WISHFULVILLE: What: when you add beauty to brains; common sense to idealism; restraint to strength; modesty to achievement? Yes, Payton L. Inkletter!

Be all that as it may, meanwhile:

In other news…

09^th February 2009:

Monday: A hot one today, 35 Celsius no less. Janny informed me when I arose that the Victorian bushfire death toll had climbed to over a hundred, which is an awful thing. And there must be some utterly horrible burns injuries for victims and the medical teams to cope with.

I mailed a letter at the local shops and then picked up Pa pree and returned with him to our place. I began doing things in the warm conditions outside, for there was a lot to do, including an overdue watering, especially for the lawn. I took photos of my Queens of the Night, which if the three don’t open tonight I’ll eat my hat. It hit me a while ago that they will be timing their flowerings for full moon, which I think is tonight, the clever little beauties.

Yes, I’ve since googled to confirm tonight is the full moon – Fool’s moon: he’s based somewhat on me in my novels – and while talking to a neighbour Ahmed out the front this evening, it occurred to me that the buds appeared about two weeks ago, which will have been new moon. I showed him the yucca’s new spray of flowers, and the Queen of the Night buds both front and back garden, and he was most interested. I gave him permission to come over with a torch tonight to check on the blooms’ progress.

Earlier we three watched My Beloved and Kerry O’Brien’s dedicated 7.30 Report to be saddened by the terrible loss of life, injuries, and environmental and economic devastation in Victoria from the bushfires. I hope arsonists in general are dealt with severely as one of the fallouts from this disaster, and that any rebuilding be done with effective fire resistant standards. Fire proof bunkers or cellars beside every home would make a lot of sense. It isn’t rocket science; industry could design affordable external threat fireproof housing. Then those killed and maimed won’t have died completely in vain.

I took Pa pree home about half ten, and then returned to watch Tony Jones’ Victorian fire focussed Lateline. A brief period ensued at about this time of me being too human and succumbing to anger, but the frustration trigger was a mitigating factor I feel sure. Later I watched the beginning only of Letterman, and then tackled the continuing writing of the psychological option for healing, which I wanted to finish tonight to email to my cousin Vee. I interrupted this for a very late walk in the full moon light on this warm night, returning to do a marathon write to finish the healing notes and finally get them emailed. It was quite a strain, being tired and the subject being one which I wanted to explain reasonably well without being overly technical, clear but attractive. And I wanted to integrate my account into a consistent and compelling case. I hope I went some way to achieving all of this.

Now, the question five billion internet visitors today want to know (which is quite something, given that that is far more than have online access): Did the Queens of the Night flower tonight? Yas! The three of them began opening well and truly a couple of hours after sunset and moonrise. And they were truly beautiful, as I hope this photo attests to.

I pollinated each of them with a cotton bud about half three in the morning, when they had passed their peak of beauty, and obviously the native insect or moth or whatever in the Americas or wherever wasn’t coming by to do the pollinating for them. I’ll keep my billions of enraptured visitors posted on whether the pollination worked.

I was mighty tired when I hit the sack after five o’clock, but happy to have got the psychological option written for my cousin, and I’ll include it in the Healing Matters page I’m creating.

+paytontedwithlove+