Feeling Clever

I'm feeling clever tonight for two reasons. One is that I had to go to Sydney on Thursday for work, and thus missed most of a 41 degree day in Melbourne. And the other is that I didn't have to go to Sydney on Friday and thus missed entirely a 45.8 degree day there. For everyone in Sydney, my deepest deepest sympathies. That is a ridiculous temperature.

On the day that was not 45.8 degrees in Melbourne, we headed to the McClelland Sculpture Garden. I got the idea from Suse who had mentioned it in this post. I can't believe I've lived nearly all my life in Melbourne and have never been. It is a fantastic place to go with kids. We spent 4 hours there, including a picnic lunch, and didn't see it all. We had to leave eventually as the kids were tiring and Lily was refusing to walk any further.

At every turn there was something to surprise or confound or delight. The kids said more than once 'it just keeps getting better and better'. They were particularly taken with a working traffic light stranded on a bitumen island in the middle of the bush.  The red man laughing at the pig is enormous, as is the sea urchin of recycled bike tyres.  The yarn tree provided a place to rest and ponder just when we needed it.   It is lovely to watch kids around sculpture;  they respond so naturally, without analysis or artifice.  The day was hot and cold and wet and sunny.  Typical Melbourne day.