Backyard Zoology · 17 June 2019
2019-06-17T17:54:47+10:00
https://www.facebook.com/backyardzoology/posts/pfbid0hW6wKrVbPHxP18HLg5MEy4cCuxf9xT4fk2q4S4hhbAEfrSZY5LKamWh5AnYaCtLUl

I'm a couple of weeks out from turning 45 😬 I have absolutely zero idea how that happened. I mean, I still feel like a teenage girl at heart. Actually I feel like a teenage Japanese girl at heart, but either way I feel much, MUCH younger than I actually am. It's weird though, all of a sudden I'm noticing how much younger everyone around me is.

I went into a chemist today to buy old people medicines, pain killers for me and heart burn stuff for the husband and when the pharmacist served me, it was all I could do to stop myself looking around for her parents. She looked YOUNG, that fresh and unconfident kind of young that makes me feel both extremely jealous that I'm not back there in that age again but also extremely happy that I not only survived but I lived it all before there was the internet on which to capture, for all time, evidence of my misspent youth (*ahem, early thirties after my divorce 😂) 

I bought myself lunch today, in one of my favourite little restaurants, eating alone and feeling like an absolute boss because I no longer feel self conscious about those kind of things. I also picked up the local tourist mag and found that one of my articles had been republished in there, and I sat reading my words and I have to admit, feeling kind of proud. No matter how hard I tried to make the connection for those around me, (I didn't quite get brave enough to hold the photo of me up to my face, while yelling, "Recognise this girl?!" to fellow diners) it remained my own little secret. Although I did end up sending a photo of the article to the husband so he could send me virtual affirmations 😂😂😂

Got a quick little photo shoot in with two bloody lovely cormorants: the Great Cormorant who I reckon is a totally lovely model and then a much smaller Little Black Cormorant who flew in and landed right beside it, and they both had their turquoise eyes shining in the sun so it was a nice little moment. It started to rain at one point which always makes me feel like I'm out there doing the hard stuff, you know, being all like Sir David out in the field, or at least, one of Sir David's cameramen 😂. The Great Cormorant took off after a while, and the Little Black bounced around a few times trying to make the best of the occasional sun. They often fish in massive flocks of over 100 birds which we saw in Port Stephens but I was happy to have a little time with this one little guy today before the skies fully clouded over and I decided enough was enough and it was time to get my old arse home!

Great Cormorant and Little Black Cormorant
Bulli