We arrive in Cygnet to balmy weather and enjoy an evening stroll around the Quay.
Feels like you could cut the air with a knife!
Morris the resident wombat is in a festive mood.
It's pool time...one happy chappy..
Sunday and we wander down to the Opera House at 6.30am..beautiful morning light
Sets from last night's La Boheme..
Now this is a room with a view
Great experience...followed by breakie at the Opera Kitchen..
I find a Vinnies and enjoy a rummage through their clothes.
John ends up buying a number of shirts..
Then we head to Leichhardt...and oh look...a bookshop!!
Affogatos and Gelato before heading to the airport.
but I notice something is wrong.. Beautiful Nerissa from Lotus is being held in a long long embrace just outside our window... and the look of deep concern is clearly on the faces of the two friends who hold her.
I watch and wait ..then see Nerissa standing bereft and weeping..I go and hold her for awhile..then ask what has happened..
Giselle has left us...gone in the most tragic of circumstances
There are no words..
Matthew expresses what we all feel...
This week, Cygnet lost a
daughter. A woman of stature. Giselle Benton didn’t just cook at The Lotus
Eaters, she was part of our lives.
What do you say about someone
who you didn’t really know, but you loved all the same? A person whose presence
behind the stove was as reassuring as a calm hand on the back of your neck? A
woman who wasn’t the centre of the attention, but created a place that became a
centre of your community?
This week we lost someone more
than just the pan rattler at the local caff. We lost an artist with the camera.
An angel with the oven. A funny, spirited, opinionated woman whose politics was
as personal as her menu. A friend to our dog, our child, our friends. The
hairdresser grew vegetables for Giselle and her partner Alex at The Lotus
Eaters. Locals sold their meat, or greens or fruit to the place, often as much
for the sense of belonging as the cash it brought in. Friends worked there,
possibly for the money in hard times. Probably for the companionship. For the
laughs. Because for some of us, we were drawn to the quirky, singular,
wonderful, predictably unpredictable world created in our little village by
Giselle and Alex.
I always felt better for
dropping by and seeing Giselle at her work. I went for coffee, for cake, for
lunch sometimes. At least I thought I did. I really went for that sense of
belonging. For a familiar face. A team of virtually all women who brought
simple pleasure to the rough apple box tables. The food, where so much today is
cookie cutter and formulaic, has always been imbued with the passion of the
cooks. The curries weren’t always authentic to any particular Asian nation, the
pizzas weren’t Italian. This was Cygnet food that was always crafted and tested
and tasted along the way. Cooking from the heart that has never failed to
astound. A rare treat in a homogenised world.
For many of us, Giselle was
only seen at work. She didn’t socialise freely in other places. She kept her
own company, and that of her dogs and partner and close mates. She worked
enormous hours, with enormous talent. And her going has left an enormous hole
with ripples felt far and wide by the people we hold dear.
We didn’t just lose part of the
soul of our community. We lost part of the heart, and lungs and mind of Cygnet.
When someone dies, especially in a close knit society, grief is like a blow to
the chest. It sucks out air and unsteadies your gate. It’s a reminder that no
matter how remarkable, how permanent, how unique things may seem, all things
must change. And now we face a future without someone who helped make Cygnet a
special place for so many of us.
I will
remember Giselle’s time in our lives with great joy, but with one wrenching
regret. I don’t think I ever really told her anything I have just written.
I will miss seeing Giselle taking a break out the side next to Tom's bedroom window.
Rest in Peace gentle Giselle
The town rallies together..people are stopping in the street to embrace and care for one another.
A condolence book and flowers are placed in the street..
The Lotus women come together on Tuesday morning to begin prep-ing for opening during Folk Festival..the work is sustaining them..
There is continual support pouring in from all avenues of the Community.
As the week progresses more Festival goers arrive in town.
It is hard to feel the usual joy this year..
Thomas enjoys some minecraft time...made even better with an enormous wheel of brie to munch through..
We set up some boxes of free books to get into the Festival spirit..they are disappearing...nice
Great job boys!! Will be nice and dry by winter..
I take a walk around town early when all is calm and quiet...things will rev up today for Festival opening tonight.
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