2016-2020

It is a decade to the month since I started my 'autoblography' and - yikes - three decades since I finished school. The last entry was one of contrasts and I suppose this one is too.

I spent more time with Lukas as we worked together on sorting Dad’s estate, from decluttering his stuff to arranging an ashes-scattering event in rural Maldon in 2016. I hung with Lukas now-and-then at his new project site. He has rented an inner-suburban warehouse in which craftspersons can hire creative workspaces. The common area can also host events and he has even converted part of the place into his living quarters.

In my own working life, assisting special needs students at tertiary institutions freed me from welfare and, while casual, became my longest-term role. It could be difficult however, as the balance of roles offered shifted more recently to upper-secondary vocational students with behavioural conditions, whose raucous classmates and smartphones perpetually distract them from school work.

I maintained some civic involvement and am pretty happy with how I do that. But more of my spare time was devoted to personal interests. I was now only an audience member at MonUCS concerts but still participated in a few intervarsity choral festivals.

Some choral friends maintained regular contact via events like pot-luck lunches hosted by the Woodgates and entertaining soirees held at the Kerferd Road share household. Belinda & Rohan & M-ra invited me to dinners and video nights. I also continued to go on many dates with Belinda. A particular focus for us was exploring galleries, museums and zoos. We even did this on holidays in Sydney visiting Sarah & Damo.

My furthest travel by far was a solo holiday in 2017 to England and Wales, a long-postponed and much-cherished memory for me now. But there are only so many times one can do things like that, and I spent more time having fun at home.

My D&D game came to an eventual end but then I started indulging in that other old hobby of collecting Transformers. This went beyond browsing shops to attending second-hand toy bazaars and collection events with friends such as the Bowies.

Another thing to do was visiting suburban festivals, such as Live At Warrawee in Oakleigh, from around 2018. Our local government hosted various live bands, food trucks and community stalls, and I gathered friends together for picnics there. Then there was the opening of the nerdy Pixel Bar across from Huntingdale Station, which provided a very convenient setting to meet for a few drinks. It seems like this was still a time of fun, but it contrasted with its past because the number and variety of friends coming to things dwindled. Friends of different generations, some more rapidly than others, were settling into lives of work and family.

I was given more responsibility too. By 2019 Mum finally accepted she needed to move into aged care and her kids took charge. Once more Lukas and I were decluttering and this time it was a vastly bigger job. There was also a ton of adminstrivia in finding and getting her into a decent nursing home. And then there were the many months of fuss as Mum herself fitfully adjusted to residential life. It took close to 12 months to find a semblance of normality. We started having some fun at her local cafe and in a visit to the Darebin Parklands of her youth. But then global pandemic hit and severely limited our movements and face-to-face contact.

Coronavirus has changed much in our lives. Hardly surprising for a once-in-a-century calamity. Suddenly tiny changes in a life close to home become novel. I did some cat-sitting for Jen just a suburb or so away and it felt like a short holiday. Otherwise my life is pretty sedate except possibly for a rich internal life.

I had to overcome my technophobia and buy some new tech to allow me to get with the huge trend of video conference calling. Craft went online and I sometimes attend. I also partake in a semi-regular session linking Melbourne (Jen) with London (Steve & Nieves) and Edinburgh (Paul & Helen). Sharing holiday houses is more fun but this is better than nothing.

One of the more surprising uses of Zoom for me has been involvement in a local trivia night with strangers. I was vetted for invitation to it by the operators of my favourite local cafe (which I visit via creek walks). I’m getting into this recurrent activity slowly. Neighbourbood interaction has never been much of a thing in my suburban life but, if ever there was a time to revive some neglected practices it is now.

2020 has got me thinking that proactive change is more important yet also more difficult than it was. I have some aims for once we get past all of this. One is moving address to something that better fits changing circumstances. Another is assessing whether my job still does that. Yet another is more travel even if within smaller horizons. Then there is concerted creativity such as a short story anthology set in my fantasy world. Finally, forming closer bonds with particular friends is somethng I desire. The last decade and especially the present historic moment has shown how worthwhile that can be.

For now I’m done reminiscing. Possibly I will make more such posts in another five years or so. Of course I could at any time be hit by a Coronavirus infected bus and if so, the moment has been prepared for. Ages ago I blogged on what sort of funeral I would wish to have. Or better yet I shall look both ways while sporting a mask.