A dreaded sunny day

I was promised heron today and, by gum, I got heron! I wasn't sure that it was a real bird at first. Motionless, silhouetted in the later afternoon sun, perfectly poised on a low fieldstone pedestal in the middle of a pond, it had me asking myself, Could the cemetery owners have installed a bronze sculpture over the past year? Finally, I found a branch big enough to make a splash. It turned its head in my direction, plunged into the water, turned around, and immediately remounted the stones. I was just trying to decipher the point of these actions when I spotted the tail end of the fish disappearing down its gullet.

bunj and I had rescheduled our maiden voyage for this afternoon, but he called while I was napping and apologetically told me the swollen river was overmatched with our canoeing skills. As much as I was terribly curious to see the river in flood stage, I was concerned about fallen trees, hidden snags, and other obstacles. I briefly considered a walk along the Lake, but then I checked my Chinese calendar to determine the date of the Autumn Moon Festival and realised that tomorrow is the lunar date of Ullambana, the Buddhist All Souls. The only Asian cemetery I know of is in Rosehill, so I made that my destination.

I was curious to inspect the damage anyway since my drive-by on Friday afternoon didn't reveal much. From what I had seen then, there were only a few broken limbs and this was confirmed by a stroll from the eastern entrance to the southwest corner and back. Unfortunately, I hadn't budgeted sufficiently for the walk--it's about a 25-minute walk either way--and also forgot how late they closed and got back to find the front gate locked. Praying that there was someone around, I turned toward the office and was met at the door by a genial middle-aged man who was completely understanding. "I was staying late to do some paperwork," he explained. "I can let you out."