Friday, November 07, 2014

52 Author Dates ~ Week 43


Climb A Ferris Wheel

Melbourne Star
The last time I hopped on a ferris wheel with my Beloved, I wore a brand new diamond ring on my finger, a dozen of his kisses on my lips, and held a thousand bride-to-be hopes for our future.

Fast forward 25 years and we got to do it all again on my author date last week when we braved our very own Melbourne Star. 

Here’s some touristy stats we learned about Melbourne’s newest ferris wheel:

*It’s as tall as a 40 storey building
*Rotates very slowly ~ one revolution takes 25 minutes
*It’s one of 3 giant observation wheels in the world (After London and Singapore)
*All cabins are fully enclosed and air-conditioned 

Although each cabin fits 20 people, we had one to ourselves thanks to our quiet mid week date.  

Charged to consider how easy it is to stay in one fairly descriptive mode throughout my novels, this sky high challenge could only be about one thing. Perspective. The zooming in and out and focusing on something off centre from what’s happening in my immediate scene. The journey I need to take as a writer in and around my world. 

Melbourne Skyline

Well, there was a lot happening in the real world on this cosy coach ride that morning. Our focus went from inspecting the giant metal structure keeping us aloft and alive, to peering into the distance over 60 kms across the city, the bay and as far as the mountainous edges of our view.

Below us, shoppers gathered to hunt a find at the Harbour Town shopping outlets. But street life faded from view and a bigger picture emerged when the city sprawled before us. I pointed out looming buildings and sports fields that shrank by the minute and my Beloved turned me to see the bay beyond, hiding behind low cloud cover. Together we spotted the distant Mount Macedon to the west and Mount Dandenong in the east. Bookends for the city we call home, but never from this angle. 

By the time we’d reached the very top of the world, everything looked like one broad yet tiny landscape. More open than city-grid. More sky and sea. More of everything, except up there, in our cloud bubble, for a few rotating minutes the most in focus part of our world only held the two of us. The rest had become the fascinating, far off background. 

Unashamed Ferris Wheel Selfie

Zooming in and out of scenes encourages me as a writer to see details I may have missed. A stain on a character’s blouse she’s trying to hide, a poster on a railway station wall, the absent lace of a child’s boot. 

Zooming out might show me there’s a burglary taking place in the house next door, the street lamps might be lit, bar one, and someone might be stealing a kiss from his girl at the garden gate. Or from the top of a ferris wheel. 

When did you last ride a ferris wheel? 
What did you see?

Blessings for a wonderful weekend,