Aussie rule winding down . . . .

Well, one more day of the Southern Cross flying over the Lovestead.  Then, we'll find a place of honor for the flag given to us by our guests from Kapunda and Adelaide, South Australia.

Last night Bill pulled out his harmonica and played "Waltzing Matilda" for Polly, Joyce and Danni.  Earlier in the evening, I summoned them up to this computer office to listen to one of the most stirring songs I've ever heard.

I used to play "The Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda'" for my English classes when we studied ballads.  Students always sat silently and somberly as theylistened to the lyrics of the musical tale about Australian troops fighting in a blood bath at Gallipoli during World War I.

PLEASE NOTE:  The images in this  particular video show Canadian troops but I'd surmise the message of the song can be considered universal regarding sacrifices made by military personnel around the world and throughout history.

Several versions of the song can be found on Youtube.  I've tried to embed one of my favorites, but if it doesn't work, just google the song title.  If you've never heard it, I guarantee it will have an emotional impact as it did whenever I played it for my students. 

Yesterday our guests spent the afternoon "shopping 'til they dropped" or, maybe more accurately,  until it was time to come home for a barbecue.  

I figured that,  in the five hours they spent away, they certainly would know downtown Sandpoint.

Well, they shopped and shopped but never made it to town----just the Bonner Mall, including time spent at Meyer's Sport Tees, Penneys, Staples and Wal-Mart.  

Again, they came home with sacks filled with items which will soon be bound for Down Under. 

Last night, Debbie, Willie and my sisters joined us for a fun barbecue where Bill donned his new Australian apron to cook up chicken breasts, Woods German sausages and hamburgers.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the evening of storytelling,  laughter and dogs chasing their toys. 

Today, our visitors will be packing and posting:  packing their goodies from Calgary, Sandpoint, Western Pleasure Guest Ranch, the Appaloosa and Nez Perce Museums.  They'll "post" those packages and then pack up their suitcases.

Tomorrow they'll drive back to Calgary and fly out Wednesday, bound for their homes, families and lives Down Under.  

To say this has been an educational, uplifting, fun-filled and meaningful experience is a gross understatement.  Our guests will take back items purchased, but they'll also be armed stories to tell and memories to hold forever.  

And, we here at the Lovestead will smile often, thinking about all the images created when two cultures from thousands of miles away came together to compare differences and to share similarities.  

Once more, this visit serves as a vivid reminder that the inhabitants of the world of ours may have different forms of expression and culture but the basics of what we appreciate about life are pretty much the same. 

Bill and I feel so enriched by this visit with Polly, Joyce and Danni.  We're especially happy that once more the new-old motor home and the Lovestead have provided the basis for another colorful chapter in our lives.

The Australian flag will definitely find a place of honor in our home.