Serendip

from w
This morning Peceli and I drove out to Serendip past Lara and beneath the Youyangs, a beautiful wildlife sanctuary where groups of school children were walking around inspecting the birdlife and animals. They belong to a nearby school which has a classroom on the property. How lucky they are. Our son is working there at present and has befriended a tawny frogmouth, brolgas and kangaroos. So he brought home a poster of a frogmouth which now is on the wall behind this computer. Staring yellow and black eyes watch my every move. It's not an owl, far lazier as it doesn't use its claws, just waits for food to come near by. A face that only a mother can love, perhaps! The name 'Serendip' is curious and I thought it related to the hippie years when the term 'serendipity' was thrown around a bit, but it is much older. The property was once named Serendip when it was an extensive farming property with a mansion on it, now called Pirra Homestead. The Meaning(s) of Serendip : "a former name for Sri Lanka + -ity. A word coined by Horace Walpole, who says (Let. to Mann, 28 Jan. 1754) that he had formed it upon the title of the fairy-tale `The Three Princes of Serendip', the heroes of which `were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of'." Today we use the word 'serendipity' to mean' he unexpected discovery of something wonderful' and it certainly fits a stroll around the great Australian environment with animals, birds and plants.

There's a website about Serendip Wildlife Sanctuary - www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1parks.cfm which will have lots more information.