Friday, February 27, 2009

Preview!


Susan Spiers (nee Hinebaugh) and I met as teenagers in Singapore in 1960. She was going to the American School there and I was at home on holiday from school in Australia. We started a correspondence that lasted several years. And even when marriages and moving saw it dwindle, then expire, we kept many of each other's letters.
That correspondence will now be exhumed in a new, as yet nameless blog.
I have my old letters to Susan, she has hers to me.
The little I have read so far of my old letters reveals a prodigiously pretentious poseur. My current friends will recognise me easily.
We will let you know when the blog bursts forth.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Back in Byron


What are the issues in Australia? There should be only one: the bushfires. What does climate mean? How do we live with harsh and changing climates? But following the ritual indulgence in sorrow, it is no longer a political issue. The sorrow is real and the instant rallying of people, institutions, commerce and sport/entertainment showed Australia at its solidaric finest expression of empathy and solidarity.
But politics are what steer Australia, combining celebrity exposure, power, male vengeance and an unfamiliarity with democratic discussion. Many would be sceptical that the government will keep its promises to rebuild what the bushfires destroyed. It will be easier to lower the flag on 7 February for a few years, as decreed by the prime minister.
Why this crudeness in the country that rose proudly from colonialism to great physical independence and pride? Partly because our antecedents were autocratic to the point of whipping people. And partly because racial differences are present, wide and obvious, allowing a culture of extremism.
Oh, and the beach ...
It tells me every day not to worry. That the environment is sporadically so pure and energising that hope remains.