Thirties

This morning, I strolled along a boardwalk from Mark's to the Manly Wharf. They put on a market every Saturday, I'm guessing. I gave Alex, my impromptu personal Manly guide, a ring and we headed out for the day on another tour of northern beaches. He showed me his former apartment in Dee Why, Palm Beach--apparently, the rich people beach, among many other neighborhoods and beaches. He brought his dog along for the ride, too, which was fun. The pup's small but named Zeus. This kid is Greek (technically, half-Greek, sorry, Alex), so go figure.

Now here's where the real fun begins. Apparently, Americans are, well, dumb. Oh, and clueless. That's Alex's impression, at any rate, of people from the US of A. Who knew? We are rumored to believe that kangaroos and koalas live in people's backyards here. Hmm. I'd never even considered that. And then there's the accent thing. I've gotten mocked and laughed at a bit, our slang and vernacular so different from Australian. All in good fun. At certain moments, though, I hope I changed the guy's opinion. The words I use and the way I speak is odd, as it is, I fear for even my closest of friends in the States. For the first time, I wished I'd had my own personal dictionary. Anne-to-English, English-to-Anne.

We talked about our lives, too, and the cities we live in. City culture seems to hinge on the notion that everything is more important. Work, deadlines, appointments, it's all more important than life. Than living. Sitting at the lookout point of a national park and wildlife reserve with Alex and Zeus, staring into the distance of the sea, the water and sky hardly seem separate. Nothing is separate, nothing different from any other thing. Alex says, "As long you can take at least 30 minutes out of your day to enjoy life and appreciate, you'll be fine." Funny. That's exactly what I'm doing. I just have to be sure to take it with me wherever in this life I find myself.

To the Shore Club back on the main drag for the evening, we were Anne, Alex and Anna. Dancing into the evening, we had fun. Anna attracted a guy 10 years her junior. The joys of being in your 30s! I fended off the affections of a scary, much older version. "You're so foxy," in his best Australian accent, was the lead-in line. How could I not laugh? Here's to me, meeting totally random strangers who turn out to be lovely and wonderful people.

And here's to Laurent! She's thirty-something today. Happy birthday, girl!