2021-2025

The five years since my last autoblography instalment seem to have gone by fast and yet what happened during that time? I will try to cover some of that here.

2021 was much like the year that preceeded it - dominated by pandemic. One effect of that experience on me is a sense that any home like mine that includes some yard and closeness to both shops and parkland is worth feeling satisfied with. But once lockdowns ended they left a lingering sense of nothing much happening. Just sitting and watching was seductive.

It took a while to get back out and I had always chosen friends who are more interesting than exciting. Our naturally sedantary ways were accentuated by recent events and that was frustrating. I wanted to get together more and in larger groups. But maybe I cannot blame the times because we are also getting older. Besides which, a quick look over records says that plenty still happenend in the last few years.

Sensitive to the concerns of others, I divided a big celebration of mine into two somewhat smaller events to mathematically reduce the potential number of infectious connetections. But we have gotten more self-assured since and, besides, most events tend to be small. I marked an anniversary with high tea at the Windsor. Saw some quirky art in the refurbished Flinders Street Station Ballroom. Witnessed the wonder of our own triceratops skeleton at Melbourne Museum. Wandered Lightscape at the Botanic Gardens. Camped at a farm. A key household in my life hosts Solstice gatherings. I revisited things that I had been missing - billiards and bowling and karaoke. And along the way some old connections have been maintained.

I cannot forget my return to some travel. I went both interstate and overseas. One thing I notice from those journeys is that it takes more than a week of intense contact in a tour group for me to form friendships. It can take several months or more but that is happening in two unusual ways for me.

One took the form of getting to know some area neighbours via a favourite local cafe. That venue has now closed (the operators wanting a change of pace) but the connections have persisted for me in the form of a continuing D&D campaign hosted by another operator in the same set of shops. Our game group is refreshingly intergenerational and works surprisingly well.

Another is that I now do recreational things with a few workmates. This is partly because we have a decent 'culture fit' and partly becuase I have been working in the same course now for a while. Those classes in general adult education draw on a mix of backgrounds and ability levels in a way that is both challenging and rewarding. But back to those workmates - we have been sampling different cuisines and taking train rides to regional towns during holidays. Thus I have new human connections even if I still wish for more of the old ones.

There are things in life other than friends and family however. I still try to be both creative and civic. This involves bite-sized chunks of involvement in whatever project or cause. The smallest campaign I was involved in may also have been the most successful. It turned the 800 bus (the same one I took to uni way back at the start of adult life) into a more frequent and longer-running service that extends to Sundays. I still use that bus now and I'm happy to see this small boon for so many commuters.

Getting off a bus can sometimes be a bit jarring to my joints. This is one of many reminders that I'm getting old. I try to keep active and well and connected but it is an effort. I supppose writing like this is also an act of self-preservation. And I still wake finding I look forward to something every day. Continuity thus persists alongside change.

If however I somehow perish short of the next instalment then the moment has been prepared for. Ages ago I blogged on what sort of funeral I would wish to have. I will hold that in abeyance for as long as I can.