The Barefoot Healer

Yesterday was my 50th birthday... And it was pretty bad, (My facebook page doesn't have my real birthdate on it, in case your wondering why you didn't see it....) Its such a weird thing this facebook...millions of people reaching out to connect and posting about their daily lives to do so...yet what we share is such a filtered edited version of what we really feel and think. Happy bright photos of accomplishments, anniversary presents from caring spouses, clever things our kids have done and for the main part, the only dark bits we share are of wars in Syria and political disasters. Pain a few times removed from the personal. Facebook, the ultimate social network, is ironically full of clever memes about the importance of learning to love yourself and your own company.  And personally, I think it's a crock of shit. I've been posting about my wonderful adventures as a traveling perfumer and artist for months...and it dawned on my last night that I've ...

Like many women, I have children to two different men. And I have dated and been in relationships with men who have children with previous partners. It seems to be the modern pattern, and the older we get, the more you can pretty much guarantee that blended families are going to be part of any dating scenario, with all the potential pittfalls and challenges that brings. One of the pittfalls is that, in Australia, the men get screwed in the scenarios. Its one of the few areas in our misogynistic society that seems to be totally rigged towards the mothers. Yes, I hear many you out there crying out about deadbeat Dads who don't pay child support or spend any time with their children. But there is a whole side to the story. And a whole group of caring loyal men who really love their kids and want to be part of their lives. I've seen it happen to two of my partners now, as well as to other close male friends. All of these guys are basically decent, caring human beings. An...

Back in the outback to work as a remote area nurse....This time in Papunya Central Australia. Due to the usual communication fuck up between the agency and the clinics, I've ended up being driven out on a friday morning, to do a few hours of orientation tot he new clinic and then sit in my little 1950's broken motel style flat behind the barbed wire fence twiddling my thumbs for the weekend. It started the usual way. The agency rang me and asked if I'd be willing to go out to Mt Liebig to work for 10 days, to replace one of the RAN's who needed to come into town for a courtcase. So I said, yeah sure! Cool, the agency rep said, I'll just send you a little bit of paI spent the next 2 days filling out this paperwork. And packing. Including 2 big boxes of staples and two freezer bags full of meat and fruit and veges. And 12 large bottles of filtered water. The food because though each community has a small local shop, the range available and the prices ar...