a few more cloudy days, and there are long stretches in the 20s before the weather valiantly reaches for 30 one last time.  Today was the first entirely cloudy/rainy day we've had within memory, but most days are still full of brilliant blue sky.  All summer I hung my laundry out to dry - when it's 40 degrees it all dries within 15 minutes, and it's better than using the dryer which isn't vented to the outside, thus heating your house.  I will miss my laundry smelling like fresh air, and hearing the possums running around in the trees when I take it in after sundown.



Leaves are starting to turn gorgeous shades of yellow and red.  We need to buy a rake, because they are starting to make a mess in our back garden.  The glorious summer fruit has disappeared pretty much overnight.  If we want peaches now, they will be imported from the US and sold for about $12/kilo, versus the lovely $2.50/kilo for homegrown goods.

The school where I work has activity week during this last week of term.  The year 9s all head off to a week-long camp in the bush.  Year 10s have work experiences.  Years 11 and 12 students go on excursions promoting understanding of truth and justice.  There are no classes.  My only role this week is to check in on seven year 10 students at their work experiences.  Lucky for my kids, who both got sick on the way to school today - I took them to work to finish up paperwork, then to the store, then home to make chicken soup with matzo balls.  No sub plans needed - hooray!

At the grocery store, the Pesach food displays are up, and matzo meal is half price.  There was a lovely older gentleman buying his own matzo and matzo meal who tried to help me through the new terms.  There is no "cake meal" and "matzo meal" here - just finely ground, medium ground, and coarse matzo meal.  I hope I bought the right things  Of course, in a Jewish community of 44,000+, the man was the father of one of my daughter's teachers.   No fruit slices available at this store, but this store wasn't deep in the shtetl.

The kids are ready for a break.  They'll have a few play dates before the seders, then afterwards we'll hit the road - the Great Ocean Road - for a few days of beautiful vistas, hiking through some national parks, then circle back to Melbourne via Bendigo, an old gold-mining town, to pan for some gold.   Four more days.