Wednesday was RU ok? day. I rang a friend on Wednesday and asked him that question. Not in any general sense, or because it was ‘that’ Wednesday, but because I knew that he and his wife were facing a very difficult few days. An old tumour on her spinal column that had been excised 15…
Since the start of lockdown, I’ve been getting out for a walk at least once a day. Sometimes twice. On the way back I call into a local café and buy a takeaway coffee – skinny flat white 1 sugar extra hot. Then I go sit on a bench and look out over Port Philip…
The idea that Spring is just around the corner fills my heart, my ears and my eyes with joy. So much is happening. So much that was lying dormant and gathering energy for the next few weeks and months, is starting to emerge. My orchids have started to bloom. The Grevilleas with their characteristic hair-brush…
There are some books that I read only once and then pass them on. There are some that I keep because I have a mind to read them again. There are some that have travelled with me since 1972 when I first came to Australia; they sit on my shelves as a little cluster of…
The other morning I was sitting by a window in what we call the ‘front room’; only because it’s the one closest to the street and at the front end of the house. It faces North. It’s the window which seems to catch most of the sun for much of the day. On that particular…
I can think of quite a few situations which have caught me by surprise and touched me very deeply. I’d like to share just two such moments with you because they relate to the 2nd and 6th of August. On the 2nd of August 1975, our first child was born. It was in the days…
When David asked me to take this worship service, I immediately looked up the readings and found this old story of Jacob crossing the Jabbok River. It resonated with me immediately, so much so that I decided to paint the image. I thought of the many times that I had made river crossings in the…
This has been a really strange week. The strangest of all the weeks since this thing we have come to know as ‘lock-down’ began. It’s been a serious week. Lots of things to think about and digest. Allow me to share some of that thinking with you. This piece is a bit longer than usual,…
During ‘lockdown’ I’ve spent a bit of time sorting through most of the photographs stored on my computer as well as the much older ones kept in several shoe boxes. You know, doing the kind of thing you say you will do when you have a bit more time to do it. Sifting and sorting.…
Clouds come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some look light and fluffy, others appear menacing and apocalyptic. As someone who likes to paint seascapes, it took me quite a while to work out how to reproduce them on a canvass, and one thing I’ve picked up along the way is that while they…