Meadow’s Musings: Meadow Martell

I love this time of the year. May is likely named after the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants. Everything is so green and colorful. The pink and white dogwood trees in full bloom seem exceptionally beautiful. Of course, the grass is loving it too so that means mowing.
In addition to the good weather, there are lots of good things happening in our community. The Friday Farmers’ Market is open for the season. Good food, good music and a good time to visit friends.
The main building at I.V. Hope Village is pretty much complete. The slabs are poured and ready to start building 16 transitional homes. I.V Living Solutions is sponsoring a funding campaign for transitional homes. You can be a big help in this process to create lasting change in the Illinois Valley by sponsoring one of the homes. If you have questions or would like to contribute, please call 971-415-0281.
I am heading to Townsville, Australia to visit my daughter, Cara Rose for about a month. Rose (which she prefers) went there 10 years ago to attend the nursing school one of her teachers recommended when all the nursing schools in Oregon were full. It is now her home.
Townsville is on the northeastern coast of the state of Queensland on the Coral sea, an embayment of the southwestern Pacific Ocean. This area is the wettest and most tropical part of the continent. I fly into Brisbane, the capital, and take a hopper to Townsville because it is a four-hour drive one way. I have done that drive one time and you get a real sense of the vast and open spaciousness of this part of Australia.
May in the southern hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa. In Townsville that means it is about 68 degrees Fahrenheit; not too bad. Queensland is the second largest of Australia’s states and occupies nearly one-fourth of the continent. The state is more than twice the size of the U.S. state of Texas and seven times larger than the United Kingdom. In terms of land occupancy, Queensland is indeed Australia’s largest state.
You won’t be hearing from me for about a month while I’m visiting Rose, but I am sure I will come back home with some interesting stories.