of flowers and footy

Well everyone, its Bill and I am back by popular demand, or at least at my mom's insistence.  Well its finally spring time here in the antipodes.  The temperature in now over the legal drinking age, the cherry blossoms are in riotous bloom,  and the house is filled with the sounds of cleaning and preparation for summer.   Stephanie has put me to work installing screens on the windows, all 19 of them.  When that is done I get to raise the washer and dryer 14 centimeters on a platform yet to be constructed.  And then to the gardening.  Stephanie and I have big plans  for the back patio and the side yard.  We hope to create an out door dining and barbecue area.  

One thing this time of year always has regardless of whether summer is coming or going is Sports!  Fall is the season of baseball play offs and football back home.  Spring here is the season of footie finals!  By footie the Aussies mean just about every team sport that is played on grass.  Aussies seem to inherently know what sport other Aussies are referring to when the word footy is bandied about.  But god help the yank who confuses Aussie rules football, rugby union, rugby league, and soccer.    Rugby is perhaps the most confusing.  There are two different versions!  Rugby Union is the version most people have watched in complete confusion and with a dash of awe.  It is a game of field possession and controlling the ball.  Rugby League is considered by many as the poor man's rugby union. its a game started by the working classes.  It is a game of speed and ball movement.  I guess the difference in American terms is rugby union is a game for full backs and tight end and defensive line men, while rugby league is full of running backs line backers and wide receivers.

This year we are being treated to a special event in the rugby world.  The Rugby World Cup in being hosted by new Zealand.  No small feat for the Kiwis considering the host city of Christchurch was pancaked by a massive earthquake.   Parts of the city are still off limits because the buildings are still unsafe and power has not been restored.  The New Zealanders pulled together and have spread the games around the entire country.   It has been fun learning about the intricacies of rugby and following the the american eagles as the US rugby squad goes by, play their amateur hearts around against the powerhouses of the rugby world.  Next weekend they are going to  play the Aussies which should be interesting to say the least because the winner advances to the next stage.  I am more concerned the wallabies are not just going tho win but beat the Americans but assert their dominance as if we were a poor latin american nation.

I haven't even tried to explain Aussie rules to you all yet which is an allegory for Australia culture and history. but I will leave that tale for another day.  Until then keep your mauls moving forward your rucks honest and your scrums clean.