Memories seem to attach themselves to certain places.
When I think back on my years in Australia, I invariably wind up at the farm
at Barwon Downs, a weekend getaway owned by John and Janet, Graeme’s
brother and sister-in-law, who made it freely available to the rest of the family.
Lying in western Victoria, two hours outside of Melbourne, it had a 100-year old farmhouse set in the middle of 60 hectares, where we spent many weekends.
A place I remember of immense solitudes, with equal parts intimacy.
I especially enjoyed the winter months there, when storms would roll across the flat landscape while we were tucked away inside: a fire going, a crock pot of savory something cooking, both of us in our books, listening to the thunder rumbling overhead and the rain pinging on the metal roof.
It’s where I did much of my early writing on The Legacy of Emily Hargraves and Tales of Tokyo, when they were both still sprawling stories, threatening to go nowhere.
[First posted: October 27, 2013]
