An old friend from my Bougainville days emailed me from Canada. He's suffering from cabin fever and feels trapped by all the snow and ice around him. I can just picture him since things aren't much different here.
No ice and snow here, of course, but heaps of rain which is welcome after the long dry spell but it puts the kibosh on any work outside.
It has stopped the tree feller fella from coming out to cut down an almost-dead gum on the edge of what used to be the tennis court, and our neighbour's Nelligen Kayak Hire also seems almost dead.
Another tenacious neighbour, MV Tenacity, has again been anchored off "Riverbend" but the relentless rain has stopped them from watching us through their binoculars.
Our other sailing friends, Jack and Jude, are already halfway across Bass Strait on their way to the wild west coast of Tasmania - see here.
As for my Canadian friend, he's since emailed me again to say he'd had a knock on the door and, on opening, found this big, surly, bearded man standing in front of him.
"May I help you?" my friend asked.
"The name's Jim; I live 'bout two miles down the road in my cabin", the man said. "I'm having a party tonight and I thought I'd invite you seein' that we're both snowed in."
Of course, my friend accepted with alacrity - he likes big words, too - even though his visitor added, "I gotta warn ya, there's gon' be a lot a drinkin at this party."
"I've been on Bougainville; I can hold my ground with the best of them", my friend replied.
"A lot of fightin' goes on that these parties too", his visitor said.
My friend replied, "Well, it'll be nice to get out again and, anyway, I've been on Bougainville and I think I can hold my own."
The visitor persisted, "There's also gon' be some wild lovemaking."
"Well, that's just fine by me", my friend replied with a nervous laugh, "I've been on Bougainville for too long and could do with some of that."
So he got directions on how to find the place and, just as his visitor walked away, asked, "What should I wear?"
With the snow already up to his knees, his visitor turned around and said, "Whatever you want; just gon' be us two."
I've asked my friend to let me know how the party went. Stay tuned!
