The Plunge Down Under

Summer Reads

 

This summer for me has been a summer of books.  I had the goal of writing up book reviews for all of the books on my current reading list, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.  Instead, here is a list of the books I have read lately, each with a short blurb.

 Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.  

I may well have strained the bonds of several relationships by talking about this book too much.  It sat on my kindle for many months before I was motivated enough to start reading it, but once I did, I was hooked.  After establishing a working definition of introversion, Cain explains how American culture changed from valuing character in the 19th Century to favoring personality in the 20th.  This has given extroverts a clear advantage in recent decades.  Cain examines environments such as school rooms, corporate offices, evangelical churches, motivational conferences and the Harvard Business School, just to name a few, showing how most reward extroverts over introverts.  She then deftly demonstrates what we as a culture have lost by failing to recognize the contributions of introverts.  The book finishes with advice for both introverts and the extroverts seeking to understand them.

A Canadian Summer

Loons calling, petals waving, fish nibbling, children casting, lake water lapping, branches sighing, grandparents smiling, wisteria climbing, berries ripening, cousins squealing, wood stacking, oars dipping, bald eagle swooping, marshmallows roasting, sun sinking, twilight lingering, flowers glowing, rocks gleaming, flies biting, stars blinking.

  

Surviving Summer With a Broken Arm

A broken arm in the middle of summer holidays is not a welcome event.  In addition to the initial physical pain there is the disappointment of interrupted plans.  Swimming, amusement parks, and sports leagues are all out, and even, in the case of our daughter, the cancellation of a week long youth group trip that involved construction work. The prospect of four weeks with a cast stretched out long and bleak ahead of us on day one of the accident.  

On Day 2, after a marathon session catching up on the entertaining series Poldark, S decided she had spent enough time watching television.  So we googled "stuff to do with a broken arm."  The wikihow list was the best, I thought.   We started to make a few plans.

Reflections from a Quiet House

The beds have been stripped, air mattresses deflated, the dining table reduced to a pitiful size, and the washing machine and dishwasher kept very busy after yet one more round of early morning good-byes. We should be good at this by now, I think, but the house seems strangely empty and quiet now that our visitors have departed for NYC.  Even as we joked with them over breakfast about the joys of departing house guests, I recognized that what I was feeling was not joy. It was that old familiar grief of saying good-bye.

Fourth of July Long Weekend

Fewer things are more American than baseball, at least that's what we decided when we came up with an itinerary for our Australian friends during their visit to Pittsburgh .  We checked the Pirates schedule, and happily discovered that not only were they home over the fourth of July, they were scheduled to play the Cleveland Indians, my childhood home team.  

A couple of hours before the game we headed up to Mt. Washington so that we could ride the Duquesne Incline.  The day was sunny and warm, but not too hot--perfect for spending time in the city.  We decided to check out the view from just above the incline before riding it. 

Fallingwater on the 3rd of July

We decided to take our Australian visitors to Fallingwater for their first official sightseeing jaunt in the Pittsburgh area.  Designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture."  It certainly is impressive, particularly when viewed from the vantage point in the photo above. 

Sightseeing always works better when hunger is taken out of the equation, at least in our family.  We started the day with classic American breakfast food, waffles and sausage.  By the time we reached Fallingwater (about a ninety minute drive from Pittsburgh into the scenic Laurel Highlands), it was time for lunch.  Following our mantra of "eat first, tour second," we stopped for a picnic lunch at the Fallingwater Barn.

Aussies in Pittsburgh

It's July, and once again, July for us means visitors from Australia.  After an unexpected (and most unwelcome) twelve hour delay in Los Angeles, our dear friends and former neighbors made their way to Pittsburgh at the start of this week.  It has been an absolute pleasure to welcome them to our neck of the woods and to begin to catch up on all we have missed over the past fourteen months.  

I have particularly enjoyed hearing their initial reactions to America.  I remember, with chagrin, all the times that we commented to them on differences we had noticed between our two countries.  We couldn't seem to help ourselves, even as we recognized the danger of boring them with a subject that was endlessly fascinating to us, newcomers to Australia that we were.  Now we get to play the reverse role.  "Why is it that Americans drink such terrible coffee?" they ask with bewilderment.  Or, "Americans really do seem to be more polite and friendly than we are."

Popping in to Say Hello

I am interrupting my un-planned hiatus from blogging to report that we are all alive and well.  If I was unprepared for the hectic pace of the last few weeks of school, I had even less ideas of what June would bring.  What a change from one year ago.  

One year ago, we were rattling around inside our house wondering exactly what to do with ourselves.  The calendar was mostly empty, and while we appreciated the summer weather on offer in Pittsburgh, we desperately missed our Melbourne life and friends.  We knew that a difficult year lay ahead.

The End of the School Year

The countdown has been on for several weeks in our house now, with always at least one person who knows the exact number of hours remaining until the beginning of summer vacation.  This is the first time I have experienced the "end-of-school" race in America, and I now can better appreciate Jen Hatmaker's viral post "Worst End of School Mom Ever."  Like Jen, I quit signing J's homework notebook in April and groaned inwardly each time a child came home with a new project.

Resurfacing: The One Year Mark (Part II)

Last week I began to write about our family's progress through the process of repatriation, particularly as we have passed the one year mark.  "It takes a year" is a motto that has sustained me through ten household moves spanning four countries and three continents.  This motto has proven to be remarkably accurate.  It has often happened that eleven months into living in a new location I feel that I have made little progress.  Despair sets in, but then, somehow, once I arrive at the magical one year marker, I discover that I have begun to think (happily) of this new place as home, and that I can in fact name a friend or two.

It would seem that the "It takes a year" formula does not necessarily apply to repatriation.  A few days ago, R forwarded me an article from the Wall Street Journal website titled "Repatriation Blues: Expats Struggle with the Dark Side of Coming Home."  It confirmed what we both had been thinking and feeling.  One of the returned expats quoted in the piece claimed it took her two full years to begin feeling like a human being again.  Another woman mentioned that ten years after her return, she still did not have a best friend.  Several mentioned the persistent sensation of not quite fitting in even though one's surroundings are familiar.  It is also hard to shake the sense of grief and loss, the ache for what once was, and will never be again.