I'm sitting in the kitchen of our annual camp at Lake Bonney, Barmera some 3 hours north of Adelaide. The weather is promising to be hot once again.
Last night as we sat watching a pelican fly into the sunset... We mused that if we added all the time we had spent here over the past 30 years, we would have actually been here for over a year.
Yes 30 years of holidays camping by the lake, it sounds rather boring really, but it's been a tradition with some 80 friends who gather annually.... As I drove up this year was struck by contrast of the lakes I visit in the Minnesota.
There is a beauty in both environments. Here, the air is hot and dry... We had temperatures of 47 the other day (117). The leaves on the tall gums are sparse and grey green in stark contrast to the bright green full foliage of the trees in Minnesota during summer.
Coming to Barmera has always been a renewal for the busy year to come, in a country with so little water, the time by the lake is precious.
The camp was began as a chance for families who had adopted children from overseas to get together.
26 years ago, Sri Lanka decided to close Inter country Adoption, our file had been there for many years and we were close to being allocated a child…Several couples were in the same situation as Keith and I and as we sat by the lake we formulated a plan to fly up to Sri Lanka to speed up the adoption process….
I left Keith at home with the other 6 children for over 8 weeks….!!!!
That story on its own is full of drama, emotion and poignancy. However… the reason I’m mentioning it is that the couple we shared that experience with are here at camp this year too… As is our daughter Callie and her son Kodi. We found both of our daughters in terrible conditions in a World Health organization orphanage… Now, their daughter is pregnant too… and we count our blessings… if we hadn’t taken the stand and bent the rules and gone out of our comfort zone… we wouldn’t have those blessings now…
So camping here is comfort, full of memories and good times…..
I’ve been able to work on a few projects…. Talk to students by email and generally relax….
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap ... but by the seeds you plant!
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
