While this sort of post is not what I originally intended for this blog (and indeed is not something I will indulge in too much), I have to acknowledge a rite of passage that my younger daughter is about to embark on. She leaves Australia tomorrow morning for Lexington, Michigan on the shores of Lake Huron, to spend ten weeks as a camp counsellor, and then a bit of touring on the west side of the country. As a parent, this is the sort of adventure that scares the bejesus out of you, while filling you with all sorts of inordinate (and probably misplaced) pride that you’ve somehow managed to raise a kid who is willing and able to take this sort of thing on. Fortunately we’ve been working up to this – last December the older daughter spent a month in Costa Rica with International Student Volunteers, so we’ve been softened up. While it is significant from a personal perspective, it is also encouraging that despite terrorism and drug smuggling scares (Schapelle Corby, anyone?) young people are still sufficiently driven by freedom to explore the world and their place in it.
I’ll look forward to her email and phone calls with bated breath all the same …
