Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

As the temperatures rise to the high thirties this weekend, I'll be slaving over a hot stove cooking Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, and baking for it on Saturday. I've asked over a group of friends for dinner, and while some of my closest friends here will be unable to make it, I'm looking forward to it. This year among other things, I am thankful for air conditioning. I've got the usual fare planned, shared with many different groups of people as I've moved around Canada, and last year I had my first Thanksgiving here. It was also the first for most of my friends as it isn't celebrated here in Australia. This year, more new faces as Alice Springs swirls people in and out of the group.

In a two weeks, several of this same group are going camping at Chamber's Pillar. It's another challenging 4WD track not far from here, similar to Palm Valley, but without the huge sandbar that I bogged in twice last year. My friend J. has bought some two-way hand held radios to keep in contact along the way. It's meant to be a very rocky track, with a lot of incline. We shall see! I think I just got a little whoopsy in my belly just now, thinking about it. I still need to talk up a local expert for some more tips to avoid disaster...so far his info has been very good and kept me out of trouble. These folks in central Australia that drive the tracks and off road all the time are a bundle of information about the area, and the fella I talk to uses both google earth, satellite, and paper topographical maps to plot his way and make sense of the country's vastness. I want to rent a satellite phone too as the campground is pretty remote and land phones are hours away, and mobile phone use several hours away on the other side of several mountain ranges. I can't wait!

So I also want to do a hike this weekend too, early morning if I can drag my sorry body out of bed early enough before the heat sets in for the day. My Canadian co-worker and friend just moved into a unit complex with a nice saltwater pool. I'll be visiting you V. You know it. Summer is already here in Alice. I wonder when it will rain next? It rained last week for the first time since March. It was awesome but short lived, with a bit of a thunderstorm. I want more.

Dundee continues to lizard hunt, both inside the flat and out in the courtyard. I don't mind too much as long as he doesn't destroy my stuff in the process. There's already a long tally of past damages. Love ya puss, but you frustrate me sometimes as my glass continues to shatter across the floors here. Once the lizard is down on the floor, he's fine. He just plays with it, carries it around in his mouth from room to room, then plops it on the floor and lays down next to it, wondering if it will jerk to life again for one last round. Sometimes they do. They all get eaten. Thank-you Dundee for not leaving lizard carcasses to rot under my sofa and bed. I think I'll keep you. I don't mind the lizards but I don't want them running across my bed or curling up in my hair. So once they come into the house, it's fair game for the cat. They have the whole desert to explore. I have a sign up for Dundee on the outside gate - beware attack cat...many lizards have lost.

Tomorrow is Friday. Can I just say, hooray.