Our 4 year old neighbour has a wonderful intensity about him. He will come up close to your face, urgently saying “I have something to tell you”. He will then regale you with all the facts he knows about tornadoes, or dinosaurs, or Star Wars. The world is huge and he is quickly amassing all the facts he needs to understand how it works. He is curious and articulate, and a whole lot of fun.
It’s a timeless scene, repeated throughout the world, and over many generations. The languid, hot afternoons at the end of the school holidays. Neighbourhood kids hanging out. Talking boy stuff. Important things.
With friends from New York in town, you can’t pass up showing off a Sydney sunset from the Opera House. Then an energetic, contemporary performance by an Aboriginal dance-theatre company from Broome, complete with a real water downpour on the stage and a haunting Nick Cave rendition of ‘The Weeping song’. A brilliant collaboration.
It’s always dangerous going to dinner at a chef’s house …. these dinners have been known to go until 3am in the past, and it didn’t bode well when he announced he had prepared three entrees. A generous and gracious host, with spectacular food and a cellar of wines that were older then some of the guests.
Used the Sydney Festival as a catalyst for heading into the city for a dose of culture. Saw the magnificent and intricate pencil drawings of Sydney made during the 1930’s from Lloyd Rees. Then changed genres and saw an exhibition of Tony Mott’s work as a rock’n’roll photographer over the last few decades, covering concerts for the Rolling Stones, Bowie and a few thousand others.
Finished the night at the State Theatre with a concert by the Dirty Three … accurately reviewed as “improvised lava eruptions of over-amped fiddle, guitar and train-wreck percussion”. A diverse day indeed.
With temperatures reaching 39 degrees Celsius today, the best option was to ride it out underwater and wait for the southerly buster to come through this afternoon.
I remember when my children were toddlers and I was always trying to find ways to exhaust them so they would have a long nap and I could sit down with a hot cup of tea. I think it must be the same for dog owners. The owner of two young staffies in the park this morning still had a long way to go before they exhausted all their boundless energy.
A combination of the raucous early morning birds outside my window and my husband being a keen surfer, I managed to get this photo before 6am. Have you found that it does make you feel a little pious if you are up and about at that time? You certainly fit a lot more into your day.
Summer afternoons + garden hose + backyard + kids = endless hours of fun. No need for the compulsory Sunday evening bath tonight for our English neighbours.
Date night. Summer. Manly Wharf. Life’s good.
Photo credit to my husband with the iPhone panorama.
