Comfort is the worst addiction

 

 

I am now happy enough to live in a house of my own, even in a single room of my own, as I have always loved my books and my things, but in the past - and sometimes still now - there was always another self, that was drawn by some instinct to live adventurously, to live by the skin of my teeth while I still had most of them.

I could have made a great deal more money had I stayed in one place, but I didn't just want to make money - though there were times when I wanted nothing more than to make more money - I always wanted to find that perfect spot in this world before I was carted off to the other one.

There are people who go to the same seaside resort every summer of their lives, and they are - well, that sort of people, and very nice and very sane people they are, too, but with me, boredom always drove me on. I always felt that there was always, always something more which is why I found myself unable to rest. Ever-changing places, ever-changing languages, ever-changing people, and ever-changing jobs, that, for me, was life.

If I had to work to live - and thank God for the necessity! working hard is the passport to an interesting life - a thousand times more I wanted to work in jobs that were ever-changing with people that were ever-changing in places that were ever-changing. I knew that the world would be a chaotic place if everyone were like me, and I feel sorry for and apologise to the people - and the one wonderful person in particular - whom I disappointed along the way, but that was me. I still don't know why.

Of course, one is never really happy travelling; one is most happy in remembering. I now have a lot of time doing that, in my own house, in my own room, having finally become addicted to the worst addiction: comfort.

 

Googlemap Riverbend

 

The Painted Veil

 

 

Somerset W. Maugham is one of my favourite writers and he was as great a reader as he was a writer and his stories are peppered with literary allusions. Even the title of his story "The Painted Veil" is a very apt literary allusion.

 

Sonnet:" Lift not the painted veil . . ."
by Percy Shelley, 1818

Lift not the painted veil which those who live
Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there,
And it but mimic all we would believe
With colours idly spread, --- behind, lurk Fear
And Hope, twin Destinies; who ever weave
Their shadows, o'er the chasm, sightless and drear.
I knew one who had lifted it --- he sought,
For his lost heart was tender, things to love,
But found them not, alas ! nor was there aught
The world contains, the which he could approve.
Through the unheeding many he did move,
A splendour among shadows, a bright blot
Upon this gloomy scene, a Spirit that strove
For truth, and like the Preacher found it not.

 

This story was made into a beautiful film, shot on location in China where the story is set. It has some of the most breathtaking scenery. Unfortunately, the most fitting literary allusion - indeed the "punchline" of the whole story - spoken by one of the protagonists, "The dog it was that died", has been left out of the film.

 

An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog

Good people all, of every sort,
Give ear unto my song;
And if you find it wondrous short,
It cannot hold you long.

In Islington there was a man,
Of whom the world might say
That still a godly race he ran,
Whene'er he went to pray.

A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he clad,
When he put on his clothes.

And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound,
And curs of low degree.

This dog and man at first were friends;
But when a pique began,
The dog, to gain some private ends,
Went mad and bit the man.

Around from all the neighbouring streets
The wondering neighbours ran,
And swore the dog had lost his wits,
To bite so good a man.

The wound it seemed both sore and sad
To every Christian eye;
And while they swore the dog was mad,
They swore the man would die.

But soon a wonder came to light,
That showed the rogues they lied:
The man recovered of the bite,
The dog it was that died.
-- Oliver Goldsmith

 

However, the film adds a tagline of its own: "Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people." And it does a good job of describing this journey. Read the story here and the veil shall be lifted!

 

Googlemap Riverbend

 

Back from our morning walk

 

 

We've just returned from our morning walk across the bridge and through the village. It's all so much easier now after they've adjusted all the traffic signs to Padma's height.

 

Raisin Toast $6
How many slices in a pack of Café Style Raisin Loaf? 18 - or 25 cents a slice!

 

The River Café was doing a brisk trade with all those bikies and then the members of the Vespa Club arrived, all good for a $25-breakfast. Peter from across the road was busily counting his five cars. He'd asked the Council to build another carport which was refused, so he's now parking his latest acquisition, a brightred sports coupé, at a neighbour's house.

Speaking of five, there are five OPEN HOUSES in Nelligen today - and that's not counting the other six properties for sale - click here. Nelligen seems to have suddenly become the real estate capital of Australia.

 

Click here

Click here

Click here
(Sold for $1,000,000 on 12 November 2025)

Click here

Click here

 

And that's not even counting "Riverbend". You've looked at the rest, now look at the best! - click here - but, please, form an orderly queue!

 

Googlemap Riverbend

 

Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'

 

 

I was up last night around one o'clock. I often am when I can't sleep because old memories haunt me or simply because I need a drink or, conversely, a pee. Last night it was the rain that woke me up. It was a soft and steady rain and I opened the window to listen to it, and the pitter-patter sent me off to sleep again.

Now it's just after seven o'clock and I've woken up to brilliant sunshine and the sound of birds, and all I can think of is "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'". It's one of those rare moments when I'm consciously grateful to be alive for no other reason than just that - being alive.

And as I stand in the bright sunlight in my favourite corner of the kitchen where the kettle and the toaster await to help me make a hot cup of coffee laced with milk and a buttered toast with plum jam, all I can add to it is "I've got a beautiful feelin', everything's goin' my way".

 

Googlemap Riverbend

 

The World Until Yesterday

 

 

If you were a frequent air traveller in the late 90s, you would have encountered Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" which festooned the shelves of every airport bookshop. I got my copy at Sydney airport and read it non-stop on a non-stop QANTAS flight to Shanghai in 1998.

 

 

In his most personal book to date, "The World Until Yesterday", Jared Diamond writes about his experiences over nearly five decades working and living in New Guinea, an island that is home to one thousand of the world's 7,000 languages and one of the most culturally diverse places.

Drawing on his fieldwork in New Guinea, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians and other cultures, Diamond explores how tribal peoples approach essential human problems, from child-rearing to old age to conflict resolution to health, and discovers that we have much to learn from traditional ways of life.

He unearthes remarkable findings - from the reasons why modern afflictions like diabetes, obesity and hypertension are largely non-existent in tribal societies, to the surprising cognitive benefits of multilingualism. As Diamond reminds us, the West achieved global dominance due to specific environmental and technological advantages, but Westerners do not necessarily have superior ideas about how to raise children, care for the elderly, or simply live well.

In keeping with my current more earth-bound lifestyle, I found my copy of "The World Until Yesterday" not at any airport but at Vinnies' op-shop.

 

Googlemap Riverbend

 

Other books by Jared Diamond:
Guns, Germs, and Steel : The fates of human societies
The Third Chimpanzee : The evolution and future of the human animal
Collapse : How societies choose to fail or succeed
Why Is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality