Many Happy Returns

Don’t be fooled: This post has absolutely nothing to do with birthdays. It’s about doing things again for the first time in a while.

The whole day was a series of events reminding me of the past.

We started by cleaning the estate garden. We live in what is basically a retirement village that has cheap management fees, and they’re cheap because residents have to keep the common gardens and grounds maintained.

When the cleaning was over, it was back on the bike.

And I was back with a camera bag on my back for the first time in many years.

I had a delightful ride up to the end of the Tama River cycling road, turned onto the road and then got back on a bike track along the Aki River.

The first time I went up river on a bike about seven years ago, I took the Aki River bike path, but this has been closed for many years. I didn’t know it had re-opened, so it was a pleasant surprise to ride along the path today.

I used Nikon SnapBridge to send photos to my phone and PC for the first time in at least five years.

And I was glad to get back home, with our dinosaur delighted that I had returned, too.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

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    豪キャブラリー： Shutyergob

    厳しい世の中ではおとなしくしていると損する場合があるが、喋りすぎても良くないことも招くことがある。多くの国々同様、オーストラリアでも恰好を付ける人々はあまり高く評価されず、そういう人たちが何か話そうとすると「shutyergob」と言われる可能性が高いだろう。Shutyergobは、実をいうと、shut your gobの「融合言葉」だ。Shutは閉じるでしょう。そしてyourは当然「あなたの」。また、Gobは口なので、直訳すると日本語ではこの豪キャブラリーが「口を閉じろ！」という意味だ。　

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    Grand Final (Granny)

    　オーストラリアは、とにかくスポーツ好きの国。そのシーズンの王者を決める究極の一戦は、たいてい『グランドファイナル』だ。ストライン（オージー英語）でこれ以上ド真ん中の呼び名はない。要するに、その年の最強クラブやチームを決める試合のこと。 Australia is a sport-loving country, possibly more than most. And the ultimate game that decides a champion in Australian sports is almost invariably the grand final. Real Strine could give no other fair dinkum name to a grand final, which is the match that determines the best club or team for its particular season, though we do sometimes refer to the match as the “granny,” too. なかでも一番有名なのが、毎年9月の最終土曜日にメルボルン・クリケット・グラウンドで行われる、オーストラリアン・フットボール・リーグのグランドファイナル。勝ったチームは実質「世界王者」なんだけど、オージーは控えめだから、そんな呼び方はしない。 The most notable grand final of Australian sports is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, usually on the last Saturday in September, to determine the premiership team of the Australian Football League. The winners of that match are the world champions, but…

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