ON MY BALCONY

We have a balcony that runs along the front of the house and along the Southern side. It really is quite a tranquil place to go and sit. There are trees all around - not like a dense jungle but not at all like the tree-sparse suburbias back home. Many, like the coconut palms and a gigantic bamboo, tower higher than our house. The towering jackfruit tree has a couple of jackfruit on it, huge, green, foot-ball shaped fruit (and by football, of course I mean the proper kind, AFL). We saw a woodpecker in there the other day. As far as bird jobs go, I don't think wood-pecking looks like much fun. Other trees are a little shorter with enormous, broad leaves. I think I could use a leaf from a banana tree as a beach towel! Little white moths scamper between the trees. The top of the mango tree in our front yard can just be seen peeking over the top of the balustrade. Closer to the ground are palms, conifers and various others.

We are surrounded by houses on all sides except for a small plot of land in front of our house, which our long stretch of driveway runs through. This means that from my balcony I can see into five different yards; including the second balcony makes it six. Yes, I suppose this does kind of make me sound like a bit of a peeping Tom, but I don't actually sit out here spying on everyone! (What do you take me for?). The two we can see into best are to the left and the right. The property to the right belongs to another two-storey house. It has a massive back yard, presided over by a dobermann. In the centre is a cage that, I'm pretty sure, is used for housing dogs but, thankfully, he never seems to be in it. The yard is grassed and has numerous trees.

The yard I like best, though, is to the left and seems to belong to two single-storey houses. It is small and has no grass, just a dirt floor. A couple of lean-tos lean (as a lean-to would tend to do) against our adjoining wall and an outhouse sits in the corner. In the centre of the yard is a pile of wood - for fires I suppose. This yard has fewer trees - a jackfruit, a couple of banana trees and a palm. Numerous cats spend their days in this yard - full grown cats and various sizes of playful kittens. Sometimes they sit non-chalantly as the crows eat out of their bowls, or make themselves at home atop the wood pile. Other days they are more active and will climb trees or prowl along the garden walls. I enjoy watching the wide-eyed kittens pounce and frisk.

The sounds around fill the sky with a lullaby. The leaves around whisper to each other as the trees rock gently in the slow breeze. The incessant call of the crows is neither loud nor obnoxious, but slightly lulling and every now and again you will hear the wing-beat of a passing bird. In the distance a rooster crows. Behind it all the hum of traffic and the beeping of horns can be faintly heard and it is difficult to believe that the main road with all of it's chaos is only one house behind us. The air seems thicker here and sounds seem to travel quite differently. Sometimes a plane may fly overhead and there have been one or two times when the neighbourhood dogs have barked ALL night (usually if unsettled by firecrackers) but mostly my balcony is a peaceful place. In fact, I had better stop now. I'm getting dozy just thinking about it.