Hi you guys! Sorry about the slight delay. My daughter was here most of July, so I kind of got side tracked, but here we go!
The following story takes place in Australia. I lived in Australia for over ten years. I was there with my first wife. In the beginning, we were there under tourist visas. Back then, you had to leave the country every six months and re-enter the country to get another six months. Well, I would often go to New Zealand, specifically, the South Island, to reinstate my visa. I would take a short trip to Christ Church and drive to Queenstown. It was a beautiful drive. Only problem was, when you went to rent a car, they would offer you free bus service to Queenstown. Apparently it was so beautiful, tourists would drive right off the road. Hence, the free bus service. The other thing we found out about, was you never park your car to go for a hike. There were these giant birds that were like a cross between a raven and a parrot. They love rubber on cars. It was like parking your car in Spanish Harlem in the '80's. There was nothing left. The birds would totally trash the car. The other fun thing was, if you went during mating season, the elk would keep you up all night. I found this out the hard way (and no, they didn't find me attractive). We would rent a cabin and all night long the elk would be screeching looking for a mate. It was unreal. I didn't sleep at all. But other than those three things, the South Island was beautiful. Especially Milford Sound.
P.S. And did you know that the air standard for the world is taken from the tip of South Island? The air there is so so clean. You notice it right away. Just a bit of trivia for you.
OK, I'll give you a story from the recent past. I built a house and became good friends with my construction manager. He used to often take me around and show me projects he was working on. Well, he'd just gotten done with this big house. The family he was building for was ultra conservative. There were shutters on every window of the house, this big house. My friend said, as we pulled up, he said, "I gave the new tenants a gift. I etched into each shutter the profile of a dragonfly." His name was Frank. I said, "Frank, that's cool, but did you know that in the gay community, the symbol of the dragonfly represents a very famous poem. The poem is titled, 'Come Hither and Fly Away with me.' The dragon fly is a symbol of this poem. It's very well known." Now Frank is about 6'4" really short hair, a big guy from the middle of LongIsland. He turned to me, put his head back, looked at me kind of cross eyed, and in a think long island accent said, "You're shitting me!" I started laughing and laughing so hard. I said, "Frank, I'm just messing with you." And he said to me, "You're a sick pup, you know that?"
That's all for this week. This is B. Nice signing off. Here's my other blog where I talk about the present. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice