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I have yet to post anything here about my trip to Australia last September. Which is too bad, because the trip was delightful and amazing and wonderful from beginning to end.
But I'm lazy, and I'm tired. And this day has been complete crap. So no writeup tonight. Instead, I've posted two photos from Tasmania below the cut.
Tasmania is home, of course, to Tasmanian devils. I could write an entire post about how much I adore these animals, and about the emergency work being done to try to eradicate the virulent cancer that's threatening to wipe them out.
Or, for now, I could just post a picture of myself being stalked by the King of the Devils:
Most people don't realize that Tasmanian Devils are 12' tall and made of wood. They're also super stealthy, as you can see by the clueless expression on my mug. Little did I know I was just seconds from becoming lunch for Tasmania's apex predator.
The story of my hair's-breadth escape is quite exciting. Also long, but I'm still tired and lazy. So I'll take a cue from Monty Python and say, "Whew, what an amazing escape." Suffice it to say that I managed to evade the wooden guard devil and make it inside the Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary.
And I'm so glad I did! Because it's inside Trowunna that I met Lily the Wombat.
Wombats are basically furry marsupial logs, as you can see from the above photo. (Lily is the cute one. I'm the one with the giant nose.) Lily has spent her entire life at the sanctuary, and so has no fear of humans. In fact she insists on being held. She's like a giant lap cat. Except, you know, a wombat instead of an actual cat.
My encounter with Lily had this going through my head for the next several days.
Close PermalinkI've always had an abstract liking for wombats but I've never been able to meet one in person.
I do have a small toy wombat that my son brought back from Australia--I see that it misses the boat by a long shot.
Way cool.
My mental image of the wombat was kind of abstract, too. I had no idea how large wombats could be. The photo probably doesn't to it justice, but they're kinda roly-poly. The funniest thing was hiking and finding wombat burrows alongside the path-- the holes they leave are really big.
Back when I worked(Or hung around depending on who was managing that day) Other Change of Hobbit bookstore in berkeley, CA, A very kind woman by the Name of Carolyn Cushman, a local, who worked in some compacity for Marion Zimmer Bradley, wrote a very cute book called "witch and the wombat". <-- nice sentence-ha!
She was a wonderful person and I always hoped she'd continue with the concept. I mean such an adorable creature as a familiar was a twist to a trope that I could appreciate.
Ah, the 90's!
Carolyn Cushman works for Locus not Marion Zimmer Bradley. I must have ahd a brain fart.
Hi, Andrew! I love the idea of a wombat familiar. I think it would have to be my pick, had I any say in the matter.
Or maybe a Tasmanian devil. That would be an awesome familiar.
Unwalkers interview [English | French ]
Interview with Speculate! Podcast Interview with Adventures in SciFi Publishing
Ian Tregillis on the Sword and Laser Podcast
Ian Tregillis on John Scalzi's The Big Idea
Interview with Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview with SFRevu
Interview with Mad Hatter Book Review
Interview with Apex Books
Interview at Literary Musings Interview with Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
An interview with the authors of Busted Flush at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview with Travis Heermann at The Write Line
9-way interview with the contributors to the Wild Cards novel Inside Straight at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview in the February, 2008 newsletter of the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
An extended interview with Ian Tregillis by Ty Franck, on www.wildcardsbooks.com.