The time of lilacs

 

There are some flowers that only appear for a short time. Lilacs are an example. The pale lilac variety only blooms for a few weeks in October and then they go brown and quickly fade away. The white and dark purple variants extend the season a bit.

Tales of Sydney Road

This is not the tale I wanted to tell about Sydney Road, a road so full of places and stories. 

Windows on Weston

Recently I called in at Northcity4 studios in Weston Street. Inside a former factory or warehouse, with its translucent roof and exposed beams, there is a wonderful studio space for a number of artists and craftspeople. Looking at their window, now transformed into an art work, it occurs to me, why do so few of the windows on this stretch of Weston serve their original purpose of looking in or looking out? As it is, one can do neither with many of them. Some are boarded over, some are painted over. But they are all intriguing.

Bobby Gatto moves to Brunswick

One day Bobby Gatto came to live with me again. Bobby is my cat. He had been living with my daughter and her two gigantic dogs so his life was not always peaceful. However I was anxious that he might not adapt to the urban environment, having been a suburban cat who lords over vast expanses of gardens and peaceful neighbourhood streets.

I was wrong. 

Hope Street bus service

The old man walked tentatively towards the speaker. He held his walking stick aloft, to gain attention, but it looked as if he was advancing to attack, albeit in slow motion.

It was a beautiful spring afternoon and the speakers had been addressing the gathering about the impending closure of the Hope Street bus, Route 509. They talked about how the bus line serves the community, how essential it is, linking two major roads, the railway line, the medical, sporting, shopping and other public facilities. The densely populated area, is set to become even more densely populated with more high rise development. The area needs not more cars, it needs the bus service. For the elderly, the bus is an essential service, and the drivers are their friends.

One of the speakers, a retired bus driver, guided the old man to the centre of the circle. The MC, local resident Shane, introduced him as Joe, a man who has lived in the area for all of his 91 years.

The light in winter: Mirabella

It has been a long winter in Melbourne this year, and even though we are almost at the end of August, the blossom month, it still feels like winter. “It’s a miserable day” is Vince’s assessment of the climate, both meteorological and psychological. But then again, he lived for many years in the tropics.

I like to look for bright spots even in the darkest days.  The many varieties of wattle blaze their beautiful yellow in gardens, reserves, parks and along the Eastern Freeway as I drive to work every day.. Surely the great spirits of nature fashioned them so as to counteract the greyness of Melbourne.

And then, there is Mirabella.

Who is Emily George?

There is a little street off Lygon Street in East Brunswick and off this street there is a little lane. A little dilapidated sign indicates it is called Emily George Lane. It is a picturesque laneway, not that I have walked down to the end yet. The sign is affixed to an old Victorian terrace house, painted a bright yellow. On the other side of the laneway entrance is a brick wall with a large array of street art.