366 unusual things: days 174-178

22nd June – Saw a work of art made from an old book by detaching the pages, folding them creatively, then reattaching them to the hard cover.  The book was Moral Dilemmas.

23rd June – Borrowed the latest DVD of Alice in Wonderland.  The cover shows the Mad Hatter front and centre, with Alice peeking in from the side.  That is, it shows Johnny Depp front and centre.  Poor Mia Wasikowska who plays Alice.

24th June – Found an old pioneer house at Tidbinbilla that my husband thought was rented out.  I insisted we go and look closer anyway.  Clearly, the last tenants had moved out some time ago.

Rock Valley Homestead, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, built c1895.  Photo:  Brett Worth

25th June – Rang the National Archives today for advice and got a woman who was very interested in my research.  She talked to me for half an hour, asking more and more questions.  Until today, I’ve always found Archives staff officious and disinterested.

26th June – In a book about books, a word was broken at the end of the line like this:  had-.  The next line began n’t.

366 unusual things: days 169-173

17th June – A church sermon was illustrated with a Renaissance sculpture of the devil tempting Christ:  the devil is bent-nosed and bald;  Christ is straight-nosed, long-haired and bearded.  They are both white.

18th June – Out for a walk, I passed a flock of ground-feeding sulphur-crested cockatoos.  One took off and flew close to my ear, squawking.  Almost deafening.

19th June – A man and his 10 year-old daughter went past on a bike – him riding and her standing on the bag rack, her hands resting on his shoulders.

20th June – At a closing-down sale of a large store, I was sold a cardigan by a fifty-something saleswoman.
“Are you a member?” she asked.
“No.”
“Would you like to become a member?”
“Ah, no….”
She shrugged.  “We have to say it.”

21st June – On this winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, it’s very cold and blowing a gale, yet a few women are outdoors in strappy tops.

366 unusual things: days 164-168

12th June – My monosyllabic student had to write poetry for an assignment.  I started, he followed and came up with several words at a time.  Then he wrote a sequel.

13th June – My son who studies physics asked me which theory was more plausible:  time travel backwards or the idea that the physical world is an illusion.

14th June – Woke at 2 am and still awake at 5.  (This is not the unusual thing.)  I was surprised, in passing the hours, to read in a novel a recount of a long and spooky dream, then to pick up a second novel and read a recount of a long and spooky dream.

15th June – Turned on the car radio this morning to Artsound FM and heard Django Reinhardt.  Turned on the car radio this evening to Classic FM and heard Django Reinhardt.

16th June – Just after midnight, the dog across the street, who chases his tail all day and has never been outside his small yard, escaped and was free.  Ironically, shortly after, his mistress was put in a paddy wagon and taken to the watchhouse for the night for refusing to cooperate with the police (who had left her gate open…).

366 unusual things: days 159-163

7th June –  A black cat crossed my street.  The late afternoon winter sun created a monster-cat shadow which got me up off my chair to see if it was being followed by a large dog.  It wasn’t.

8th June – Sat at the table in a student’s home and quickly stuck to the seat in several places.  Put my books on the table;  they also stuck.  I told my 9 year-old friend about the problem;  she confessed it was maple syrup.

9th June – I’ve noticed that since I started blogging, I’ve stopped talking much.

10th June – Found out the previous owner of our new second-hand car was Lego.

11th June – On The Voice, the TV singing talent show, the coaches frequently say “I love you” to their protégés, who sometimes reply, “I love you, too”.  This love is a new fashion.

Friendship

FRIENDSHIP

Perhaps you, my blog readers, could help me understand something about this poem that my father wrote:  As you get towards the end you’ll see a line about a ‘flare’;  what do you think was happening?  Read the whole poem and let me know if you can enlighten me.

Sixty-nine refers to Hill 69 near Gaza, Palestine, where my father’s battalion was recovering after having defended Tobruk in Libya;  at Hill 69 they did further training as well as garrison and border protection.

The photo shows the first verse in his handwriting but I’ve transcribed all the verses, which you’ll see below the image.  I was inspired by the ‘Friendship’ theme of this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge to add this poem, which, you’ll find, is about friendship in war.

The poem is signed with my father’s initials, R.E.B.  I ask that it not be copied without my permission and without credit to him.

Red Kane of 69

“Something’s brewing,” said Red to his mate,
As they gazed along the line,
“It don’t get quiet for nothing,
Not here, at Sixty-nine.”
He thought of a time, two months ago,
He got a similar hunch,
And Jerrie came over in “Spitfires”,
And wiped out most of his bunch.

The “TRICK” was as old as the bloody hills,
The one they pulled that night.
In a couple of patched-up Spitfires,
They made that bloody flight;
All eyes looked in their direction,
The shout went up, “All’s Well”,
In came the bloody Spitfires,
Turning loose All Hell.

“I’ll square that deal, cobbers,” he said,
Damned near fit to howl,
“Even if it cost me me bloody life,”
“By bloody fair means or fowl;”
For he was a Dinkum Aussie,
Big and strong as a lion,
And he was a natural marksman too,
Red Kane, of Sixty-nine.

And now as he gazed across the sand,
Something to him was clear,
There was Jerry movement on tonight,
And to him came a great idea;
And so he spoke in whispers,
As he conversed with his mate,
Tonight they’d square a deal,
Regardless of their fate.

The Jerries moved with caution,
More cautious still, was Kane,
He wondered how his mate was,
If things panned out the same;
Complete in every detail now,
He lay face down, in prayer,
For five in every hundred yards,
He’d set and laid a flare.

That night, his mates were avenged,
Paid back, more than two-fold,
Paid by the help of his very own life,
For he now lay stiff and cold;
He’s gone to the great Beyond now,
A place of Perfect Design,
And greater love hath no man,
Than Red Kane of Sixty-nine.

Ronald E. Bruce, 1941
© Patricia Worth, 2012

366 unusual things: days 154-158

2nd June –  My daughter-in-law, dressed as Madeline from the book by Ludwig Bemelmans, dropped in after work.  She works in a bookshop.

3rd June – Heard a woman on the news complaining of child care centre costs, saying it costs almost as much as she earns but she keeps working, anyway, so she doesn’t lose her skills.  But if she raised her own child she would gain great mothering skills.

4th June – An academic who said he doesn’t read people’s blogs responded to my arm-twisting today to read two paragraphs from one of my posts.  Only two.

5th June – The dog in the tiny yard opposite my place chases his tail all day, round and round, drilling circles in the dirt (mud today).

6th June – With my head in a rack of coats in a clothes shop, I heard a customer say she needed to change a top for a bigger size because the one she bought was “a bit snug around the middle”.  The shop owner said, “‘Must be all that meat”.  I thought, wow, that was a bit rude!  Then I turned and saw that the customer was the lady butcher from a few shops away.

366 unusual things: days 149-153

28th May – Took some tartes au citron (French lemon tarts), made by me, to a French-Swiss friend.  Like taking flowers to a florist.  Got the recipe from her blog.  The recipe has ingredients for 3 large tarts, or 75 tartlets that might look like mine:

29th May – On The Voice, a TV singing competition, one of the contestants is a beautiful blind singer whose name is a palindrome:  Rachael Leahcar.

30th May – Another singer with a powerful voice drew this exclamation from her coach/judge, Seal:
“You’re possessed.  You must have done a deal with the devil to make that voice come out of you.”
But then he said,
“God bless you, darlin’.”

31st May – Just watched what looked like a red autumn leaf fluttering among yellow leaves on a tree.  But looking carefully I saw it was a red breast on a small grey bird.  A robin.  I’ve never seen one before.  They only pass through suburban gardens when migrating.

1st June – Read that Umberto Eco’s Italian original of The Name of the Rose has no semi-colons in it;  his machine didn’t have that key.

366 unusual things: days 144-148

23rd May – Rode my bike to work today for the first time (car dead).  Next to the bike path, ducks and galahs were dining together.

24th May – Read on the Via Lucis Photography blog that when building their Romanesque churches, the French moved more stone than was used in building the pyramids in all of Egyptian history.

25th May – On the radio I heard about a guy who goes to the dentist every year on his birthday so he doesn’t forget.  And he enjoys it.

26th May –  Sat at a café table outside in strong autumnal wind.  Sparrows were hopping over the salt and pepper shakers, pecking in the holes.  A strong gust of wind blew the froth from my cappuccino across the table.  A magpie came and pecked at my sandwich, through its wrapper.

27th May – Watching a one-year-old boy and his three-year-old brother toddling past my place, fair in the middle of the street.  Another five houses till they’re home.

366 unusual things: days 139-143

18th May – Just received an email telling me how much the sender is grateful for my friendship and that good things will happen if I send it to ten more people.  But there’s more;  I am promised that at 10.35 am tomorrow I’ll hear something I’ve been waiting to hear.

19th May – At 10.35 am I was teaching a girl who can’t read much.  I didn’t hear what I’ve been waiting to hear;  she still can’t read much.  This false prophecy had an unusual effect on me:  though I looked at the email only once, the exact time prediction played on my brain like an irritating jingle.

20th May – A woman in the Housing flats had her partner evicted by police and is now picking up all the beer cans and rubbish in the yard.

21st May – In the black of night I was driving out of a large country property when the tall wrought-iron gates automatically began closing towards me.  I waited a few seconds, then they opened.

22nd May – Waited at traffic lights behind a painted hippy holiday van with the message ‘Beer makes you see double, makes you feel single’.

Ailsa's travel photo challenge: Summer

Ailsa from the northern hemisphere has proposed a photo challenge:  summer.  http://wheresmybackpack.com/2012/05/18/summer/

Of course, I’m sitting here in the southern hemisphere, the heater blasting and the doors closed to keep the low low temperatures out.  It’s a good thing I have photos to remind me what summer is like.

Summer = beach.  I can’t get enough of the beach.  However, in recent years I’ve moved to Canberra, a few hours inland from the coast and now I don’t get much beach at all.  But when I do travel down to the coast, there’s a special compensation for the much cooler ocean temperatures which will keep me out of the water most of the time: the exquisite pleasure of walking on the rocks and reflecting on the constancy of the waves.  I’ve discovered that the rocky shoreline is pitted with rock pools and tiny caves for sea creatures.  This photo is one I took in a moment of delight at spotting crabs spotting me.