The Gum Tree for 2006 April 22

We are still in Warwick. It is great being here with the kids and all. Yesterday we mostly shopped and hung around with Lisa—Louise’s sister-in-law. That night I went to bed at around 8:30 P.M. I just conked right out. As a result, I woke up at 5:00, and Louise and I decided to go for a little walk before everybody else got up. So, we walked through the town of Warwick with all of its meticulously gardened streets and corners. The birds started stirring and we enjoyed a continuous stream of song as we watched the sun rise higher in the morning sky. The city is one of those that is inhabited by people who enjoy nice public spaces, and don’t mind a little community effort to plant and maintain city gardens, parks, streets, recreation centres, etc. I felt like I was at BYU with all of the sidewalk cleaners driving past us in the early morning and the gardeners out pruning the bushes and trees in the island at the median of the road.

All of this reminded me of my mission where there was a small grocery store a block away where we could buy all of our baked goods, meats and milk. Walking in a town like this is far more enjoyable. There are no big box stores, and hence something that you could get for $20 (e.g. a power inverter for the car) in the states costs $100, but there is the internet and postal service.

I made a breakfast of bacon and eggs for everybody, and I added to that some freshly-baked fruit bread that I had bought during our walk. Then after cleaning the house it was off to Leslie dam. We had a nice walk out there, and after a little bit we had lunch which consisted of sausage rolls and meat pies. After Leslie dam we went to watch the two girls, Emmalyn, and Harriet play Netball (which is a game in which you cannot dribble or walk with a ball, but you must get into a goal area and score by putting the ball through a hoop similar to basketball—except without the backboard).

After that we went swimming at the local rec-centre. It was a nice facility. We had fun, and after that we ate dinner (pizza) and I went to priesthood session of Conference (they just got the DVD this week) with Andrew. When we came back home, Lisa and Louise were watching Cinderella Man and I watched a bit of that before I went to bed. It was a nice day!