Seventy may be the new fifty but 9 p.m. is the new midnight for me which means I'm up again at the crack of dawn. Well, at least I finally got myself my eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but so what?
Yesterday's social colander was filled with a visit to my dermatologist at Mollymook to whom I pointed out a growing wart. "Nothing to worry about; that's old age," he cheerfully informed me, being a mere fifty or so himself. Lunch at the Ulladulla Bowling Club wasn't that much fun either as the tables were spaced so far apart that we couldn't see what our socially-distanced neighbours were eating.
Padma bought some more wool for her crocheting - from the French 'crochet' meaning 'small hook' but, of course, you knew that, didn't you? - while I scored a couple more books at my favourite pre-loved LIONS bookshop: E.H. Gombrich's "A Little History of the World" and Brian Kennedy's "Australian Place Names". Did you know that Surfers Paradise was originally known as Umbigumbi and then as Elston. "Where are you going for your holidays, mate?" "Ah, the missus and the kids want to spend a week at Umbigumbi." Yeah, right! Anyway, in 1925 a James Freeman Cavil built a hotel at Elston and called it Surfers Paradise Hotel. In 1933 Cavill and other business people succeeded in having the name changed from Elston to Surfers Paradise. Good on them!
As an interesting aside, a similarly intriguing story is attached to the naming of the suburb of Sunshine in Melbourne. A little boy was born - by immaculate conception, of course, as they were all good Catholics - to a young - well, youngish - couple at 19 Cornwall Road in Braybrook. Despite his knobbly knees which at that age still looked cute, they called him their Little Sunshine, and soon the name took hold and the whole suburb was named after him. Unfortunately, he chose to become a boring accountant and spent the rest of his life in total obscurity.
My own obscurity is assured as between now and my next medical appointment I won't leave "Riverbend" for anything other than putting out the bin for Friday morning's collection. In fact, I must do it right now so I won't forget. And that's about it for this week's social colander.
