29th january..

It' the 2nd last day of January 2010, and we're still stuck at Fruitopia uncertain of our short term destiny.. We're in the middle of monsoon, and naturally thankful that the roof over our heads has no leaks..

The hopes to move in to the place in malanda, didn't pan out.. we eventually were gotten in touch with again by the owner, (says he lost his mobile phone and fell in love with a south american girl or something), who once again built up our hopes for a meeting and interior guided tour, but once more failed to follow through, leaving us wondering what happened and no way to contact him..

He reckons he's always like this, and thus not exactly the most reliable of persons, which is fine for him, i guess, not the way i like to be, but maybe he's just more spontaneous or something.. anyhow.. Ultimately we are still very unsure whether or not he is serious about us moving in, and our spirits are apprehensive in trusting him fully.. there is still a chance though. that tiny glimmer of hope that forever prevails..

apparently we were on TV last night, on the news, some guy at the markets who sells pineapples reckons he recognised me.. it was in connection with some news about possible road blocks due to the wet season and cyclones between here and townsville, that may stop the flow of food produce between here and there.. and the filming was done at rusties market, in cairns.. - we actually noticed that we were being filmed, but just carried on doing what we were doing, choosing our fruit.. So we weren't no big stars, just extras, as it were..

actually, that reminds me, i need to get in touch with that extras agency i was with in sydney, and tell them i've changed address, and ask if there's any chance of getting any extra work up this end of australia..

.. i just took a break in writing this, and accomplished the above paragraph.. one less thing to contend with..

yes.. the markets at mareeba were today.. (they're on the 2nd and 5th saturdays of the month) i'm gathering that there's a far greater turn out of stalls in the winter months, and when the rain is no longer ever present..

the markets are pretty good here, we're getting nice cucumbers, passionfruits sometimes, pineapples, avocadoes and more.. yesterday we were at rusty's market in cairns, and scored several locally grown durian.. 2 of them particularly good, 2 of them pretty lousy..the price varies depending on the vendour, i think there were 4 different sellers this week, with prices between $8 and $10 a kilo.. the best ones we got were $9 a kilo.. quite a bit dearer than the $5 a kilo we were paying in sydney, but worth it for them being local and fresh.. We're keeping all the seed, and many of them are sprouting already in trays.. hopefully we can get some in the ground wherever we end up, and that the climate will change enough for them to flourish on the tablelands..

we also got one mame (sapote), and a rather large yellow one (sapote - canistel) - both at $3 a kilo.. the canistel is often just too powerful for me, and i can only handle it in very small doses.. i think most of it will get wasted.. we'll have to remember in future to only buy the smaller ones.

NEXT DAY ALREADY.. (Sunday the 31st January, 2010)

Sorry, I've had a lot on my mind lately, and much as I have a head full of updates, they're rarely getting blogarised.. As well as the stress of us not having a "home", i have recently sort of reestablish communication with my brother who I've pretty much been out of touch with since the mid 1980s or less.. (time flies!).. i think time has lead us both down very different paths with differing viewpoints and outlooks on life, and it is not without a good deal of, to put it in the best way i can, "challenge", that we have exchanged our first words..

At this point I'm not 100% sure where things are headed, but I choose to believe that I've done the right thing by getting in touch again, and that what we have to say to each other, is what we both need to hear, even though we might not find our words if there might be a certain degree of challenge in our words..

my brother has chosen a very academic path, and i like to think of him as a renowned mathematics professor at the forefront of his fields.. he certainly has always been someone that in many ways i've looked up to and admired.. he used to know all the answers on those trivia quiz shows, even the most bizarre geeky ones on university challenge and mastermind.. maybe i'm exaggerating some, but he certainly is a genius on many levels..

he's done the house and car and wife and kids and dogs and cats thing, with a prestigious job teaching in some college in wisconsin, US, somewhere.. A path I for many years believed would also ultimately be mine, but destiny is a strange and fickle beast and that just wasn't meant to be..

as far as diet and ethics go, which as you know is a major part of my life, there is little we have in common, i gather he gives only token regard to the role food plays in society, and although he may be aware of certain more obvious issues, like many of the rest of society are, like the bulk, i believe he remains ignorant of the full extent that diet can and does effect us..

hey, i'm not by any means saying i have full awareness either, and maybe even the awareness I do have is even flawed, of course, it could be, just i adamantly don't believe it is. :)

Anyhow, that's something on going, and after feeling initially quite perturbed by our first emails, i've moved on and decided to be more lighthearted about it, and just see where it leads, and try not to hold too many expectations..

..

Kveta is often reading the gypsey tarot for us, as we are impatient to be at home, and the cards always show that it is on it's way.. her mum checks regularly for us too, and the cards are always bright and shiny with a most positive outlook.. and at rusty's on friday, there was one woman had a stall reading tarot, and as i walked past, she said pick one, any card, so i honed in on the one i wanted, and it flipped over to be quickly interpreted by her as beautiful house and home surrounded by light.. so it certainly feels like things are looming ahead for us, even though still invisible.. patience mango.. patience..

anyhow.. no ideas if i'll get to post this today, as i'm doing all my writing, replying, emails etc offline on our trusty laptop, and then copy things to a usb stick and sometimes connect to the internet via an ultraslow dialup internet connection that is constantly flaking out and taking forever to load pages.. quite frustrating, so try not to contend with it too often.. the best thing to use is portable thunderbird for the emails, as i can receive them all at once onto my usb stick, then work with them from our computer later, offline..

anyhow.. ciao for now,
mango.