Category Archives: Spirit of Place

A Weekend of Unexpected Gifts

Posted on April 21, 2025 by sagesomethymes

I’m woken by the sound of a church bell. I know it’s not a work day, so it’s not my alarm. And it’s not the joyful jangle of sound that rings out from the nearby Greek Orthodox Cathedral on a Sunday … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place | Tagged candles, church bells, Cleveland Street, death knell, Easter Sunday, funeral, Good Friday, Greek Orthodox Cathedral, hope, long dead god, Pascha Vigil, procession, Ressurection | 1 Comment

Lost Churches, Chocolate Coloured Horses and an Absinthe Couch

Posted on February 27, 2025 by sagesomethymes

I’ve been trekking through Waterloo and Redfern hunting for lost churches. Two of them. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, “To lose one church may be regarded as misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” Luckily, I think I’ve found them. Or … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, Time, walking | Tagged Annunciation of our Lady Greek Orthodox Cathedral, baptism, Catholi Church, christening, churches were often built on higher ground, First Holy Communion, flaneur, Italian migrants Australia, Italian migrants in Johannesburg, Lebanese and Syrian migrants to Australia, migrants and religion, migration experience, Oscar Wilde, Police horses Redfern, Redfern history, walking in Redfern, Waterloo history, waves of immigration Australia | 2 Comments

The Poetry and Promise of Architecture

Posted on February 9, 2025 by sagesomethymes

Or Flaneuring in Foyers. In a recent article for The Guardian, Rebecca Solnit writes about resistance, something that is more important than ever in these terrifying times but in one of my favourite of her books, Wanderlust, she also writes … Continue reading →

Posted in democracy, Spirit of Place | Tagged 350 George Street Sydney, Alain De Botton, architecture, autocracy, Barrangaroo, democracy, Dymocks Building, Exchange Place, flaneurs, foyers, lobbies, Maybanke Wolstenholme, plush toys, Rebecca Solnit, resistance, Time conquesr all | 1 Comment

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Time Travel

Posted on November 19, 2023 by sagesomethymes

I’m going on a memory walk, retracing the path from Redfern Station to Sydney University that I traipsed daily as a student over thirty years ago. I’m in the mood for a little time travel. Walking along the narrow footpath … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place, walking | Tagged 1980's coffee shops, Cadigal Green, Darlington, Darlington Campus, flaneur, Freda Brown, memory, Old Old Darlington School House, psychogeography, Redfern Walking, renchantment, slum, Spirit of Place, University of Sydney | 4 Comments

The Adventures of an Aeronaut – Stories from Prince Alfred Park, Sydney

Posted on September 28, 2023 by sagesomethymes

It was an overcast September afternoon in 1870 as Thomas Gale waited for his balloon to fill so that he could make good his promise to take to the skies. Gale could feel the excitement of the huge crowd around … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place, walking | Tagged aeronaut, balloonist, Galatea, Lavinia Balford, Prince Alfred, Prince Alfred Park Sydney, Redfern Walking, The Great Exhibition 1870, Thomas Gale, Voice to Parliament, Yes 23 Campaign | Leave a comment

Hope is the thing with feathers*

Posted on February 26, 2023 by sagesomethymes

Recently, while sitting under a tree in the Domain, trying to eat an egg sandwich, I was attacked by a Noisy Miner. Claws in the head. Several times. With one arm helicoptering desperately above me to ward it off, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place, The Animal Kingdom, Writing Nature and Place | Tagged bird attacks Sydney, bull bull birds, Emerald class ferry, Freshwater ferry, hope is the thing with feathers, Manly ferry, native Australian honey eater, native miner, noisy miner, seagulls, seven miles from Sydney a thousand miles from care, silver gulls, slipstream, Sydney Harbour, The Domain Sydney | Leave a comment

The Tiny Chapel

Posted on November 18, 2022 by sagesomethymes

This enchanting little travellers’ chapel is in the Megalong Valley, a few kilometres from Little Hartley. It was created by Sherry Weller, inspired by the many tiny roadside churches she saw along highways in the USA. Places for weary travellers … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place, Uncategorized | Tagged Blue Mountains, contemplation, donkeys, ecumenical, Little Hartley, Megalong Valley, prayer, roadside shrines, tiny chapel | 1 Comment

The Sky Beyond The Bell Fry

Posted on April 1, 2022 by sagesomethymes

A metaphysical experience: I don’t understand what happened but it happened. Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place | Tagged Bagnoregio, catholic church Leura, Christian churches, churches, communicating with the dead, country churches, death, enchantment, good fortune, high windows, liminal experience, metaphysical, psychogeography, religion, saint bonaventura, spirituality, strange experiences | 1 Comment

Edgelands

Posted on November 18, 2020 by sagesomethymes

I’m on my way to visit my mother but I’m early. I don’t want to interrupt her while she’s watching her favourite soapie, the one I’ve dubbed Italian Doctors in Love, so I decide to take a detour. I get … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, My Mother and Me, Spirit of Place, walking | Tagged 1980s, Cowpasture Road, edgelands, flaneur, psychogeography, Sydney walks, The Dairy, urban sprawl, walking, walking Western Sydney, Walks in Sydney, Western Sydney Parklands | Leave a comment

The Rat Before Christmas

Posted on December 18, 2019 by sagesomethymes

A few years ago, when we lived in the art-deco flat in Double Bay, I was woken by a mysterious night visitor. It was the week before Christmas and as I lay in my bed in a state of alarm … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, The Animal Kingdom | Tagged antechinus, Christmas, felt sculptures, Huntsman, pesticide, rat trap, Rats, rodent, spiders, telepathy, The Night Before Christmas | 1 Comment