Back in Shepparton with my sister and her family for a few days. Today we took a day trip to Ruffy, a tiny town in the mountains south of here whose general store serves a mean lunch. It was charmingly countrified - except that all the yummy local products we enjoyed were available in well-designed jars and bottles, neatly arranged for sale just like the gourmet shops in Melbourne which are their main customers. My sister finds that Australians don't "do" rustic.The comet McNaught is lighting up the sky right now, the brightest comet seen in Australia in 40 years. (The picture is not mine, but could be.) It is definitely the longest tail I've ever seen. While I've no recollection of Hale-Bopp (which may or may not have taken along some folks from our California neighbor Rancho Santa Fe - remember Heaven's Gate?), I do recall being amazed at Halley's Comet (which we saw from the vineyards above Vienna). My sister remembers the same occasion without the amazement, so my memory may be embroidering. Or perhaps I was already embroidering the paisley-shape I'm remembering at the time!
