urn:wd:wdlabs.com:atom1:twilight Your Home For Snappy Repartee 應龍 urn:wd:wdlabs.com:atom1:twilight:20040824.2220 2004-08-25T02:20:00 2004-08-25T02:20:00 2004-08-25T02:20:00 <center><table><tr><td><IMG src="http://www.wdlabs.com/gnr/public/australia/NX1769-2.png"/></td></tr></table></center> <pre>it rained last night, dispatching the bulk of the fire up here. i understand from the news there are some south of here still. the skies really cleared up today, making today the best beach day i've had out here. we hiked up the skillion, basically this big chunk of earth thrust up in complete contempt for gravity at the edge of the ocean. i wished i had brought my camera up there, as the contrasting colors, dark blue ocean, golden yellow beaches, blue-green australian overgrowth and light blue sky were worth beholding. maybe it was just as well, because film, be it virtual or no, doesn't seem to do the real thing justice, you know? &nbsp; i hope you had a good vacation (or is it not over yet?). how is life in america? i will shortly have to readjust to it. i will give you a call from chicago, in case my flight is delayed. happy after now and good future years.</pre> <p>I wrote that on January 8, 2002 from Gosford, Australia. Fires seem to happen in places which I call home, and there were some bad ones near Gosford at the time. When the rain cleared some of the smoke and I could see the blue skies for the first time in days, I had this <i>perfect moment</i> (maybe it was a moment of <i>total clarity</i>, whatever that is) at the top of the Skillion, and I had to share it with someone. My heart told me that I should tell this girl I liked back in the states. Thus the e-mail. Later I would find out that she had a boyfriend. It feels like it has been so long since I had a moment like that. I'm not even sure who I would tell if I did have another such experience. <center><a href="http://www.wdlabs.com/twilight/media/040824/?image=yellow.jpg"><img src="http://www.wdlabs.com/twilight/media/040824/yellow.jpg" border="0" ALT="[photograph]" /></a></center> <p>Anyway, that's not a very happy thought. I'm headed off to Maine tomorrow, for the <A HREF=http://www.nationalfolkfestival.com/>National Folk Festival</A> and probably to do some hiking. I'm going to stop in New Hampshire to visit a friend who has left The Company to study patent law and get a degree. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and hopefully post some of them here. I will need all my low light skills to capture some interesting moments at the festival.</p> </p>