One of my favourite things to do is to embrace my love of music appreciation and experience the sounds of music creation that are new to me. NPR Tiny Desk Concerts (and intra pandemic Home Concerts) have been an enduring pleasure in this respect. Artists play just four songs with just the basics on hand and often in ways that are quite unexpected.
Here you can listen to half of Coldplay backed by the beautiful beautiful voices and enthusiasm of a choir in a way that I found a delight for being so unexpected. https://youtu.be/j82L3pLjb_0
I was asked to read the letters
With my father and my sisters
Written by my long dead mother
Lost words faint as whispers
He will struggle to see and read
So sharing seems a good idea
I will struggle to read and see
There's hurt combined with fear
Her pony tail her loving arms
My sisters in her face - and me
What will I learn of her aspirations
All the things she wanted to be
Sad blue of the paper blue of the pen
Blue in each letter written back then
There's blue in thinking about her again
When will I recover I don't know when
51 years later grief can rise be real
Camouflaged it waits in ambush
The loss the pain once more I feel
I have no trust in life
Maybe one day I'll let this blue sadness go
Release it to an infinitely clear blue sky
I'll stand tall throw back my arms and head
And no longer suffer what if or why
I knew fear When the bully turned his attention to me When his sneer settled into a satisfied smirk Accompanied by a condescending glare Comprised of evil glints behind the blackest of eyes and a palpably hot internal furnace of anger
He knowingly appraised me He looked into my very soul He asked himself the unspoken questions only I should have known the answers to, but he determined in a instant What vulnerability lies here? What weakness can I exploit to the point of causing immediate pain and then terrible ongoing hurt?
Thus I became a victim I let him use my own low self esteem as the leverage necessary to do me harm To render me powerless to resist To enable me to damage myself even further To punish myself for allowing the damage to be done
I became complicit in my own degradation and misery
The curve and swing of shapely hip Inclines my eye to stray aslip Invites a touch a lover’s grip That pulls you in for ear lobe nip
My hand upon your rising chest Tells me how deep you are at rest The rate and depth of rise and fall Is enough to tell a lover all
The fingertips that stroke my back Are fingertips with lover’s knack For tantalising or powerful pressure To change a mood for love or leisure
My lips upon your upraised mouth As tongues flicker lightly about Full and soft moist and wet I cannot forgo I’ll ne’er forget
The foot that strokes my leg in bed Before we sleep each night has said With this caress I love you each night A touch confirming love’s delight
The cheek that absorbs teardrops weight Is the cheek I brush for comfort’s sake At the pleasure of our love’s great joy At grief’s sadness when loss employs
My response to Lillian’s d’verse challenge to write a poem in a modern form called the Puente. The first and third stanza must have an equal number of lines and be connected by a second stanza bridging line demarked by the tilde. https://dversepoets.com
We dreamed of a bridge to adulthood When we bought a house looking good We’d settle as a family My wild days behind me Having scrimped and saved all we could
~the bridging finance broke us~
The deposit we mustered and paid The lender suspiciously delayed We were soon out of pocket Bridging costs on the docket Lost the house and felt quite betrayed
Download from the link at the end to view route photos.
Route Name / Address:
Nagambie – Murchison Loop
Start / Finish locations:
Nagambie Railway Station Prentice St., Nagambie 3608
Mode:
Road bike (or any other mode you prefer)
GPS 36.785292° S 145.160579° E
Difficulty:
Easy – as long as the distance is OK for you
Distance:
50km
Elevation:
211 – 145m
Topography:
Flat
Surfaces:
Sealed bitumen. Narrow around Kirwans Bridge and Goulburn Weir. Firm dirt shoulders. Murchison East has quite a bit of through traffic, but broad sealed shoulders. Morningside Rd has quite a bit of patching. It is the roughest section, not too bad.
If you wish to join the Rail Trail to Rushworth at Murchison (another 7 – 10km one way dependent on where you start), you will require a bike able to manage a gravel surface.
Description and Features:
Nagambie is well serviced, Murchison less so, but can offer accommodation, food and drink. This is flat river plains country. The route parallels the Goulburn River, Weir and major irrigation canals most of the way. There are various scenic sites, such as the aged Kirwans Bridge, broad vistas across prime grazing and cropping land, quality horse studs and wineries.
Riding conditions:
Generally, fairly low traffic during the week with more tourists about on the weekends. Some long straight stretches. There is little shelter from the elements on the road.
Hub & Spoke Cycling Route
Route Name:
Boho Foothills Loop
Start / Finish locations:
Violet Town Railway Station Corner Primrose and Cowslip St., Violet Town 3669
Mode:
eBike, road, hybrid, MTB
Map:
GPS 145.7164 -36.63884
Difficulty:
Intermediate: modest rises
Distance:
23km
Elevation:
179 – 252m
Topography:
Undulating terrain
Surfaces:
Good condition bitumen
Description and Features:
A pleasant loop that follows the line between the base of the Strathbogie Tableland and the plains surrounding Violet Town. Broad vistas, attractive landscapes, pleasant foothills and roadsides of aged River Red Gums.
Riding conditions:
Largely exposed to the elements
Anticlockwise Cues:
Start Violet Town Station
Head south east along Cowslip St
Straight Urmston St
Cross Hume Fwy
Straight Harrys Creek Rd
Left Hayes Rd
Right Boho Rd
Left Boho Church Rd
Left Smiths Rd
Left Boho Rd
Right Hayes Rd
Right Harrys Creek Rd
Straight Urmston St
Straight Cowslip ST
Finish Violet Town Station
Amenities (Violet Town):
Car parking
BBQ
Fuel
Shops
Seating
Parkland
Waterway
Playground
Picnic tables
Public toilets
Potable water
Walking tracks
Accommodation
Historic features
Sports Reserves
Swimming Pool
Railway station
Directional signs
Information signs
Off leash dog play
Flora and fauna habitat
Cautions:
Limbs may fall
Uneven ground
No potable water
Subject to flooding
Road surfaces vary
Snakes may be active
Beware of vehicle traffic
Mobile reception may be unreliable
Carry food, water, First Aid, be SunSmart
Be equipped for self-reliant riding
Restrictions:
Take rubbish with you
Historic relics are protected
Native flora and fauna are protected
Riders must use formed roads only
This morning’s interview with presenter Matt Dowling regarding my work on tracks and trails promotion in the Strathbogie region. Commences at 43.30minutes.
When the last butterfly flutters by
your seat on the grass
When the sun moves overhead
in one more timeless pass
When the creek’s empty water
flows by and on
When the creatures of the bush
all around you have gone
Will you sit and reflect
on what could have been
When you knew it was coming
it had been foreseen
Will you ask why you didn’t
when there was time and you could
While you sat on the grass
thinking I must then I should
Ruffy Store start and finish (check opening hours). Good condition gravel, broad vistas, bit of a climb back up.Map: Ruffy – Red Gate lane Loop
Hub & Spoke
Route Name:
Ruffy - Red Gate Lane Loop
Mode:
Gravel Grinder
Start / Finish locations:
Corner of Longwood – Ruffy Rd & Nolans Rd., Ruffy 3666
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Distance:
14.5km
Elevation:
394 – 547m
Topography:
Undulating with some steep inclines
Surfaces:
Longwood – Ruffy Rd is sealed
Nolans and Red Gate Lane are gravel
Description and Features:
Depart the Ruffy main street for rolling green hills of pasture, sweeping views and treed roadsides
Rocky outcrops
Riding conditions:
Little traffic, road conditions are generally good, can be very hot in summer and cold in winter
Options:
Clockwise or anti clockwise
Amenities (Ruffy):
Ruffy Store open intermittent hours or by booking
Car parking
Seating
Parkland
Playground
Accommodation
Historic features
Sports Reserves
Directional road signs
Information signs
Cautions:
Steep climbs
Soft shoulders
Uneven ground
No potable water
Slippery surfaces
Subject to flooding
Road surfaces vary
Snakes may be active
Beware of vehicle traffic
Mobile reception may be unreliable
Be mindful to keep within the Reserve
Carry food, water, First Aid, be SunSmart
Be equipped for self-reliant riding
Anticlockwise Cues:
Start corner of Longwood – Ruffy & Nolans Rd
Straight Nolans Rd (west)
Right Red Gate Lane
Right Longwood – Ruffy Rd
Finish corner of Longwood – Ruffy & Nolans Rd
A summary of Karl Jaspers’ writing, “Sunk in the noise of nationalism and technology, people become intellectually and emotionally stifled, stuck. The crowd rules. Slogans and rhetoric pass for meaningful conversations”. Marietta McCarthy, How philosophy can save your life. Penguin Australia 2009.
What have we learnt? A German survivor of the first and second world wars, Jaspers was an early 20th century philosopher. He still speaks to us with relevance, as if alive today. Nationalism is destructive. Those who seek advantage through manipulating others naive enough to follow blindly, to adopt the slogans of ill considered electronic media and rally to the flags of puppet masters – will be perpetrators of great harm.
However, Jaspers was not without hope. “Amidst discussion, a silence is possible in which people may listen together and hear the truth.”
Are we still able to effectively hear the truth, to discover and explore the scant remaining silence? Or have we sunk so deep into the swamp of nationalism and the noise of technology to be beyond positive, constructive, truth seeking communication?
It has been too long without you There has been too much time Worlds lie between us As I pay for my crime
My cell is my world of four hard walls
Spartan and bare
My memory is my cell forever I keep seeing you there
As each long long day passes .....
My sentence every minute
Gives way to darkness My loss lies within it
When I look through my barred window I expect in some light To see you running towards me Again my mind at flight
I pace I groan squat in the corners
Of this tiny space
Close and open my eyes And still see your face
I see you on the day as lovers we were wed I see you in the night on the matrimonial bed I see us on every outing all the things we did I see us laughing and loving as besotted kids I see your auburn fringe and wavy locks I see your long legs above bobby socks I see your bright blue eyes black long lashes I see your olive skin the smile that flashes I feel you in my arms in the softest embrace I remember all your charms I feel my disgrace
Where is your world now my love And is he there with you No I am not proud my love If I could bring you back I’d kiss you
Every corner, anticipation. Every crest, a new horizon.
It was the idea I loved. But, first came the words. The words were, “A winding track.” The words became the idea. The idea developed.
The idea of a two wheel dirt track ahead. It winds up a wooded hillside in the golden hour of late afternoon. This romantic winding track, no destination in sight, no point of origin, beckons. It’s mystery entices.
So, I now find myself travelling this track. I’m leaving things behind and I am excited by the unknown destination ahead. I am savouring the journey.
Savouring, now there’s a word! A word to savour. A word begets an idea, begets a reality.
Ah, here is the real joy, the savouring. The pleasure in the journey, the exciting anticipation of getting there. Wherever there may be.
My recently acquired touring ebike. Battery assist range 150km. It includes an auto power selection mode. Pedal pushing is always required, but you can choose how much effort to put in. You will keep fit!
Sub title: Central Victoria, the Centre for eBikes.
As I have aged (now approaching my mid 60s), I have progressed from road bikes to mountain bikes to hybrids and now, ebikes.
My message to everyone out there who rides or is contemplating riding is “Get on your bike!” If you are fit and able enough to provide your own power, find the bike that best suits your journeying and ride. If you think you are past it, reconsider. From 8 to 80 years old, anyone with balance who can get astride a bike frame now has bicycle touring at their feet!
With the advent of ebikes for all modes of cycling, the Central Victoria region is perfect for you and your bike. There are many kilometres of un-trafficked rural roads and tracks traversing diversely beautiful landscapes. You will be amazed at where an ebike can take you, from sealed flat stretches across the plains, amongst rustic rolling foothills, to tall treed dirt tracks through mountain forests.
Many people have asked me about the different modes of cycling I refer to in the cycling route descriptors I publish. Most often, about Gravel Grinders. Gravel Grinders as a specialty appeared somewhere in amongst my cycling experience. I missed their rise until alerted by a mad keen cycling cousin.
This alert coincided with the commencement of my mapping and publishing of walks and cycling routes in and around the beautiful Strathbogie region. A good port of call for those interested is the Gravel Grinders Melbourne fb page. The article linked below may be American, but is brief and indicative of gravel bike features for the uninitiated, as well as being fodder for dreamers. It is worth noting that one of the bikes listed is an ebike.
Small Flies and Other Wings by Christine Ay Tjoe (Oil on canvas) 2013
Art in the pink, the hope that it brings
Wings painted from, the smallest of things
The joy of the colour, the mess of it all
A pleasure to view, this artist's call
Not quite abstract, the painting surreal
Based in fact, then allowed to congeal
Into pastel riot, of colour and lines
Into a many makes whole, artwork refined
What underlies, there's tissue paper petals
The subject mixed up, then left to settle
What was the intent, forethought soft light
To please the eye, or just to feel right
So busy so active, yet here is still life
Outlines overshot, not cut like a knife
In the blur there is movement, on a canvas full
But the subject is lifeless, the message - killed
When you look deeper, what do you see
Something different to me, most certainly
I see part of you, I see part of me
I see a gift, a sadness, in humanity
Did this idea form, in the artist's mind
Develop and grow, the mind to bind
An irresistible force, the desire to create
A bane and pleasure, that will never wait
poetography.ink 