Friday, May 22, 2009

And then it rained

Geraldton is blessed with glorious weather for most of the year. The summers are hot and dry and very windy which makes it the perfect spot for a windsurfing tragic like myself. Yeah, some of the locals complain about the wind, but the alternative is 40 degrees celcius or higher, and humidity to boot. A blistering easterly off the inland, complete with its swarms of flies is akin to sitting in a fan forced oven, not something one likes to experience too often over the summer!! For some bizarre reason this usually coincides with Boxing Day, a day that regularly scores 47 degrees of mercury.

Anyway, the great weather of Geraldton is in the Autumn through to Spring, when we have mild temperatures (low 20s) blue skies, awesome sunsets, and a smattering of rain. Just a few days of rain here and there, and another bizarre thing, usually at night.
It's usually about eight to nine months between the last rain in September and the first rain in May, so by now everyone is hanging out for a bit of water to green up the parched landscape and get busy in our winter gardens. Here we garden with a very upside down mentality: Summer is too hot and dry so gardens lie fallow over this time but come the first rains of Autumn and everyone is busy planting their veges and other plants. It's now time to put in the tomatoes and other summer crops, as well as a few winter crops as well. We don't get frost so it's kind of akin to an English summer!

They've been forecasting rain coming for over a week, and yesterday it at last came. Gale force winds hit town just before dawn and with it torrential rain. The sun peeks out from time to time, enough to keep it warm and entice me outside to see how many leaves I'll need to sweep up once the wind settles.

Hazel doesn't like the winds that accompany these fronts. Being the neurotic dog that she is she finds the swaying trees and all those positive ions far too disturbing by half. Her fear of banging doors also contributes to her anxiety levels. I believe you can get valium for dogs, perhaps prozac would be better...

When we get this sort of weather it's sometimes cold enough to consider lighting the fire, but today I think the sun is winning. I may even get a few hours out in the vege patch sowing seeds.

So here's to the first rain of the season, and may all the farmers get enough to get their seeding done, and may my water tanks fill to over flowing!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

What is wrong with my body?

OK I eat too much.

But seriously though, having gone through the hell of a sore body for weeks to get fit last year, travelling through Asia for 6 months, climbing various mountains and trekking for days at a time, you'd think I just might have lost a few kilos. But no, not even a few grams, I steadfastly remain the same weight I was a year ago, which is currently at least 10kg more than I should. OK... 15kg!!

Everybody says I've lost weight, and yes I am thinner in a few places. I'm only 2cm off from a healthy waist circumference of 80cm, but the fact is a huge amount of my clothes no longer fit me and it's time they went off to the op shop. But what exactly must I do to get rid of the excess baggage?

I cycle to work 3 times a week - that's 90km total - and am doing yoga almost daily. Hazel gets a walk most days and I'm pretty full on in the garden most weekends. I don't think I'm eating excessively, and I'm not drinking much alcohol either. I'm not on any of these crazy diets as I don't believe any of them work in the long run, and am just eating normal home cooked meals. Perhaps a tad too much of that yummy home made bread though!!

Today I tried on the ski bunny suit, with great trepidation, and yes it still fits. Just!! But I'm not sure I'd like to spend a day swishing down the slopes in it at present as the bum and hips are a wee bit too tight for comfort. Wedgies are never fun, and even less so when access is limited!! Tight wetsuits have to be the worst offenders....

I am not going to buy another suit - that one cost me an arm and a leg as it was, and I'm hardly going to get alot of use out of one in hot, dry old Geraldton - so I have no choice but to up the ante and do even more exercise. I've been meaning to get back into more long walks, but the recent school holidays and gardening seem to have caused some postponements. Sally and Sheridan get back from Tassie soon, so perhaps I can get reinspired. Not that I'll be able to keep up with them after all the trekking they've been doing in the last few months!!

Recently I did a walk up on the Moresby Ranges, and once I get a few more pictures together I'll do a report. I noticed that my walking muscles are totally different from my cycling ones, as I was quite sore afterwards despite the regular commuting. Beach walking isn't the same either, as the resistance of the sand makes it hard to get up sufficient speed. Yep, more walking is in order....

On another note I have at last decided to see a clinical psychologist to work through some of the issues as to why I ended up getting burnt out in the first place. Now that I'm back at work and fighting fit mentally, it's time to deal with those issues and develop some protective strategies to prevent it happening again. I don't imagine it's going to be an easy ride but it's one I have to take.

And now I must take Hazel for a walk before I head out to dinner hosted by one of the drug companies. Memo to self: do not eat to excess!!