JANUARY 2022 NUMBER 61
Two old books called for more than passing looks.
Traffic on the Bruce Highway seen from my living room is rolling up and down Gympie’s hills and valleys. The Bruce Highway diversion, when complete, will see the heaviest traffic gone, but souped up cars and utes will remain. Because petrol gurgling aggressively was once music to my own youthful ears, I should not complain. And from this entry point to the Mary Valley, the view is enjoyable.
Two books about the British navy were school prizes awarded during the nineteenth century. Charles Low wrote of England’s first naval victory. Building strong long boats to stop invading Danes, King Alfred became the father of the Royal Navy. In the year 885 Alfred’s fleet defeated the Danes off the Essex coast. (1)
On the first day of June, 1794, Richard Howe, Lord of the British Admiralty led the British Channel Fleet to victory over the revolutionary French. Throughout complex battle manoeuvring, the ageing 69 year old kept his nerve. (2)
Five years earlier, an island uninhabited off the NSW coast was discovered in1788 by Henry Ball, a naval lieutenant. (3). Ball named his discovery after Lord Howe because of the naval veteran’s highly ranked position. But he would probably have been well aware of Howe’s personal qualities. In the words of Vedette Fitchett, Howe’s character was of “..crystalline simplicity and sincerity .. calmly indifferent to either gain or fame..”
The recent days were enlightened by two books I might otherwise have barely glanced through. Not only exciting narratives, they characterised the familiar name of one of Australia’s well known island territories.
(1) Low, Lieutenant Charles R. The Great Battles of the British Navy (1872)(2) Fitchett, W.H. ( “ Vedette” ) Fights for The Flag (1898).(3) Phillip, Arthur The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay (1788)
FEBRUARY 2022 NUMBER 62
At the time of writing, heavy downpours are occurring.
Most of the flooding in Gympie during January was fairly minor except in some outlying areas; and the Mary River gradually slackened. Mild winds continued into February, as did some wet days. Usually fine, but partly overcast skies and warm mid-days prevailed. Evenings remained comfortable, despite occasional downpours. Weather may not vary too much in any Gympie season, but on the calendar, autumn is approaching.
An early film clip on television briefly showed Andrew Fisher, Australia’s Prime Minister from Gympie, laying the foundation stone of Australia’s Parliament in Canberra. It appeared just as televised news demonstrated something obvious: the season ahead will be a political autumn, fraught with conflict over differing values of freedom.
One of the founders of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine was familiar with political seasons. As, it seems, is John Banville, a 21st century writer. Paine contrasted the pace of an approaching political summer with the natural one. (1) Banville portrayed Prague in words illustrating the mystery of this city of complexity, including times when freedom was heavily suppressed. (2)
Perhaps, like mine, your business neither finances nor allows time off to travel and experience Prague’s allure. If so, try listening to the The Moldau after reading John Banville’s book. You might find Bohemian born Czech composer Bedrich Smetana’s music a perfect conclusion.
(1) Rights of Man Part the Second (1792) (2) Banville, John. Prague Pictures Portraits of a City. (2015)
MAY 2022 NUMBER 63
Barefoot in Gympie’s main street, Lady Mary Fitzroy looks downward from the footpath, clutching her dress.
Her statue in bronze ingeniously commemorates Gympie’s flood of 1893.
Lady Mary never stood in this street, neither did she ever get to Gympie. But Governor Fitzroy named Gympie’s river and main street after his spouse, who died after a carriage accident in Sydney. Erected in the year 2017, her statue is not far from where the flood in Mary Street stopped in February 2022.
Between February 22 and 26, more than a year’s rainfall poured down heavily on Gympie. The flood level was higher in 1893, but the region’s growth over the ensuing 129 years has been considerable. Despite the devastation, Gympie’s rebound soon arose.
Evenings of such heavy rainfall, torrential enough to make sleeping difficult, contrasted with an unusual silence on awakening. There was an eerie feeling early in the first morning: Gympie had ground to a halt. High above at my hilltop home, the view from the deck of an enormous muddy lake far below was amazing. Even more amazing was the extent of water covering the floor downstairs. Just how rainfall managed to penetrate a concrete block wall of the house is yet to be explained.
At the time of writing on the fourth day of May, a beautiful early morning is emerging. Its mildly autumnal atmosphere promises an opportunity to take in and enjoy the freshening air and blue sky. It is a time to live the day with encouraging thoughts of Gympie’s orderliness in the flood’s aftermath.
The statue of Lady Mary stands in the main street of a region distinguished by its people and the diversity of its geography.
MID WINTER NUMBER 64
So many things have happened during the last six months.
Winter solstice was followed by darkly overcast days. Rain later settled in and made itself at home early on the first Saturday in July. Condensation lingered on glass sliding doors longer than usual, but some days later, clear blue skies followed misty mornings.
In the morning as I dressed, back pain encouraged both socks to resist being pulled fully over my feet. Music of Mendelssohn - Fingal’s Cave - broadcast later in the day, was a fitting accompaniment to Gympie’s prevailing weather. It also provided mental, if not physical, comfort.
Of everything happening here during the last six months, February’s torrential downpour of rain was the most disruptive. The house is far above any known flood level, but rainwater draining underground forced its way through downstairs. Back pain arrived after I moved books to the safety of higher shelves and dragged irreparably damaged bookcases outside. Everything else, including a dose of covid, seemed at the time almostenough to render life's daily battles never ending.
After being shown through its corridors of bookcases, a five year old once described my bookstock as a never ending library. Such a description was fitting, because the task of fully cataloguing the bookstock’s 100 subjects seems never ending. But it is stimulating work, especially when things seem somewhat chaotic.
Silence prevails when the door downstairs is closed and the outside world is left behind. Line after line of books waiting for attention cannot be taken for granted.
SPRING 2022 NUMBER 65
“…they either fear their fate too much, or their deserts are small, who dare not put it to the touch to win or lose it all…”. (1)
Spring, it seemed, should never be as wet as this. Unfortunately, in so many parts of the nation, it was; and tragically so. International news of chilling events, intriguing threats, questionable activities and awe - inspiring disorder led me to wonder whether the world had prematurely flipped its axis. But it did not, even though some of these unexpectedly strange happenings might well stand out in history.
Gentle breezes and warm sunny days have followed the wet weather. They re-established a sense of reality but left me wondering about the United Kingdom leadership changes.
You may not have been disappointed by such short-lived support for the return of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. And you may not have been interested in the hastened leadership demise of Liz Truss. But you can argue whether either Prime Minister was sufficiently bold or courageous. Whatever your case, the concept of Profiles in Courage (2) remains relevant. And the politics of globalism could accentuate as more overseas institutions operate in the City of London business centre. Historically, it is where London has always availed itself of talent and capital (3).
Right now, on such a fine day, nothing seems more relevant than the view. Among the purple of Jacarandas on the hillside, redness of a flame tree is coming into season. But the words of Peter Drucker are reminding me to get back to work. As he once put it, the economic task of business can be exciting and stimulating, bringing order out of chaos (4).
(1) Montgomery, Field- Marshall Bernard . The Memories of Field- Marshall Montgomery of Alemien (1958 ) This seventeenth century Montrose verse was displayed inside his war time caravan. (2) Kennedy, John F. Profiles in Courage (1960)
(3) Thorold, Peter. The London Rich The Creation of A Great City, from 1666 to the Present (2000)(4) Drucker, Peter. Managing for Results (1999)
SUMMER 2022 NUMBER 66
Blink of an eye.
The barber shop mirror of my childhood hairdresser displayed a drawing of a box. Its purpose was probably to keep hyperactive young customers such as myself sitting still while their hair was being cut. A message beneath the drawing read that if you watched this box, it will turn over. Whether through imagination, physics, or the flutter of an eyelid, that is what the box eventually did.
Haircuts were something for a six year old to avoid. The shop was half way between home and school and my mother would secretly pay the hairdresser in advance. Before I could walk past, he would stand waiting at the shop entrance and call me. Two or three school friends accompanying me found it amusing. But when seated inside, after reading the message, I was fascinated by the mystery of the box’s performance.
To this day, my memory of first learning to read in infant school remains clear. Our class teacher handed out the first books for reading. Full of thick black print, their pages were bound by strong limp covers. Alphabet letters came together as comprehensible words; sentences roused my imagination. While Miss Davies stood silently alongside me, I read aloud the sentences emerging.
Amongst other things, reading has not only proved enriching. It also expands those days that now seem to flash past almost in the blink of an eye.
© 15 12 2022