It's Australia Day. In the afternoon we go to the beach. A blue sky and a warm strong flag-flapping hat-flipping wind at Grange.
As many people in the water as out. Forty people per hundred metres, I think.
They sit under vast no-sided tent pavillions, in canvas chairs, drinking, or shoulder-deep in water drinking pre-mixed drinks from cans. They play with small fat dogs.
Three sand flies march towards the waterline. Three seagulls peck at three half-eaten red-skinned apples on the sand. Four young women in swimsuits walk towards us, one with a pink parasol. Children carry fluoro boogie boards into the water. A blue and yellow fish kite flutters overhead.
Now there's a bare stretch of beach. The wind plaits the water like grass. A few wispy clouds curl up sportively.
A party spills on to the beach from a house. Young men play beach cricket with bottles and girls stand ankle-deep in the sea, drinking. The conversation: Where are you going? Europe. Just Europe? Yeah.
Two fat skuas sit on the sand looking sadly out to sea, a long way apart. The horizon is miles and miles away today.
Three passing girls stop momentarily. The one with blue lips says, leaning towards us, Happy Austraya Day!
Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Friday, May 29, 2009
Good Deeds
Look around. Every object in the room represents a good deed. For example, a bowl of apples. Someone bought them. That was a good deed. Why ? Because apples are good. Why ? Because eating them keeps you healthy. Another example. The electric jug. The electric jug is broken. How then does it represent a good deed? It was once a birthday present. It also represents another good deed requiring now to be done. The purchase of another one. And how is that a good deed? If you wanted a cup of coffee, you would know. And it keeps the economy going.
Not every good deed is represented by an object. Here is one from yesterday. Pliny and Nostradamus went to a Lunch Hour Concert. When they got there they found that there were hardly any seats left, and no two empty seats were together. This was because Carnival of the Animals was on the program, and lots of extra people had turned up. They asked two men with single empty seats beside them if they would mind moving up. After a moment or two of deliberation the two men decided they would not mind, and moved up. Then out of politeness, Pliny and Nostradamus asked them if they would have preferred to move up in the other direction, and the men said that no, they were fine with where they were. This was an example of a good deed working both ways.
Here is one from this morning. Pliny and Nostradamus went to pick up 4 items they had won in an online auction. Three laptops and a printer. When they had paid for their items they were sent to look for Duggy. Duggy was in the canteen down the back buying himself a pie. He was just squeezing copious amounts of tomato sauce in through the delicious hot crust of his pie when Pliny and Nostradamus interrupted him and asked him to find them their goods. But first, finish your pie, said Nostradamus, courteously. Oh no, that's alright, said Duggy. He put down his pie and went off to get the key. This was an example of good deed that involved great sacrifice, because it was a very cold morning this morning, and Duggy would have been looking forward to his pie.
A final good deed taken at random from the newspaper. The Adelaide Zoo has taken delivery of a 20 tonne English oak tree from Victoria for Wang Wang the giant panda, who is arriving from China in a few months time.
How good is that?
Not every good deed is represented by an object. Here is one from yesterday. Pliny and Nostradamus went to a Lunch Hour Concert. When they got there they found that there were hardly any seats left, and no two empty seats were together. This was because Carnival of the Animals was on the program, and lots of extra people had turned up. They asked two men with single empty seats beside them if they would mind moving up. After a moment or two of deliberation the two men decided they would not mind, and moved up. Then out of politeness, Pliny and Nostradamus asked them if they would have preferred to move up in the other direction, and the men said that no, they were fine with where they were. This was an example of a good deed working both ways.
Here is one from this morning. Pliny and Nostradamus went to pick up 4 items they had won in an online auction. Three laptops and a printer. When they had paid for their items they were sent to look for Duggy. Duggy was in the canteen down the back buying himself a pie. He was just squeezing copious amounts of tomato sauce in through the delicious hot crust of his pie when Pliny and Nostradamus interrupted him and asked him to find them their goods. But first, finish your pie, said Nostradamus, courteously. Oh no, that's alright, said Duggy. He put down his pie and went off to get the key. This was an example of good deed that involved great sacrifice, because it was a very cold morning this morning, and Duggy would have been looking forward to his pie.
A final good deed taken at random from the newspaper. The Adelaide Zoo has taken delivery of a 20 tonne English oak tree from Victoria for Wang Wang the giant panda, who is arriving from China in a few months time.
How good is that?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
