Christmas trip to hometown Adelaide

Strictly speaking, it's not my hometown, as I was born further south in the state, but given it is the place of my parents birth, and all my family live there, it is very much my hometown. A place that reared me, made me who I am, and hopefully rubbed off some of my anxious/obnoxious edges... life is better when you can move out of yourself and your own needs.

Life, you know, it is all about making connections, meaningful relationships with others, working on your links with people so they can sustain you in both good and bad times. I am always impressed by tightknit communities and the circles of well being that radiate out from them-I'm thinking of Jewish culture in one regard (having visited the virtual Jewish Adelaide museum), and then Innabody 2003/2004 in another, a group I was involved with that conducted workshops and produced plays and performances for events such as Feast, International Women's Day, No Diet Day and Mental Health Week....

Sometimes I feel adrift from that sense of community: shifting cities three times in my career is one reason for that; my energy goes in creating shelter and an immediate circle of friends, before it can generate wider rings of community support; I know that I am not alone in this regard; appreciate that my feelings of altruism are partly a way of masking my own needs; on the other hand realising that the act of helping others is the stabiliser that we all need and in its absence might be a cause of disconnection. So many of us have trouble articulating it and focussing it effectively.

So that is why it has been so wonderful visiting my family in Adelaide after Christmas, seeing my grandparents (who are in their eighties) and my new baby nephew Asher, who is only 6 weeks old. A sweet fair headed healthy baby, who sleeps reasonably easy, snuggles into your neck, wriggles and wrestles his arms in the fullest signs of life.

Mum had babysat him, Ned and Gus the week before Christmas; Gus explained to her "you have to support his head when you hold him, Granny". Then on returning home, he expressed his concern about Granny's response to Asher's crying "she let him cry in the pram", explaining to Bec that HE would have cuddled Asher until he stopped crying. I might illustrate this with a photo

Andy and I took the boys out yesterday afternoon, walking around the streets of Semaphore, had a coffee, walked on the jetty, listened to their philosophy of life ("I'm in the wars" confided Gus, "I'm always having accidents") and all the potential myths they could explore for Myth Busters. (Gus suggested "Can kids run through door screens?" and offered up his scar on his head as proof the answer is NO) and experimented to see if salt binds string to ice cubes. Ned even offered some theories about the potential water shortage for Australia, what effect it would have on the ice supply and how to filter sea water into drinking water.

My favourite moment at the playground was when Gus worked out he could create his own momentum on the flying fox; once I'd lifted him up so his arms could grab the triangle he was off, zig zagging from side to side, concentrating on swinging his body backwards, his body hanging perfectly for momentum. He needs to run away with the circus....