I am quite pleased with myself. I managed to write the date on the title of this post and not put 2012 instead of 2013. I am a little more with it than usual. Which is surprising given that the heatwave covering Australia at the moment is rendering me giddy.
We seem to be getting a bit soft in this country. The land of sun and sand, heat and flies where the men eat their sandwiches with dirt in them and like it. Or that is the way it use to be according to the myths and legends of the nation.
I think we have been spoilt over the last few years. I can remember growing up and the heat of the summer, day after day was an absolute killer yet we would simply grin and bear it. Summer in Australia. If you can’t handle it son, you need to harden up! No talk of global warming and carbon emissions. We just accepted it.
Now the mercury hits 40 degrees and everyone picks up their bat and ball and goes home to laze under fans and air conditioners. Softies!
It”s a good thing that Australian cricketers are still made of the right stuff, hurling leather and willow in the midday sun, locked in sweaty combat with the visiting tourists. What else would we do on such a summer’s day if we couldn’t ensconce ourselves in front of the television and watch the flannelled fools strut their stuff?
I think we have been spoiled over the last few years. The weather in general, without doubt has turned a little crazy over the last decade or so but we seem to have been spared the driving heat, day after day for weeks at a time. We have gotten use to things being milder at this time of year and when the heat hits us we surrender to it without pause for thought.
Of course the downside to such heat in Australia is the increased dangers of bushfires and there are many burning across the country as I write and thoughts are with all those affected by such calamities especially in Tasmania at the moment where many people have lost their homes and it appears there is some loss of life as well. Again, the dangers of Australia in the summertime are illustrated in stark reality.
As for myself, I have not been lying prone on the couch watching television or stuck in my room canvassing my thoughts online or seeing who may be perusing my Facebook page, leaving notifications to signify that they found my links amusing. Nor have I been cooling myself under the air conditioner, at least not all the time.
I have been out on my bike, doing some walking and pruning and watering our backyard. All before the noon day sun strikes home of course but I haven’t been inanimate.
It has been some time since I rode my racing machine as I have been doing most of my exercise on my mountain bike and the twin realities of cycling struck me with some force during the week.
The first day I was out, riding along the river which runs into Lake Burley Griffen, behind the military facility which crowns the heights further to the south, the sheer enjoyment of cycling, the freedom of being out alone, not a care in the world, feeling good and riding within myself was clearly apparent and I remembered for the first time in a while exactly why cycling is such a great pastime. My enthusiasm dimmed a little as I struggled out of Weston Creek and Woden, over the hill to Tuggeranong but it was a pleasant ride and I made it home, a little hot and bothered but pleased such memories had come flooding back.
The next day was a different story altogether! Over exactly the same course, the fatigue had set in and my lack of fitness had knocked the top off my condition and, combined with the heat of the day made the ride a Tour de Purgatory and the twin facade of the sport become brutally apparent to me once more. No matter. My enthusiasm was a little battered and my morale shaken and I felt a day off was in order considering the accumulated tiredness of two days of exertion was certainly affecting me.
So yesterday I left the bike in the shed and did some work around home, mainly in the backyard and the cooling storms which came out of the south west last night certainly made life a little more pleasant and I slept soundly.
I have been up early this morning taking a stroll with Linda and I will shortly take my leave and attempt another loop of the local sites on my bike.
The trouble with cycling around Canberra on a Sunday is the pain in neck pedestrians who clutter the bike paths and make riding a little more eventful than it should be. On a Sunday one really needs to be out early to avoid the stress of such encounters but today I will try to take the backstreets and paths which are less travelled and perhaps make it an abbreviated day and try to do a longer route tomorrow.
So, for now I will leave my blog and I hope wherever you are you can make something of the day and stay calm and considered in this heat that has us all so rattled.
Until next time.
We seem to be getting a bit soft in this country. The land of sun and sand, heat and flies where the men eat their sandwiches with dirt in them and like it. Or that is the way it use to be according to the myths and legends of the nation.
I think we have been spoilt over the last few years. I can remember growing up and the heat of the summer, day after day was an absolute killer yet we would simply grin and bear it. Summer in Australia. If you can’t handle it son, you need to harden up! No talk of global warming and carbon emissions. We just accepted it.
Now the mercury hits 40 degrees and everyone picks up their bat and ball and goes home to laze under fans and air conditioners. Softies!
It”s a good thing that Australian cricketers are still made of the right stuff, hurling leather and willow in the midday sun, locked in sweaty combat with the visiting tourists. What else would we do on such a summer’s day if we couldn’t ensconce ourselves in front of the television and watch the flannelled fools strut their stuff?
I think we have been spoiled over the last few years. The weather in general, without doubt has turned a little crazy over the last decade or so but we seem to have been spared the driving heat, day after day for weeks at a time. We have gotten use to things being milder at this time of year and when the heat hits us we surrender to it without pause for thought.
Of course the downside to such heat in Australia is the increased dangers of bushfires and there are many burning across the country as I write and thoughts are with all those affected by such calamities especially in Tasmania at the moment where many people have lost their homes and it appears there is some loss of life as well. Again, the dangers of Australia in the summertime are illustrated in stark reality.
As for myself, I have not been lying prone on the couch watching television or stuck in my room canvassing my thoughts online or seeing who may be perusing my Facebook page, leaving notifications to signify that they found my links amusing. Nor have I been cooling myself under the air conditioner, at least not all the time.
I have been out on my bike, doing some walking and pruning and watering our backyard. All before the noon day sun strikes home of course but I haven’t been inanimate.
It has been some time since I rode my racing machine as I have been doing most of my exercise on my mountain bike and the twin realities of cycling struck me with some force during the week.
The first day I was out, riding along the river which runs into Lake Burley Griffen, behind the military facility which crowns the heights further to the south, the sheer enjoyment of cycling, the freedom of being out alone, not a care in the world, feeling good and riding within myself was clearly apparent and I remembered for the first time in a while exactly why cycling is such a great pastime. My enthusiasm dimmed a little as I struggled out of Weston Creek and Woden, over the hill to Tuggeranong but it was a pleasant ride and I made it home, a little hot and bothered but pleased such memories had come flooding back.
The next day was a different story altogether! Over exactly the same course, the fatigue had set in and my lack of fitness had knocked the top off my condition and, combined with the heat of the day made the ride a Tour de Purgatory and the twin facade of the sport become brutally apparent to me once more. No matter. My enthusiasm was a little battered and my morale shaken and I felt a day off was in order considering the accumulated tiredness of two days of exertion was certainly affecting me.
So yesterday I left the bike in the shed and did some work around home, mainly in the backyard and the cooling storms which came out of the south west last night certainly made life a little more pleasant and I slept soundly.
I have been up early this morning taking a stroll with Linda and I will shortly take my leave and attempt another loop of the local sites on my bike.
The trouble with cycling around Canberra on a Sunday is the pain in neck pedestrians who clutter the bike paths and make riding a little more eventful than it should be. On a Sunday one really needs to be out early to avoid the stress of such encounters but today I will try to take the backstreets and paths which are less travelled and perhaps make it an abbreviated day and try to do a longer route tomorrow.
So, for now I will leave my blog and I hope wherever you are you can make something of the day and stay calm and considered in this heat that has us all so rattled.
Until next time.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 