"It's from a eucalypt...a gum tree," answered
the lithe florist, his eyes averting mine. And as he bundles
my branch in white paper I think I have never seen anything so
unusual or beautiful in my life. A few days later the enchanting
plant begins to ooze, covering my table with fallen leaves
and sticky sap. It is only now that I see the gumdrops that
the kookaburra of my childhood dined on for what they really
are...not the sugary kind I dreamed of. The aroma of this sap
drifting across Australian shores is said to have drawn naval
soldiers home from war. I breathe it in to see where it takes me.
)
)
