Counting Parrots and Peas

Parrots

While we waited rather impatiently for work to turn up, or more accurately, for our many applications to transform into something remotely resembling a job, we spent a lot of time twiddling our thumbs, sitting out on the balcony, watching the peas poke their little heads through the soil in the tubs, and counting the parrots who flocked to feed on sugar and water put out by our neighbours opposite. 

I patiently studied the peas as they popped out of the soil one by one.  Within about a week almost all of them had emerged, despite the fact that we were in the middle of winter and our little balcony had little direct sunlight..

And on one occasion as I sat outside watching the parrots congregate across the street I counted fifty, yes fifty, parrots arrive in the garden, shrieking and squawking and flapping about while they fed on the sugar and water mixture, a substitute of their preferred nectar.

Other than that we were bored rigid.  Chores like shopping and laundry were becoming highlights in our existence which was akin to our perception of what limbo would actually be like.  We tried to venture out at least once a day but as the days turned into weeks with our future looking more and more bleak and uncertain, we could feel ourselves slipping into a pit of despair.

...more parrots

We felt suspended from reality; we certainly weren’t living any sort of life and although Melbourne is a lovely city we were in no position to enjoy its many delights.  We felt that we were simply eking out an existence. 

The TV turned out to be a good investment.  I would watch an episode of Frasier during the day but otherwise we would lounge around the apartment in the quiet; Paul would read the papers and I would lose myself in fiction until dusk when we would draw the blinds and turn on the news followed by episodes or Doctor Who or Torchwood or some other welcome escape from our tedious life, and a pleasant reminder of home.

Once, we forced ourselves to watch an episode of Skippy, my enduring childhood idea of Australia where kangaroos were cute and intelligent, and everyone lived on a range in the outback.  A single episode was all we could endure as the acting was terrible (including Skippy who is technically not a kangaroo but a grey wallaby) and the accents were to our surprise mainly upper class British which was all a bit odd.  It provided 30 minutes of entertainment nevertheless.

Our thriving peas

Paul watched the cricket which was a welcome distraction and he stayed up late to watch most of what turned out to be an exciting first Ashes test (allegedly).   I feigned interest before toddling off to bed at a reasonable hour leaving him in peace rather than ask what to him were inane questions demonstrating a heathen-like ignorance of the glorious game.

Generally, however, it felt our days were being passed in an alternative dimension.  We couldn’t go out and spend any money of course as that would be entirely reckless and lead to destitution so much more quickly.  Free pursuits, such as walking along the beach, held no attraction as we were finding it increasingly difficult to relax, both experiencing of knots of anxiety which both kept us awake and prevented enjoyment of any activity unless it was related to securing employment.

We were up early, drinking coffee on the balcony before our neighbours went to work (they don’t know how lucky they are).  We would spend the morning taking turns on the laptop routinely checking our respective jobsites on the internet, responding to those that we felt we had a hope of getting to the next stage although clearly the odds were against us.

...and more peas

We would wander down to the shops in the afternoon to pick up a few groceries (checking the reduced section for bargains) and pick up the papers for Paul to spend the day devouring.  At the most this would pass an hour of our time before we found ourselves back at the apartment watching our peas grow and the parrots scrapping and squawking across the way.

None of our attempts to pass the time could force the increasingly worrying thoughts from our minds.  At the beginning of July we sat down and spoke about our options.  We were no closer to finding work and the time had come to face reality and make some difficult decisions.

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