Category Archives: Time

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 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

The Next Big Thing

Posted on October 13, 2017 by sagesomethymes

“Bowl head! Bowl head!” “Stupid wog! Look at her hair!” I’d thought my 1920s Parisian style bop was quite sophisticated. “Did your mother put a bowl over your head to cut your hair?” one of them snarled, as the rest … Continue reading →

Posted in My Mother and Me, The Sages, Time | Tagged 1980s, bowl head, bullies, bullying, hair cut, hair dressers, Lady Di, Simon Le Bon, skunk stripe, skunks, style cut | Leave a comment

A Sapphire Blue Sydney Sky

Posted on April 6, 2017 by sagesomethymes

“We’re going to stick it where the sun don’t shine.” That’s not actually what he said. It’s just what I imagined he was thinking. I blame such crassness on several days of ‘low residue white food’ diet followed by 24 hours of … Continue reading →

Posted in My Mother and Me, The Sex Diaries, Time | Tagged bowel cancer, Canopic jars, colonoscopy, death, guts, hospital, intestines, medical procedures, menstruation, nurses, periods, show bag, sunshine, viscera | 2 Comments

Get On Your Soap Box

Posted on December 13, 2016 by sagesomethymes

This summer, as you enjoy Christmas carols or the symphony in the Domain, see if you can also spot an old time orator on their soap box in Speaker’s Corner. The tradition of Speaker’s Corner comes to us from London’s Hyde Park, … Continue reading →

Posted in democracy, Spirit of Place, Time | Tagged 1932, 1975, communism, Debra Phillips, Egon Kisch, free speech, Gough Whitlam, Governor Game, Governor General Kerr, H.V.Evatt, High Court, Hitler, John Webster, Menzies, Moreton Bay figs, NAZIS, Premier Jack Lang, psychogeography, Reichstag fire, Reverend Bill Crews, Speaker's Corner, Sydney Botanic Gardens, The Domain, Viva Voce’ Soap-Box sculpture | Leave a comment

Songlines, Starmaps and Ubiquitous Suburban Roads

Posted on November 20, 2016 by sagesomethymes

A friend recently flew back into Sydney. It was after sunset and she had the window seat. As the plane banked lower and lower across the north west of the city she began to recognise some of the main roads that … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, Time | Tagged Aboriginal culture, Aboriginal dot painting, Aboriginal history, Aboriginal spirituality, Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth, Blue Mountains, Botany Road, D'harawal, Darug, dreaming tracks, First Peoples, Gamay, George Street, Great Westren Highway, Gundungurra, Indigenous belief system, old roads, original inhabitants, Parramatta road, Pitt Street, Shannon Foster, Songlines, Starmaps, suburban roads, War-ran, Wiradjuri | Leave a comment

Rosemary that’s for Remembrance

Posted on October 30, 2016 by sagesomethymes

“She ain’t got no money Her clothes are kinda funny Her hair is kinda wild and free Oh, but Love grows where my Rosemary goes And nobody knows like me.” I remember when Edison Lighthouse’s Love Grows was my favourite … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Time | Tagged Edison Lighthouse, eggplant, Fogolar Furlan Club, gardenia, Guerilla Gardening, italian migrants, Lansvale, lemon balm, Love Grows, mint, nasturtium, parley, rain, rosemary, thyme, tomato, winter | 2 Comments

Spirit of Place: The Lost City

Posted on August 19, 2016 by sagesomethymes

This time last week I was in a tropical paradise. A place where the sun sets over the aquamarine waters of the Arafura Sea, and where in the cool depths of Kakadu rock shelters, layer upon layer of gigantic fish jostle … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place, Time | Tagged Aboriginal rock art. barrumundi, at Anbangbang gallery, Bininj/Mungguy, Kakadu National Park, Kakdu, lightning man, Namarrgon, Nourlangie, Spirit of Place, Ubirr, x-ray style | 1 Comment

Christmas Luck

Posted on December 2, 2015 by sagesomethymes

This week I gave some luck. My family and I have stopped giving each other Christmas presents. We all have too many things already. Instead we just do a lot of eating, drinking and general merriment. So I like to … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, Time | Tagged Australian Red Cross, charities, christmas gifts, climate change, donations, Greenpeace, luck, Mahboba's Promise | Leave a comment

When the Moon is Missing

Posted on June 12, 2015 by sagesomethymes

My mother is a busy woman. Not only is she a retiree with a very healthy social life, she is a lawn bowls champion at state and national levels. Finding time to catch up can sometimes be quite a challenge. A … Continue reading →

Posted in My Mother and Me, Time | Tagged almanac, biscuits recipe, manual bottle capping machine, old wine in new bottles, planting by the moon, vintage, waning moon, wine barrels, wine bottling, wine cellar, wine making, wine tasting | 2 Comments