Forgive us, but today we (by which I mean “I,” that is, TP) will indulge in some sappy reminiscing. The other night I had dinner at the home of Andrew MacIntyre, who’s probably been the most important advocate that I have. It turns out that almost exactly five years ago, we were at his house for another dinner during our honeymoon. It reminded us that during our honeymoon we were both more than a little nervous about what would happen to us after graduate school. You know, actually going out to get a job. At one point (we believe it was on Magnetic Island) JMP asked me what the best possible outcome would be for us in terms of careers and lifestyles and stuff. I said–this is absolutely true–that without a doubt, the best outcome would be for us to end up at Cornell. Now, it turns out that we had to apply twice to make it work, but looking back now, it’s actually worked out much better than we could have ever hoped. Now we’re back at ANU, seeing the same colleagues, but no longer nervous grad students, and with a kid. Heavy.

So, to celebrate, today we drove up to Tidbinbilla, which is a kind of nature preserve in the foothills of the Australian Alps. On the way, we saw almost every relevant Australian animal, and in the wild–kangaroos, wallabies, emus, koalas, platypuses, a dingo, and a wombat (this one, though, only in roadkill format). I think the only good ones we missed were the echidna and Tasmanian devil.

If You Look Closely, You Can See Emus