April Comes but Once a Year (and I’m glad)

There is something about April. I have developed a love-hate relationship with April: more hate than love lately.

It is always a strange time of year in my part of the world. The weather doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do in April. Some days, it is hanging onto a summer gone, and other days, it tries to prepare us for the winter to come.

This year, April began with unusually hot weather in Perth. April ended a ten-day heat wave with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius. It was the longest such spell in forty years. It followed the longest dry spell in forty years, lasting over five months without rain.

"What is it about this forty-year cycle," I found myself asking the TV?

No response.

I actually like the fickle weather in April. I am not a person who enjoys hot weather, so I look forward to the crisp mornings of April. I also love the rain, and I eagerly await the arrival of those April showers. They are promised to start next week, albeit not enough to wet anyone's whistle!

You might ask why someone who dislikes hot weather would move to Western Australia. It's one of the hottest states in the country.

Good question. I originally moved here from the eastern states for work. I was a part-owner of a contact testing laboratory in Melbourne. In the late '80s recession, we faced financial trouble. Three of our biggest clients went bankrupt. The buyer of the business, including its debt, required that I not consult in the eastern states for three years. (I must have been half-decent at my job!)

An opportunity arose in Perth, and I came over. I came over for the interview in April 1990.

I met my wife after getting divorced from a previous marriage. We were married and almost straight away went to live in America for three years. We came back to Perth after that for another eight years. While in Perth, we got a little Shih Tzu puppy, Tia Belle. She was the love of our lives, and we had never had children. She and my wife were inseparable, soulmates of sorts.

We got her in April 2005.

In 2011, we moved again for work, back to Melbourne.

Initially, the promise was that we would stay for three years and then go back to Perth. My wife spent her entire life in Perth before being dragged around by me.

Eleven years later, yesterday, April 2, in fact, we arrived back in Perth. (I was a bit late on my promise!)

We had to wait for COVID to pass. Western Australia, in its wisdom, closed its borders and didn't allow anyone in or out. Victoria, where we spent the longest period of shutdown anywhere in the world. What a mess!

During that time, we lost our little girl to an aggressive brain tumor. It broke both our hearts, but my wife's in particular. She had a nervous breakdown and spent an extended period in the hospital.

She recovered, and we got another little girl, Ella Ruby. Returning to Perth seemed like a blessing in disguise. By the time we were allowed back in, I was looking forward to a bright future. Little did I know what a disaster it would be.

I came back because of my promise more than anything, and by this time, I was hoping to be semi-retired. Within the first few weeks of April, my wife had a recurrence. More time in the hospital and, well, things have never been the same.

Our marriage became a casualty, and we are now separated.

I started out by saying that April was a mixed month for me, and hopefully you can now see why.

To end on a positive note, despite my wife's illness, she decided to get another puppy. GiGi Rose will be two years this month. Yes, she was born in April. When we separated, GiGi became best friends with her sister, Ella. So, we decided they should stay with me.

I have written about my two little mates before:

They do their best to keep me sane. GiGi always has her tongue out (she's not being rude to you. Even when she sleeps it is out. In summer it starts to look like a rose-coloured chip!

Who knows what this April and the next will bring? I hope for more good than bad. Looking back on this story, I'm at 40:15, so I can’t complain. The negative was a big one for me, though.

Till next time,

Calvin

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