ANOTHER ALPHABET CHALLENGE

An Antipodean Author Acts…

…on an appetizing photography challenge.

There are consequences for not reading your inbox mail from Medium:

• You miss wonderful stories from writers one subscribes to.
• You miss stories recommended by Medium and the chance to stumble across a new writer.
• You miss stories you’ve been kindly mentioned in.
• You miss stories you’ve been tagged in.
• You miss lovely comments from readers.
• You miss fun challenges.

I’m admitting to all of the above in the last two months. I have a pile of bolded emails glaring at me when I bravely log in to my email of late. It’s overwhelming how much one can miss if one takes time away from this hang-out joint for a few weeks.

I do NOT miss having an overloaded inbox!

When I feel like I’m losing a battle, especially one involving organization, I tend to work from the current moment and then head backwards. It saves my sanity.

That’s how I discovered JoAnn Ryan’s Alphabet challenge to kick off the new year in style for her ‘other’ pub, In Living Colour.

If you don’t know JoAnn, she rescued a travel pub from death, resurrecting Globetrotters with her talented editing team to be the go-to travel pub on Medium. I regularly post there and love the camaraderie in an increasingly popular community as we morph out of Covid hibernation.

Today, when scrolling through Medium during my lunch break, I read JoAnn’s Eating Apples and Avocadoes story and was instantly curious. Damn! I almost missed this alphabet challenge that is right up my writing alley.

I desperately need action on my Medium account: I’ve only written four stories in 12 days which is well below my usual average. As a rule, I’m always ambitious to accept anything when asked amicably, but lately have been AWOL — both in body and spirit.

Blame vacation for that; my first opportunity in three years to escape Down Under to see my family was amazing, but it required some time away from writing.

Advantageously, being in Australia and passing through Aotearoa — the Maori name for New Zealand — checked off some ‘A’ boxes to help me jump into this challenge.

Although I was only transiting through my amazing homeland, it was awesome to be amongst antipodeans fleetingly — even if it was from inside an airport.

When I left Montréal, I anticipated some angst with air travel; we’ve all heard the alarming accounts of ailing airlines axing flights altogether and abandoning aggravated passengers.

Yes, it happened to me, but arguably, atmospheric conditions were at aim rather than an airline — and I admit Air New Zealand was armed, ready, and astoundingly amicable.

Air Canada attracted some angst as travellers were abandoned in the same storm I flew into. They always apologize but then ‘up’ the antsy with their administrative adeptness to avoid compensating anyone, arguing aviation safety rules attributed to their actions.

A$%^hats!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Although Australia’s aircraft aren’t virginal, this particular one articulated airworthiness with its artistic ar$e. Perhaps this addles the mind enough to avoid seeing a no-smoking sign alight in the cabin advertising the aircraft’s age.

But — we did at least get from A to Z!

Anywhere I’ve been in Aussie, an attractive and accessible means of transportation are the many arteries of train tracks. Some of the stations in Sydney are ancient: the Museum one on the City Circle line opened in 1926!

Somewhat akin to the London underground, it has the air of age-old architecture.

An amusing sight in Perth was an automobile advertising safety…

Yeah, that’s reassuring!

Arachnoids and Arches

I absolutely have to mention arachnoids. If you have acquainted yourself with my antics, I’m averse to these creatures. Astoundingly, all my time in Aussie, I admired one who set up his abode adjacent to my Dad’s apartment alcove.

Taking advantage of a gust of wind, he attacked a leaf while agilely attaching himself to his alluring web: arches of artistically woven silk.

Speaking of arches, there were also some awesome examples in the famous architecturally ancient Queen Victoria Building, which is aboundingly blessed with attractive stained glass windows.

These astonishingly intricate windows are classic examples of the association between artistry and architecture. I’m in awe!

Art and Artichokes

My brother’s partner has added a new talent to her repertoire: painting.

Evi acquires a piece of ‘ atrocious art’ for less than it would cost to buy a fresh canvas. She then applies a basecoat of colour and aptly adds her awe-inspiring two cents worth.

Awesome!

Before I adjourn, I’ve one last pic: my fave, actually. It’s of an artichoke growing at Millbrook, a vineyard in Western Australia that uses its own home-grown products to source its restaurant.

I was honoured to have a guided tour of their garden after having what I consider the best meal I have ever had in my life.

If you are ever in that neck of the woods, you must go to Millbrook!

Thanks, JoAnn Ryan, for inspiring me to sort through my Aussie album once more to source photos for this A-1 challenge. I attempted to use as many a-words in my writing too :)

Now to find some B’s for the next one…