Thursday, June 24, 2010

Is the adventure over?

B and I were talking last night about how the following for Flinders Family Freer has slowly grown. B was saying well, it would taper off now. The beloved beasts are here, adventure was over, no one would be that interested any more.

I profoundly disagree about the adventure being over (not sure about the growing interest not tapering). There are so many more things still to learn about the growing and foraging our own food. Then we'll eventually have the scary adventure of trying to buy ourselves a home of our own. This is going to be tricky as I'm a author - mediocre to rotten and very erratic income - which tends to make bank managers turn pale. Yes, we make church mice seem profligate wastrels in living carefully, and we do have some money from the sale of Finnegan's Wake left. But dogs and cats took a lot of that, and moving (us and our rock and furniture) a lot too. The Island is a delight in many ways, but transport to here adds a premium. It's not something that can't be beaten, but at fifty I'm back where where we were at thirty, only marginally wiser and a lot more creaky. Not planning to let it stop us -- as long as I can keep writing and selling, we'll make forward progress. And who knows - the big one might be next (maybe even the book of how we came to Flinders). With books there is always a chance. Story over? I don't think so. Besides... I am a sort of chaos magnet, and even in a bucholic idyll - if I'm there... there will be storms, disasters and misadventures, strange creatures from the depths, stranger meals, beasts behaving badly and me learning ineptly how to do all things from pickling olives to making mead, or keeping a milk-cow to how deal with possums. And of course B to keep me semi-sane and sensible, and the beasties to love us and throw spanners in the works.

So what do you think?

19 comments:

  1. I will never ever tire of reading "Flinders Family Freer" and if you write a book about it all, I will read that too - keep it going!

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  2. I'm pretty sure that this is one case where your spouse is wrong. We still want to know "what happens next".

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  3. Certainly the adventure is just beginning. Y'all just finished the Prelude is all, and now that the family is together (critters and all) it may seem less stressful. But I look forward to your chasing of game (big surprise there, no?) and cajoling fish onto your line. And then the Critters exploring their new digs and their learning of the ropes as well. I hope things stay interesting for y'all, just not in the Chinese sense of the word Interesting, but in the discovery of the new. And you and B write about them in such fun ways, I now I'll enjoy the tales.

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  4. I've been thinking all along that you could write a great book about the experience, funny and informative, one that would sell well in both SA and Oz.

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  5. Ah go on with you, of course it's not over.

    You two are not even middle aged. I'm a 66 year old waiter, you should worry.

    Now that you have a lady Prime minister in Aus you might like to hand over more of the blog writing duties to Barbs ;-)

    We know that you went to Flinders because the fishing here in the Midlands is so dull, trout, trout, trout and not a decent wave in sight.

    Not to mention the Mount West roads and the excessive boozing at the writers' group.

    If you decide to get more aggressively green and want another challenge, then Antarctica is just a 3 wood and 5 iron away. I can almost see the headlines - "small, hairy writer paddles out to join Greenpeace. When asked he said 'I am having a whale of a time'".

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  6. Uh huh... you realise there'll be screams of outrage 'round the globe, if you *stop*?!?
    So, don't you *dare*!!!
    (I need my regular Flinders Family Freer fix!)

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  7. More, more, more! A book about your move sounds like a capital idea.

    As an Aussie I'm ashamed to admit that I knew hardly anything about Flinders before you and B moved down there. I've become fascinated by the place thanks to your blogging and would be lost without regular updates of your activities.

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  8. Please continue! I like the "day in the life" posts quite as much as the dramatic happenings posts, and I am so glad you are reunited with your animals, but hardly imagine that's the end of the tale!

    Besides, I really enjoy the occasional double posts, where we get to see both points of view on a given day.

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  9. Ooooh errrr.

    Now everyone knows about the well kept secret of Flinders you can expect hoardes of tourists with noisome brats, looking for fast food outlets, donkey rides, motels and lap dancing.

    Eeeek. Put rocks on the runway !!

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  10. As said above, there's plenty to read of your adventures on Flinders Island..

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  11. And we simply must see Dave building a house, after the odd places and methods he's been referred to.

    And sheep. We need an eye witness account of Dave's first sheering.

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  12. I'm fairly certain that traditionally the story of people stranded on islands in the middle of nowhere doesn't end until they are actually rescued.

    Or, in the more untraditional stories, that the last radio station on the zombie-infested mainland has fallen silent.

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  13. Well, I have decided to press on. Not sure how keen B is. I like the double posts too. Sometimes i get a clue what my better cleverer half is thinking!

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  14. We're defended from invasion by the erratic slow, non passenger carrying 'ferry-tale', and the expensive small plane flights, Tantalus

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  15. The sheep are already nervous Matapam.

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  16. Reverencepavane we try to avoid talking politics so I avoid mentioning zombies much

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  17. Dave, I figure it's a toss up who gets sheered.;)

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  18. Yes, but where politicians are involved the radio stations are rarely likely to fall silent, much as one may wish them to.

    [Although the large number of apparent zombies that have no knowledge of our own political system, that the events of the last few days have revealed, has been quite astounding really.]

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  19. To borrow (and twist slightly) a phrase from acting... some people could write about grass growing and make it interesting. Keep up the good work and let us know what comes up, okay?

    (Crabgrass? Who knew they had crabgrass in Flinders? :-)

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