The Bats Go Hunting

I popped over to my new house this evening. I was on call all weekend, and tied to home, so I thought I'd take a look at the new place at the end of the day, take a few things over, and enjoy some time on the deck. Somehow, I managed to catch the sunset and gloaming. It was very peaceful.

While I was sitting back, I looked up through the trees to see the bats go hunting. Wembley park abutts the rear of the property, and there's a drain running through the center of it, heading down toward the Brisbane River. As I looked up at the clouds underlit by the sunset, I saw hundreds of bats flapping their way from some roost to go feeding. They all seemed to have half meter wingspans and were very well fed. I hope I get to see lots of their flights; this one had an eerie beauty to it. I'm certainly grateful they're flying about the park; I'm sure it keeps the insect population under control.

I also discovered an interesting and hopefully useful little web app called Twitter. It lets me post short blurbs about what I'm doing. It only takes a maximum of 140 characters at a time, and the interface is really simple. So, for now, I've taken to providing regular updates. It works fairly well with the blog. You'll see my entries in the upper right hand of the navigation bar on the right of the main posts. Let me know if this is interesting. Depending on circumstances, I might keep it up. Or, it may just be another flash in the pan. Guess we'll see!

It's cooling down a bit in Brisbane, as the summer wanes. It's now typically 25-28C during the day. At night, it's been getting down to 17-18C. Surprisingly, the night feels a bit chilly. There was a week or so there that felt really cold at night, cold enough to sleep with a light blanket on. Usually, I've been so warm that a thin cotton sheet has felt like almost too much. Those days are coming to a close.

I still have a lot of details to work out to really move into my new place. Utilities to get transferred, furniture and clothes and books to move and organize, and a whole new set of furniture to find. I'll go out shopping for the house next weekend. I couldn't this past weekend since I was on call. But, I'm only backup next weekend, so I can start shopping and moving for real. One of the first things I plan to get is a table and chairs for the deck, and some garden tools. The hedges need trimming, as do the trees and bushes. As for the deck, since I plan to spend a lot of time out there, I want a nice comfortable set of chairs and a good table to enjoy.

I also plan to get a nice gas grill so I can finally get back to grilling my food. Back in San Francisco, I bought a portable Coleman grill and used it almost all the time, rain or shine. It only took an hour or so on Sunday to grill up meats for the week, and any time I wanted some veggies, it took 15 minutes to have freshly grilled peppers, zucchini, and asparagus. Easy, healthy, and fast: gas grilling is a great way to cook. Just up the street from the house is an organic butcher, so I plan on visiting the shop on a regular basis for some good cuts of meat. Next, I have to find a good seafood shop, a deli, and a place for fresh vegetables near the house, and I should be good.

Anyway, lots of things to do to get fully moved in. I'm looking forward to all the great new places I'll find. But, most importantly, I am so looking forward to the relative peace and quiet in the new home. I'm so sick and tired of the constant fan noise from the buildings adjoining my high rise flat. It will probably take me weeks to get used to the quiet, but that's something I'm looking forward to. I've already seen more stars at night in the new place than I've ever seen from the flat. It's not quite the same as being out in the bush, which is really spectacular, but it's still quite an amazing difference. Truly, "the stars be strange" here in Australia.