Of bees, gurus and lost opportunities

In her autobiography, Images and Shadows, Iris Origo the American who married an Italian and lived in Italy but, more importantly, overcame great wealth to live and write and to love with disciplined, accessible passion and learning, describes her brief time with a wonderful teacher when she was 15. In the chapter, Reading and learning,  she describes learning Greek and Latin poetry.  Like all wonderful stories hers are layered, with life in front of her described as she was... Read More

A murmuration of swallows

If, say, we were gardening in the street and I was to yell, “Huh, look, a murmuration of swallows”, would you know I was using the collective noun for a gathering of swallows, not the sounds they may be making then? And if it were a particularly abundant day in the skies of Chippendale, and, looking up, we espied lots of magpies, and you said, “Crikey, a tiding of magpies”, would I know what you referred to? It’s not essential to know these things... Read More

Native Australian raspberries

Native raspberry and suckers, Myrtle St Native raspberry from above Raspberries According to the wonderful Encyclopaedia Botanica by Frances Bodkin (Collins Angus Robertson, 1986) there are three Australian raspberries. Rubus Hillii (Rosaceae), or Wild Raspberry, is a native of NSW, Qld and NT.  The fruit are red, globular berries, 1.2 cm across. Flowers are white or red.  Propagation is by seed. Rubus Parvifolius (Rosacae), or Native Bramble, is a native to NSW, Qld and Papua... Read More

Appropos beauty

Of beauty. Looking south to Bronte Let us consider this day and some of what it offered. I went to Bronte to swim, thence to sit and watch, thence to walk up to Mackenzie Bay (the bay just south of Bondi). From shore to sea The photos are taken sitting just down from the coast walk path.  There’s Mozart, Schubert, silence of ages, Beethoven’s last quartets, surging Bach, a whole mighty orchestral magic.  Free for the looking, hearing and loving.  We’re crazy... Read More

Lovely writing and thinking by Monbiot this week

It’s here: www.monbiot.com… And here’s a taste: ” . . . Progressives, he shows, have been suckers for a myth of human cognition he labels the Enlightenment model. This holds that people make rational decisions by assessing facts. All that has to be done to persuade people is to lay out the data: they will then use it to decide which options best support their interests and desires. A host of psychological experiments demonstrates that it doesn’t work... Read More

Bronte pool this morning

Bronte pool today at 619 am Walked through some gentle rain, lured on by flashes of breakthrough sunlight out to sea, and then into the pool, 17.1 degrees, brrrrr. The definition of exquisite:  that first dive of abandonment into the water counter-pointed by the return of warmth after a few laps, topped off by the simplicity within after a few laps.  Read More

When your pump runs dry

No, this is not a song. But it can help to sing when your pump runs dry; who knows, it may bring peace to your otherwise un-abluted flesh and grumpy heart, and distract you from the debris of a shower that won’t work in the morning. Pumps are pretty simple creatures but can put a Buddhist monk back years on the path to simplicity and inner peace. For now, let’s list how to fix one type of pump, the self-priming pump: - to prime the pump’s belly undo the largish... Read More

Painting the grass green

A masters student studying here in Sydney from the US, Amanda, told me last week that US banks are painting the lawns of their repossessed houses green. Here’s how it goes. Many US town Councils have laws requiring home owners to maintain green lawns.  This is so even where the towns get almost no rain.  In Amanda’s town they get just 200 mm of rain a year – about as much as Moree or some far west Aussie town. When the banks repossessed houses because people... Read More

Splitting the hive video

This is one of the videos showing how Michael and friends split the hive on Monday. Here is an alternate view:  Read More

How to cancel phone books

My heart groaned when I saw the plastic-covered White Pages on my front door.  I’ll recycled them un-opened.  I don’t use them. A neighbour, Steven, just sent me a link where I’ve been able to cancel the White Pages and all the other phone books I get but don’t want – the cancellation lasts for three years. If you wish to cancel any one or more of your phone books, go to: www.directoryselect.com… M  Read More