80 Mph

[Evil Hobgoblin]

... was my cruising speed of choice. :) I sped and I got the family farther than my dad did. Of course, most of the driving was spent in the late night/early morning hours when no one's on the road... but I still got us farther.

So, yeah, the reason we were travelling. Lost a mate on walkabout recently. My cousin Joe did some studying abroad in Australia. He finished up and decided to stop by Fiji and Bali before coming back home.

That's right, I said Bali. Joe died in the terrorist bombing there, back in October. His birthday was that month, and he would've been 24. Ironic, isn't it? "Well, whatever you need, we've got your backs" I said to Marcus when I heard that happened. Wouldn't have connected it to Joe in a million years.

Back to the trip thing. So, the fam collected in Orlando for a huge Thanksgiving on Thursday. Friday, we went to a memorial service for Joe. I didn't think I was going to cry, but I did. I had tears and snot all mixed together on my nose. Fortunately, there were tissues or no one would've shaken my hand the entire time.

So, here I am back again, telling you guys what I did on my Thanksgiving holiday. I'm not trying to depress you even though this kind of news is pretty damn depressing. But yeah, that's been on my mind for about a month. The grief is done, the healing begun, and if I've managed to offend anybody during the last month or so because of extended absence, or some odd mood swing I had, this is my form of explanation and apology. I don't think I've upset anybody for those reasons (others perhaps, but not those), but I felt it necessary to say something regardless.

Now... I have some threads to get to. And if you're of a mind, you can meet me by the billabong, where old Matilda is still waltzing.... :)

[imported_Grev Drasen]

There is probably not much I can say to ease your mood at the moment, so all I can do is offer my condolence for yourself and family. I feel stupid now for even IMing you, but I hope everything works out for you and your family.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Unfortunantly this song means a lot in Australia right now. Mainly cause I cn see it happening all over again. That was the curse of Bali - just a buch of guys and girls with backpacks, killed senselessly.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me <smallfont color={hovercolor}>-Censored-</smallfont><smallfont color={hovercolor}>-Censored-</smallfont><smallfont color={hovercolor}>-Censored-</smallfont><smallfont color={hovercolor}>-Censored-</smallfont> over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?