Apr 24, 2014 | My Stories
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.” Laurence Binyon 1914 Anzac Day is very emotive for many Australians and I imagine New...
Apr 15, 2014 | My Stories
”Kindred Spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.’’ L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables. I spent early Saturday evening with a billabong of animals. And artist Sam Cranstoun, twice finalist...
Mar 27, 2014 | My Stories
”Naming things gives you some familiarity with it so it’s not just always strange and odd.’’ Associate Professor Darryl Jones, Griffith University You can learn about a lot more than turkeys from the turkey man. Ok. He’s not just the turkey man. He’s Associate...
Feb 28, 2014 | My Stories
”Every moment now made one sweat profusely, and once wet one’s clothes stayed wet for a long time.’’ Nevil Shute, In the Wet There is a reason they call Australia ”Down Under”. Down under the equator everything is different, even school. You...
Feb 20, 2014 | My Stories
Click Click. My chiropractor works away at my stiff neck. ”You know, you shouldn’t feel bad. A lot of Australians don’t know the names of trees or plants,’’ she says. ”Left arm forward, please.’’I lift my left arm. Hmmm. My head is stuffed face down...
Feb 19, 2014 | My Stories
”How can you understand the planet without walking upon it, sampling its marvels one by one, and then floating high above it, to see it all in a single eye-gulp?’’ Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses On the 737 northbound from Sydney to Brisbane I...
Feb 15, 2014 | My Stories
“But in every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” John Muir Steep Trails On my last day at Varuna in the Blue Mountains, I am up before the cockatoos. I have been working on an essay about my Nana who died last year. She was a big supporter...
Jan 31, 2014 | My Stories
This is an experiment, a study. It’s not grandiose. It’s not done with flow charts and decades of data. There is no power point presentation. Do I hear a sigh of relief? Before you get too relaxed, let me tell you it is all about me. And you. I launched this website,...
Jan 31, 2014 | My Stories
I’m at war with the journalist inside me. Facts only, it shouts. No opinions, no personal anecdotes. But that’s the interesting stuff, I whisper back. Besides, no one is objective. How lucky am I to entertain the luxury of an internal philosophical war? Not like Aziza...