Today was a pretty full on tasking day. A lot of it was just scouting and preparation, but I did get this one finished...

The object I chose to annotate was the Lake Hayes Wharf. It used to be a popular place to launch rowboats, back when a lot of fishing was done on the lake for food. We used to (subsistence) farm one full side of the lake when I was a small child, and fish and ducks from the lake made up quite a bit of our diet.

First, I needed to put into words the transcendent love I feel for the Wharf. This was made somewhat harder and more time consuming by the fact that I can't use my right hand today (as I'm currently also tasking for the left-handed screwdriver). Having (eventually) succeeded I printed my feelings out.

It's hosing down rain here today, so I decided I'd protect my love letter from the elements. A clear plastic freezer bag did the trick here. Next I needed something to attach it to the wharf. Fortunately I needed to go to the supermarket anyway, to buy the weekly groceries, and 6kg of salt. It's a shame it's too wet today for burning...

I decided that drawing pins would be the easiest attachment medium, and with these in hand (or pocket) drove out to the lake. It's been a while since I was there last, and it's always a bitter-sweet feeling going back, as lots has changed.

I took some photos of the wharf, and then attached the letter (earning some very suspicious looks from a passing jogger). Mission accomplished, and satisfied the wharf understood my feelings towards it, I set out along the shore to scout locations for fairy cottages....

Below is the text of my letter.

"Dear Lake Hayes wharf,

I love you. You are one of the poles around which my life revolves. The
screen-saver on my laptop is a picture of you, so that no matter how
distant I am from you geographically, I can look at you every day and be
close to you in my heart - to feel the warmth I feel just by looking upon
your oh so familiar features

I helped to build you with my own two hands. Hammering nails to attatch
your planks at the tender age of three. Tacking down the wire that made you
less slippery. Sawing a tire in half to create you buffers. My hand and
effort were guided by the loving hands of my father, uncle, and grandfather
(now gone). We sat on your half fleshed bones as we rested, drinking tea
and eating cakes, chattering about nothing.

Even then you were the center of my world. The one place at the lake I was
trusted to go to by myself - I imagine they trusted you to watch me despite
my inability to swim. Every day I would walk your surface, climb your
structue, fish from the end of you.

We had our adventures. An eel once almost took my toe under you. From your
sturdy surface I tossed molotov cocktails with my best friend. I "borrowed"
boats tied to you with my cousins becoming stranded on the lake more often
than I can count.

I know that we have drifted apart a little recently. I don't make it to
visit you as often as I should. The pressures and responsibilities of life
take so much of my time. Never believe however that I love you less now
than I did. Every day I look at my photo of you, and it makes me content.
You form the geography of my heart."