Blow, Ye Winds . . .Rage! Blow!

Yesterday a storm front blew through Sydney that demonstrated just how violent the conditions can get in the winter time here. Ronald and Jane had invited me up to their house to wait for them while they were out visiting Jane's mum, and while I was waiting for the Narrabeen bus a huge wind, later clocked at exceeding sixty miles an hour, blew across the harbor and forced me to grab a lamp post or be knocked down. There followed a sheet of rain and sleet that drove sideways into the Corso and tore branches from trees. I was glad enough to get on the bus after that, and by the time it arrived at Narrabeen the violence had subsided a bit. Prior to this time, the biggest hazard I had been aware of in Narrabeen was angry magpies who have been making headlines in the local paper for dive bombing people near the Woolworth shopping center, but I think the wind kept them in their nests this day. I walked from the bus stop to Ronald's house where I was able to comfortably settle myself in and watch "The Daily Show" while waiting for their return. That evening we went to Barb and Cindy's house for a great meal of corned beef and cabbage, and the weather outside continued as blustery as any St. Patrick's day in Bozeman. Today is more of the same, and I do not care to take the ferry into the city to meet Wyatt again. I am investigating the bus schedule to accomplish the same goal by land. Today's picture demonstrates a bad lesson: that some vandalism can be quite funny.