Getting warmer..............

Well, I'm back in Australia!!  Yay!!  For many, many, years my goal has been to return home to Whistlestop, and to develop it as I've dreamed about, and planned for, over the years.  I'm getting very close, but not quite there yet.  I pick up my new trailer on Thursday, then we'll load it up and it's truly 'homeward bound'!!

In the last couple of days I've opened quite a stack of parcels that have arrived for me over the last year or so, mostly eBay purchases.  That has been a heap of fun, and there was just one item that I completely didn't realise I'd ordered!  Seeing the Standard Gauge items, in particular, was tremendous encouragement for building the Trainbarn, if indeed more was needed!

In the sub-title of this blog I mention discussing the twists and turns..................  This also means 'ups and downs', or successes and, well, not so successful!!  Amidst the fantastic excitement of finally being back in Australia after so many years away, there was an un-expected problem that arose.  I usually try to anticipate problems, and formulate Plan B's and C's if things don't go quite right, but sometimes stupid things just jump out of the blue, and such was the case in the last couple of days.  No need to go into detail, but suffice to say it took the wind out of my sails a bit.  I mentioned that this came out of nowhere, but really, something like this should have been, and probably was, expected.  I've noticed that whenever things are going well, and excitement is at a high, something will occur to spoil the fun.  It just happens, but the 'trick' is in how we respond.

An interesting example is my favorite scene from the animated film 'Madagascar'.  Briefly the group of Penguins who live in the zoo in the U.S. dream constantly of returning to their home in Antarctica, just as I've dreamt of returning to Whistlestop.  When they finally, finally get their chance, the scene is of the Penguin Group standing in the snow amidst a raging blizzard- wind howling, snow blowing, utterly bleak.  After a short exposure to this, Joe Penguin declares "well, this sucks"!!!  After which they head, I think, to the warmer climes of Madagascar.

I'm aware that lots of things will arise to try to turn me away from my dream, to divert me to an easier, but incorrect, pursuit.  While things occasionally might"suck", I hope that after perservering for so long elsewhere to get to this point, that I can hang-in through the various blizzards which will come my way to enjoy the sunny days that also lie ahead.