Anzac Day 2007

I will confess to not attending the dawn service in person today. I watched the televised one instead. Then I spent the next two hours watching the documentary Revealing Gallipoli. It was eye-opening and moving. It is also a reminder of what bloody useless decision-making in high places can end up doing to ordinary people all over the world.

I wrote a small piece about Anzac Day last year and mentioned Wilfred Owen's poetry and I added links to what I think of as his most evocative poems.
I thought I would reproduce Futility to mark this year's service.

Futility

Move him into the sun-
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds-
Woke once the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides
Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
-O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?

- Wilfred Owen

And to close, the fourth verse of 'For the Fallen':

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

We shouldn't forget what others have suffered and for what reasons, it can only lead to self-absorption and mistakes repeated time and again. (Okay, so I am fighting against multiple millennia of ingrained and documented human stupidity with that statement, but you need to have hope.)

Lest we forget.

Roosters, Goats and Pigs

No I am not talking about the barnyard, although it is understandable if you thought I was. I do have a question for you though.

Q. What do you get when you cross a rooster with a goat?
A. A pig

Now don't think I've strolled off into the world of the white huggy jackets and padded rooms. I am in fact talking about the Chinese Zodiac.
No, I'm not big on horoscopes other than for the fun of reading my supposed characteristics. I don't run my life based on the newspaper's future predictions for the sign of the Bull (or if I could read the local Chinese newspapers, the sign of the Rooster).

But every now and then I like to take a look and have a laugh.
I thought I would share some family member's characteristics.

Mrs Ohwailywaily is an Earth Rooster.
Mr Ohwailywaily is a Fire Goat (or Sheep).
Miss Ohwailywaily will be a Fire Pig.

So here is what you supposedly can expect us to be like.

Earth Rooster
The Earth Rooster epitomizes the very essence of one of Robert Browning's most popular poems, "Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be." Despite early adversity and rough times, their philosophical bent has led them to expect and therefore to achieve the good life. They have a very analytical way of looking at problems and they can pierce the most daunting of tasks with utmost efficiency. With saint-like patience, they are consistent in everything they do and always answer to their own counsel, which hasn't failed them yet. As a result, their careers are forever anchored in smooth sailing, and as life passes, they will know peace, abundance, and complete fulfillment. The same goes for their love life. There are difficulties at the very beginning but as time goes by, they understand each other perfectly, and receive "the best" love has to offer.

Fire Lamb/Goat
Nary a cantankerous bone in the Fire Lamb's body. Their lives are filled with laughter, giggles, and fun surprises. The Fire Lamb possesses an unusual combination of traits of the introvert and extrovert. Thoroughly enjoying their own company, they relish solitude but also thoroughly enjoy the companionship of others. They exude such warmth and energy, people naturally gravitate to them, while respecting their needs for privacy. Straightforward in all their dealings with people, Fire Lambs show sublime kindness because they know every person they meet is facing a difficult battle. Courageous under fire, Fire Lambs realize they need to make big changes to banish the many obstacles that stand in their way. For instance, they do not experience a smooth-sailing career. When something turns bad, Fire Lambs have to persevere to make turnarounds, and they do just that. Financial fortune peaks in middle age, but the Fire Lamb has to be careful to make that fortune last way into the autumn and winter of life, or else! But, oh my, do Fire Lambs ever experience good fortune when it comes to Love! Mama mia! Affectionate, loving, and passionate, they never part from their loved ones without loving words because they realize they might be their last. Every day is living poetry!

Fire Pig
Bold and adventurous, the captivating Fire Pig makes a big splash in living technicolor. This Pig is a Big Time Operator who makes things happen through his clever wit and well-rounded talents. They never rest on their laurels because they have an insatiable thirst for power. They know that once they sit still, someone will pass them by. Like the ultimate agricultural expert, Fire Pigs plan, plant the seeds, cultivate, and reap a big harvest, no matter what projects they pursue. They have every right to be proud as punch at having such a successful career and financial status. They can tumble, too -- also big time, but they get right back up and try again. In the Hugs and Kisses Department, let's just say that the Fire Pigs are really quite lucky! It's true that they have to work pretty hard to get something in return, but oh my, don't they receive big dividends. Lucky in love. Lucky in life.

So there is the Ohwailywaily family, courtesy of tuvy.com, feel free to see what the Chinese Zodiac says about you and report back.

A page for the baby

I have added a new page to the blog about baby stuff for those who may be interested.

I found a ticker for the countdown to arrival date for Miss Ohwailywaily that I like, so have put that on this page. It should update the count every day and the developmental details once a week.

As I have more *permanent* stuff to say, I will add it there.
So look out for comments and links to what we chose on the equipment front, and also some still images from the Anatomy scan DVD that we went to a few weeks back now.

Have you ever been a pincushion?

No?

Well you can't have been pregnant then!
Gush all you want at the concept of "oooh, the baby's kicking" until you have stray elbows, knees, feet, head and hands prodding, poking and generally stabbing at you from the inside. Then lets see how cutesy it is!

Okay, so it is cutesy. But not all the time and not just when you thought you had managed to get into a comfortable sleeping position.

For those first timers (like me) it becomes an interesting intellectual challenge to actually spot the first obvious movement. Was that gas? Is that just my lunch moving along?
Ooops, sorry. I should have warned you. Becoming pregnant has pretty much disintegrated any barrier to discussing bodily function, of any kind. I didn't think I'd end up being like this - can I blame the hormones please?

Anyway, back to the stray elbows...
Our first sighting of Miss OhWailyWaily was at about 12 to 13 weeks, where I christened her "Bounce". I know it's not a gushy motherly nickname for a baby, but it was very, very descriptive. When you are that tiny, with that much space, it is very easy to put on a miniature Cirque du Soleil performance for the ultrasound. And she did.
Now as space is getting tighter, she still feels the need to perform acrobatics while she can. Unfortunately for me this often occurs around bedtime, and she is apparently not quite as agile in a smaller environment - hence the elbow to my side and the foot to my bladder.

I am also becoming convinced that the odd poke and prod is designed specifically to get me to change my position so that she can have more room. Either that or she is practicing her trampoline routine using my insides for the purpose.

I am reliably informed that this will only get worse as she gets bigger. Oh Joy!
And, being the bookworm that I am, I have also read that an energetic baby can manage to crack your ribs with a well timed and placed kick.
Did I mention that Madam is energetic and proddy? Hmm, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my innards to make it through in one piece.

So the next time someone tells you their baby is kicking, feel free to be gushy but keep a faded and slightly ghostly image of the Alien trying to emerge from John Hurt's stomach in the back of your mind.

Welcome to the Motherhood !

;)