Category Archives: Spirit of Place

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 →

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 | 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

Stacks and Snacks

Posted on July 13, 2019 by sagesomethymes

When I was a child I had to go to Italian School every Saturday morning. I hated Italian school. But I loved that afterwards I was allowed to walk to nearby Liverpool Library where my mum would pick me up … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, Uncategorized, What Are You Reading? | Tagged Alice in Wonderland, bakeries in Katoomba, bakeries in Kiama, Beowulf, books, City of Sydney, Customs House Library, Dewey Decimal System, Doyles on the Beach, Doyles Seafood, Famous Five, Fisher Library, Fisher Library stack, Flambards. K.M. Peyton, great places to visit in your city, Haymarket Library, Katooma Library, Kiama Library, Lane Cove Library, Libraries, Library stack, Literature, Liverpool library, memories, Nancy Drew, New York Public Library, Public libraries, reading, Secret Seven, State Library of New South Wales, staycation Sydney, Surry Hills Library, Sydney University, The Mitchell Library, tourist at home, Trixie Belden, Watsons Bay Library, Woollhara Library | 2 Comments

Like living on a yacht

Posted on March 30, 2019 by sagesomethymes

The windows of our one bedroom flat open to both the south and north. In the early hours of the morning after a hot summer day I hear the cords rattle against the blinds, like rigging slapping the mast of … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, Writing Nature and Place | Tagged mounted police, ship's bells, sounds of a suburb, soundscape, train horn, wind, yachts | 2 Comments

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver and other books that marked my year

Posted on December 29, 2018 by sagesomethymes

If you’ve ever looked at the world and asked yourself, ‘What the hell just happened?’ you’ll enjoy ‘Unsheltered’ by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favourite fiction writers. Set in Vineland, New Jersey, in 2016, we meet Willa Knox, a woman who’s just … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, climate change, democracy, Habitat, Spirit of Place, Time, What Are You Reading? | Tagged A Place on Earth, Abbi Waxman, Allegra Goodman, Barbara Kingsolver, Basement Books, best books 2018, Book Review, Breath, Central Station pedestrian tunnel, holiday reading, hope, Mark Tredinnick, Noelle Janaczewska, novels, The Book of Thistles, The Cookbook Collector, The Garden of Small Beginnings, The Poisonwood Bible, Tim Winton, Unsheltered | 2 Comments

The Desire Path

Posted on December 21, 2018 by sagesomethymes

The clock on this silly season is counting down and I only have a few days left to indulge my passion for beautiful objects in the name of gift giving. I leave the house and head into the city but … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place | Tagged Art, Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Road, Art Gallery shop, artisan objects, Australian Design Centre, Bookshops Sydney, buying gifts, christmas gifts, Cook + Phillip Park, craft, flaneur, Flour and Stone bakery, Galleries & Museums Sydney, Grand Days Bookshop, Kings Cross, knitted animals, Martin Place, Rebcca Solnit, St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney Hospital, that special gift, The Domain, The little Shop, The Object Shop, vintage, walking, walking Sydney, William Street, Woolloomooloo | Leave a comment

The windswept doorstep of the year

Posted on August 30, 2018 by sagesomethymes

August is almost over. And so is winter. I’ve loved the slowly lengthening days that carry the hope of spring. The newly lit hours that creep in after the solstice always seem so familiar; like a lost memory returned, promising … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, The Animal Kingdom, Time, Writing Nature and Place | Tagged August, August wind, Aunty Fran Bodkin, Australian white Ibis, calendar, currawong, D'harawal Seasons, Les Murray, Nature Writing, north westerly, Pied currawong. Rainbow Lorikeet, southerly, spring, wind, winter, Writing about Place | Leave a comment