Warm ... Warmer

As we approach election day (tomorrow; Saturday) we quickly approach--and bump into with a jolt--spring.

It's spring in Sydney! And I want to sing with e.e. cummings about the mudlicious world; but it is not mudlicious here and the children have not ceased to play for three or more months of hibernation. There is no cracking and melting snow, no sudden exposure to the forgotten sun, no early blooms. It is a much quieter affair--spring in Sydney--signaled by smaller movements, less evident details.

The days are more dreamy and the sun more striking. The people more bare and more colorful.

Yesterday as I stood on the sidewalk waiting for the light to change, I felt the sun strong on my cheeks and nose. Though the sun never really disappeared in winter, its spring visage is different. It is yellower, starker--I really felt it on my cheeks yesterday, enveloping me in in its warmth. It covered the streets, and washed over the half-bare bodies. People wearing t-shirts and short skirts, sat outside and didn't get cold.

The mood has changed. Though Sydney is by no means a frantic city by world standards, it is still a big city, with traffic jams and anxious people waiting. But this first week of spring issues in a slower, more relaxed pace, a pace that makes place for a moment to stop and take in the warmth of the sun, take off the winter layers, and take a seat outside. Everyone in Sydney, it seems, is on a break. And this break has something large, warm and dreamy about it. It's not only the koalas that dream away perched on the gum trees. The people do too.

At Paddington Market

At Weekly Farmers' Market

So in honor of the relaxed pace of Sydney, I composed a humorous poem about the way that language is used here--requiring the least amount of effort.


When your relatives are 'relos'
And vegetarian friends are 'veggos'
When Salvation Army is 'Salvos'
And avocados are 'avos'

When breakfast is 'brekkie'
And a biscuit a 'bikki'

When prepositions are dispensable
('A week from Thursday' is
'Thursday week')

And you don't need definite articles
('go to the hospital' is
'go to hosiptal')

When the barista is your mate
Or buddy
And you order a 'cap'
Or 'dandy'

You know that you are
Speaking with an
Aussie!!

***

Sydney Uni under Sydney Blue Sky

But it would be wrong to highlight the warmth of the spring and overlook the ever-present warmth of Sydney. Though it is much warmer in its red center, Australia's periphery does not lack in warmth. This is the feeling that has been with me since we arrived. A nurturing enveloping warmth. In turn, the ocean's horizons create an openness, a breathing space for the soul. And with these two senses, I feel both grounded and contemplative at the same time. A steady security that gives way to the aspiration to delve into the significant.

Ruins in Sydney