Seasons and signs

The change of the seasons on the northern beaches of Australia isn't exactly the high drama of, say, Duluth in November, or Key West during hurricane season, but there are noticeable and subtle shifts to announce autumn. Nippers is done, the last of the boogie board training until next spring. The beaches are pretty empty, but oh, so lovely.

First, the spiders are so fat their webs are sagging a bit, and they no longer hide under leaves. They hang their webs wherever they please, and they are now beyond snagging gnats and have moved up to butterflies, moths and large flying insects. At this point these ladies would fill up the palm of my hand if I wanted to pull one off her web. Which I don't.

Also, the kookaburras have finally kicked their fully-fledged offspring out of nests, so they aren't worrying about fat bugs at 5:00am any longer. These days, they are up at more like 7:30am having leisurely discussions about the day's hunt plans. I miss my alarm clocks! When they laugh, their whole bodies shake with the force of their vocalizations.

The lorrikeets and cockatoos have so thoroughly demolished the most tender of the bottlebrush, banksia, grevillea, eucalpyt and hakea blooms that the only ones remaining are more like those almost-moldy leftovers in the back of the fridge. These birds are also looking pretty plump right now.

Gone are the oppressive muggy days of summer when the humidity is almost like being in the water. The air is clear, and we've had several days in a row when the wind isn't tearing off my eyebrows or giving my skin a dermabrasion session that would cost $100 in a salon. The blue bottles continue to pile up at the high tide line; yesterday there were enough of them on the beach with enough electric charge to light up the houses on Palm Road for a hour or two. It's the long stinger strings that pack the wallop and several of them, the little floating part no bigger than a plum, had stinger tails up to three feet in length. Even stepping on a stinger on the beach after the critter has expired for 24 hours can send you yowling in pain to find some warm water to pour on the site. Autumn is definitely on the way.

Yesterday on a beach walk I found an Allen Avenue which fronts on Bilgola Beach. My Springfield home is on Allen Avenue, but no terrific view of the azure seas! Note the lifies can take it a little easier now that the beach isn't crowded with summer swimmers.

There's a bench at Bilgola which looks directly out on the lovely cove, and on the front side is a sign dedicating the bench to one Nicholas. What I most like about the sign is the last line..."who loves to surf." Not past tense, but present tense. By my reckoning, Nicholas probably surfed well into his 80's, which wouldn't be at all unusual.

A final sign simply underlines the differences between up-tight US establishments and the more laid-back Aussie world. How many times have you seen it: "No shirt, no shoes, no service and no dogs"? Well, here, the final words would be: "No shirt, no shoes, no worries, dogs ok". Dog water bowls are outside every restaurant and cafe in our little town and well-mannered Aussie dogs go everywhere with their owners. Shirtless (well, at least the mates), shoeless (everyone), we wander in and out of shops, cafes and restaurants, oh, and on the buses too. Nice.

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