Last throw of the dice

 

 

An old friend in Cairns sent me wishes for a "Happy New Year", to which he added, "... and a speedy sale of 'Riverbend' and the biggest garage sale ever seen!" A big garage sale is long overdue to rid myself of this huge accumulation of clutter over the last thirty years, but I don't hold out much hope for a speedy sale of "Riverbend" after the recent cooling of the real estate market.

Still, as Alexander Pope so succinctly put it, hope springs eternal, and so, in a (desperate?) last throw of the dice I took five minutes out of my busy schedule to rewrite my advertisement on www.realestate.com.au:

 

“They’re not making any more of it.” Remember what Mark Twain said when counselling investment in land? “They’re not making any more of it.” Land appreciates, buildings depreciate, so when you buy a house, invest in dirt disguised as a house. More than 80% of the value of "Riverbend" is in the dirt underneath it. It's a RODWELL – a Robust Older Dwelling on Well Located Land - the sort of house that appreciates the fastest. More than five years ago, the Valuer-General assessed its LAND VALUE ALONE at $2,637,000. Since then we have had sewerage and town water connected, and land values have shot up further. And yet, for little more than say 20% you also get a massive two-storey brick residence, plus several other structures and countless other improvements, and of course absolute deepwater frontage all along its seven acres. Valuation and price aside, what the property is really all about is its unique location. The tranquillity and the absolute privacy and beauty of the river draw you to it. If you are looking for an idyllic lifestyle where the only alarm clock in the morning is a bunch of kookaburras, where you can sit on a huge verandah overlooking the river and watch amazing sunsets, and where you are serenaded to sleep at night by the sound of frogs, you will love it here. If you thought that it was no longer possible to find paradise on earth, think again! (If you are a cashed-up buyer with just that little bit of money missing, vendor's finance is also available.)

 

How whelmed will the response be — over- oder under- ?

 

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The Good Life

 

 

When I last walked into a bookshop and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?", she replied that if she told me, it would defeat the purpose. Eventually I found the self-help section all by myself, and picked up Hugh Mackay's thoughtful reflections on "The Good Life".

I still read it, especially on a bad day, when I turn to this part:

"I actually attack the concept of happiness. The idea that — I don’t mind people being happy — but the idea that everything we do is part of the pursuit of happiness seems to me a really dangerous idea and has led to a contemporary disease in Western society, which is fear of sadness. It’s a really odd thing that we’re now seeing people saying “write down three things that made you happy today before you go to sleep” and “cheer up” and “happiness is our birthright” and so on. We’re kind of teaching our kids that happiness is the default position. It’s rubbish. Wholeness is what we ought to be striving for and part of that is sadness, disappointment, frustration, failure; all of those things which make us who we are. Happiness and victory and fulfillment are nice little things that also happen to us, but they don’t teach us much. Everyone says we grow through pain and then as soon as they experience pain they say, “Quick! Move on! Cheer up!” I’d like just for a year to have a moratorium on the word “happiness” and to replace it with the word “wholeness.” Ask yourself, “Is this contributing to my wholeness?” and if you’re having a bad day, it is."

Are you having a bad day? Turn to Hugh Mackay! Here's the man himself:

 

 

 

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Just me and Mozart

 

 

He even took the gramophone with him on safari. Three rifles, supplies for a month, and Mozart." Unlike Denys Finch Hatton, I never carried three rifles but the music of Mozart - at first in vinyl, then on cassette, then CD, now on a USB stick - was close at hand wherever I went.

Mozart's clarinet concerto in A major, K. 622, Adagio is simply music from the gods. Coupled with the breathtaking scenery from 'Out of Africa', those clarinets, oboes and cellos touch that melancholy mood which makes it all worthwhile being a member of the human race.

 

As for hot, yes, it is really HOT! - click here

 

It's only eight o'clock in the morning but the computer already displays a heat warning. I'll make today a do-nothing day: do nothing and listen to nothing, no television, no radio, no Trump — just me and Mozart.

 

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P.S. Of course, I'm always concerned about your further education, so allow me to add something "further" about that 'K. 622' in Mozart's clarinet concerto in A major: the 'K' stands for 'Köchel' and refers to the 'Köchel-Verzeichnis', the definitive chronological and thematic catalog of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's compositions, created by the Austrian Ludwig Ritter von Köchel and first published in 1862, which makes the word 'Köchel' an eponym — but you already knew that, Des, didn't you?

 

A quick dash into town

 

 

There's really nothing better on a hot day like today than sitting by the river to keep cool, but we promised to see our friends in town and so we went (of course, if I had stayed home I wouldn't have missed BHP opening at $48.49 and may've offloaded some; they closed the day down at $47.70 but still up 48 cents from yesterday).

 

 

As if to make up for what I missed out on BHP, I picked up this little gem at Vinnies: "Half the Perfect World". I'd been looking at it on ebay for a while but always baulked at paying forty dollars plus postage, and there it was for two dollars at my favourite op-shop. And if that wasn't already enough, I found Leonard Cohen's "Book of Longing". Only those who follow this blog will see the connection between Hydra Island, Leonard Cohen, George Johnston ("My Brother Jack"), and my time in Greece.

For good measure, I also picked up a Simon Winchester book I hadn't read yet, "A Crack in the Edge of the World", and what promises to be a good romp, "Changing Gears - A Pedal-Powered Detour from the Rat Race". I couldn't wait to get home to start reading, but first we had lunch at the club with our friends. The view was excellent, the company equally so, and the food — well, what one would expect from a club.

 

 

We are home again with the blinds drawn to keep the heat out. Even the computer is displaying a heat warning! And it's only Wednesday, with rising temperatures forecast for the rest of the week and the weekend.

 

 

It's not something you'd often see in Germany, is it, Ralf Goette? 😂

 

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I'm obsessed not only with apostrophes!

 

Those shirts and shorts are straight out of K-Mart, with their fold-marks still showing
(I have an eye for these things because I often rushed into David Jones' before work on a Monday morning after having misspent yet another weekend without doing my laundry)

 

It's just after six in the morning and I was going to step outside onto the verandah to take a photo of the mighty Clyde River which is quietly flowing like the Don - are you a fan of Mikhail Sholokhov? - before the daily onrush of the tourists because the holiday season isn't over yet, but I can't take a photo because the river is all fogged in, which is a sign of a hot day to come.

Instead, I am showing you a photo of Mark & Steph, Taj, Harlo, Hendrix, Sabre and Baby Bodhi (this looks like a spelling bee; what happened to good ol' English names?) According to their website, they are the family behind the Se7en Cafe (I am typing this without the acute accent to be true to their website) which the former "Drain Surgeon" Frank and I have been supporting by having our weekly "Kaffeeklatsch" on their premises.

But not today! It'll be too hot today to sit in their crowded and noisy café (back to my acute accent), and I've just rung the "Drain Surgeon" to suggest that we meet in the air-conditioned comfort of the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club (they must have removed the apostrophe altogether after I had told them that it was misplaced in their "Batemans Bay Soldier's Club" car signage). They sell some beautiful cheese cake, too!

Having just looked at the overnight London and New York prices of BHP, I may be able to afford more than just one piece of cake because London finished at £24 and New York, which is still trading, stands at US$32.42. At their respective conversion rates, that would suggest an Australian opening price of $48.15, up by another 93 cents from yesterday's close.

As you may have gathered, I'm obsessed not only with apostrophes!

 

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