Thursday, August 6 2009 (diary)

As I sit (yesterday afternoon) on the veranda in front of the Palmerston Library Bistro it strikes me that overlooking a fresh green grassy lawn surrounded by tropical trees and colourful shrubs (as I do here) is just about as peaceful and mind nourishing as overlooking the water of an ocean, river or pond.
The Library building itself too has become a special place close to my heart, simply because it is such a pronounced and beautiful salute to the art of the hugely influential Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondriaan. And to have this wonderful celebration of Mondriaan in such an unlikely place as outback Palmerston is delightfully unreal in itself.
Piet Mondriaan's art (I find) is truly timeless. And what else could it be, as its principal elements are vertical and horizontal lines and the three primary colours, red, yellow and blue, plus of course white, grey and black. The fundamental backbones of any visual art form.

I am quite contentedly sitting here while sipping a carton of iced coffee and reading yet another novel by Nevil Shute : Trustee from the Tool room. As always his writing sucks you in from the very first page.
I also checked the Library's data base and noticed they have only the first book of Pamela Aidan's trilogy. So I alerted one of the librarians about the other two volumes and put in a request for purchase, which they will do I am assured.

Friday, August 7 2009 (diary, Margaret Mitchell)

This morning I complete my walking exercise around the Mango farm for the third day. I have lengthened the course slightly, so that when I do 5 circuits of it I cover just over 2 km (1.3 mile). This takes me about 25 minutes to complete at an average walking pace of 5 km per hour, which is perfect.

At 10.45 AM I have the appointment with my GP, Dr Forest. My PSA test results are in. At 5.9 they are slightly higher than the test done 5 months ago (5.5), but according to Dr Forest this is well within the blood sample variation range. Only with jumps of 4, 5 or more is there any need for concern, therefore "don't worry about it" is his firm advise. All the same a copy is sent by FAX to my urologist at the Sunshine Coast Dr Kirstin Hoyle. So everything is well in hand.

Afterwards I sit on the Palmerston Library terrace with a drink and a book and watch the various food stalls being parked all around for tonight's weekly markets. There is even a Poffertjes stall, a Dutch delicacy : tiny pancakes, about 3 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter, sprinkled with white sugar powder.

Later I spend some time browsing through the Library. Spaced at various intervals between the rows of books empty spaces are left on the shelves on which individual books are displayed upright so that their front covers are facing the viewer. This is a great idea and makes it easy to pick up something unexpected.

Today my eye catches Margaret Mitchell's novella Lost Laysen.
Margaret Mitchell is the author of the world famous Pulitzer Prize winning American novel Gone with the Wind, published in 1936, Mitchell's only novel published during her lifetime.
The story of the discovery of the manuscript for her novella 'Lost Laysen' is somewhat similar to Irène Némirovsky's posthumous publications.
Margaret Mitchell wrote Lost Laysen in 1916, when she was just 16 years old. The story (which features a tempestuous love triangle) reveals the initial ideas for her later masterpiece 'Gone with the Wind' but also is a reflection on her own personal life.
Just before her death (as a result of a tragic car accident in 1949) she ordered the destruction of all her personal papers.

However, Henry Love Angel, undoubtedly Margaret Mitchell's most enduring love although they never married, had kept in his possession her letters to him as well as over 50 photographs and the original manuscript of Lost Laysen hand written in two small Exercise books. Henry kept silent about his lifelong love for and early relationship with Margaret Mitchell throughout his life, even after she became world famous in 1936 (he died a few years before her in 1945).
Henry's grandson eventually found the material and passed it on to the Road to Tara Museum of Atlanta, Georgia, which unveiled Henry Angel's legacy to the Public in 1995.

The book Lost Laysen, put together and edited by Debra Freer was published in 1996, 80 years after Mitchell had written it. Besides the novella, the book includes the letters of Mitchell to Henry Angel as well as a large number of photographs of Mitchell, Angel and many of their friends. All original material is on display in the Road to Tara Museum.

As you probably have discovered from reading my Blog by now, I absolutely love these strange romantic stories.

Saturday - Monday, August 8 - 10 2009 (diary)

At the beginning of this year the Dow Jones had dropped to the mid 7000 and the Australian All Ordinaries to the low 3000 mark. I felt then that both would recover by the end of the year to 10,000 and 5,000 respectively. At the end of this week they are well on their way to achieve that, as the Dow closed a touch under 9,400 yesterday and the All Ordinaries at 4,300. My Managed Investment Funds have done very well these last 6 months, but have a way to go until they reach their value of 18 months ago.

I have not been to the Stokes Hill Wharf all week, so Saturday I decide to go. Ordering my regular mini bottle of Jacobscreek Shiraz Cabernet at the Bar facility across from the Portside Char Grill I am served by a very attractive lady in a dazzlingly colourful dress which clings to her body all the way. A bunch of guys are sitting nearby on bar stools watching her, with their mouths open. I immediately ask here where she bought this pants suit. It is made of a rather expensive looking stretch material. "No", she made it herself she says, and has no objection of me taking a photo of her in front of the bar. The boys keep goggling at her while she smiles at them.

A US Navy ship is moored to the wharf next to us as I have my usual grilled seafood lunch. Two sets of orange and white buoys mark the quarantine zone around the ship, with a small police boat keeping watch. Every time a boat infringes on the zone it races up to it, lights flashing, siren wailing. It reminds me of a funny incident a few years back, in 2004 or 2005.
I was involved in running the weekly races at the Darwin Sailing Club then. One Sunday when we had a Harbour course race another US Navy frigate was moored right in the middle of the harbour. Before the start of the race we warned all participants to respect the 200 yards quarantine zone around the ship.

The largest yacht racing that day was the Australian Maid crewed for that race by a dozen ladies only. The ladies, predictably, took no notice of our warning and naturally breached the quarantine zone as they sailed into it to "have a closer look". When the US ship started flashing warning signals to them they all lined up on deck and lifted their T shirts in reply. Immediately a small boat was launch by the US Navy which raced across to the Australian Maid inviting them all to lunch on the US frigate. The ladies of course obliged and had a wonderful time. Needless to say they did not win the race, but had a great story to tell us later that night at our Club's presentation ceremony.