Survivors

It's good to see that some Spring flowers are survivng all the heavy, cold winds and rain!


White gems and shadows
Clustered together for strength
Tiny energy


Linking to:
Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Still

My quiet moment
My time to just be silent
My time to be still


Linking to:
Weekend in Black and White

Flying High

Gentle rolling clouds
Dark wings soaring into light
Inspiring morning


Linking to:
SkyWatch Friday
Himmelsk

ExxonMobil, Melbourne

Shiny sign outside ExxonMobil's head office in Melbourne.
This is Australia's oldest petroleum company, operating since 1895.
It has a processing plant on Long Island Point near Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula.
Once known as Mobil Oil Australia, a merger with Esso Australia (oil and gas) in 1999 produced the current name.


Shiny, simple sign
Just the name without graphics
Stylish street presence


Linking to:
Signs, Signs

Urban Nature

Fountain in Melbourne on St Kilda Road between Flinders Street Station and the shrine.


Nature's urban world
Parting cityscape clutter
Injecting a soul

Stories of Nature
Chapters reserved for water
Earth's dancing spirit


Linking to:
Sensational Haiku Wednesday - Chapters
NatureFootstep Waters
Outdoor Wednesday
Water World Wednesday

Red in the Rain

 

Even in the rain, distant reds still seem to shine through.

A blurry moment

Mistified with heavy rain

But any red glows

Linking to: 

Ruby Tuesday 2

Icarus' Sister?

David Salle - Flying Down (2006)

He loved three things alone:
 White peacocks, evensong,
 Old maps of America.

 He hated children crying,
 And raspberry jam with his tea,
 And womanish hysteria. ...

And he married me

Anna Akhmatova (1889 - 1966).



She loved four things alone
Candlelight, classical realms
Ambient music and feathered wings

She hated my thrill of heights
And my long hours
And drunken spirits

And she left me...



Linking to:
Magpie Tales #136
Poets United - Poetry Pantry

Feathered Shadow

A still life of wings
Feathers gather webs of time
Shadows of journeys


Linking to:
Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Urban Geometry

A view of Melbourne buildings and their reflections


A pride of buildings
Geometric fantasy
Or maybe nightmare


Linking to:
Weekend in Black and White

Just a Green Leaf

Fascinating veins
Graced with tiny drops of rain
Fading green beauty


Linking to:
Green Day

Butterfly Real Estate

Love this real estate sign at Rosebud


A butterfly sign
A different real estate
Reaching the spirit


Linking to:
Signs, Signs

Escape

Queen Bee feature on the Eureka Tower, Melbourne
It was installed in 2007


Gold winged art buzzing
Urban dreams escape the norm
Exciting streetscape


Linking to:
Sensational Haiku Wednesday - Escape

Rolling in Red

One of many colourful Melbourne trams

Tram with character

Streetscape colour on the move

Demands attention

Linking to:

Ruby Tuesday 2

Elephant Blues

This blue elephant is one of many colourful elephants in the heart of Melbourne.
They celebrate Melbourne Zoo's 150th anniversary.


A blue character
Colouring the streetscape life
Gift from Melbourne Zoo


Linking to:
Blue Monday

Butterfly Spirit

An example of some metal art I purchased some years ago at the Tasmanian Copper and Metal Art Gallery, Carrick.
The original artist Mirek Marik (who made the above butterfly) has passed on his skills and knowledge to his son Tom, who will continue the family history.
To display it well with shadows, I have added it to my black candelabra shape.


Deep metallic glows
Art of butterfly spirit
Graced with curved shadows


Linking to:
Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Light Walls in Dark Light

The colour version of this photo is HERE!

Shrunk eerie sunlight
Creeping shadows and tiered eyes
Light walls in dark light


Linking to:
Weekend in Black and White

Waiting Greens

Jasmine buds waiting for Spring


Beauty of raindrops
Breathing new life into buds
Like crystal Spring hope


Linking to:
Green Day

Layer of Grey Clouds

A roll of grey clouds
Like a layering of storm
Dark kind of warning


Linking to:
SkyWatch Friday
Himmelsk

Eureka Sky Deck

Eureka Skydeck is the highest viewing tower in the southern hemisphere.
It is in the heart of Melbourne by the Yarra River.


Eureka Skydeck
Panorama from great height
Big view of small worlds



Here is a view of the tower looking up.

Linking to:
Signs, Signs

Function Beyond Function

Function of headlights
Clarifying night vision
Car's necessity

Function of macro
Photography with insight
Unexpected art


Linking to:
Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Faces of Danger

Sign at Cranbourne Botanical Gardens


In the undergrowth
Silent slithering danger
For snakes share these paths

There's bullies at large
Preying on innocent blood
Like poisonous snakes

In society
Devious propaganda
Cold snakes share these paths

The danger of life
Is failing to beware snakes
Exciting challenge


Linking to:
Two Shoes Tuesday ~ Danger

Gordon Stanley Hockley

Gordon Stanley Hockley is buried at Crib Point Cemetery on the Mornington Peninsula.

The Parliament of Victoria website tells us that Gordon Hockley was born 24 July 1926 (Albury, New South Wales)  and died 11 May 2002.
 His parents were Stanley Bertram, a motor mechanic, and Frances Mclntosh, a nurse.
  On 17 Oct 1947 he married Joyce Eileen Carne.
His occupation was catering manager and his religion was Catholic.
He was educated at Back Creek* and Warburton East* State Schools.
  He had a colourful career as a tally clerk with Victorian Railways, Melbourne, 1942-1945, Royal Australian Navy 1945-1972, Commonwealth Occupation Forces Japan, cook attached to Admiral's staff, lieutenant in charge of catering training; lieutenant Royal Australian Navy Emergency Reserve, catering manager Royal Southern Memorial Hospital, Caulfield*, 1972-1979, JP New South Wales 1957, Victoria 1960; scoutmaster, secretary various school committees and councils.
 He joined the Australian Labor Party in1949.
MLA for Bentleigh from 5 May 1979 to 30 September 1988
When he was at Flinders Naval Depot, he was appointed a JP
- recorded in the Victorian Government Gazette - August 31, 1960.

In his inaugural speech to the Victorian parliament - 31st May, 1979 - Gordon Hockley claimed that he was the oldest new member to be elected to the 48th Victorian parliament.
He replaced Bob Suggett who had served the Bentleigh electorate for 20 years.
Gordon said that Bob was possibly one of the longest serving members of parliament.
Included in a series of predictable platitudes on needs in Bentleigh was this comment:
I was privileged to be invited to join what was locally referred to as the telephone box committee, which was formed by Mr Clyde Killingsworth to save Moorabbin's oldest building, known as "The Grange", from the council's bulldozer. That building is about 130 years old and in excellent condition for its age.
(Adore the term telephone box committee.)
But a more detailed source suggests that the building was in far less prime condition.
After 10 years of controversy, the building was demolished in 1983.
Details of the building's rollercoaster ride are HERE.



At first, it seems rather strange that Gordon Hockley should be buried at Crib Point Cemetery, far south of his Melbourne electorate of Bentleigh.
But then, perhaps his naval connections may have been closer to his soul than his parliamentary ones.
Crib Point is near the HMAS Cerberus naval base and just north of Flinders.

NOTES
*Back Creek History
June 1855: There were about 10,000 diggers at Back Creek and Daisy Hill in Victoria when the famous riots started at the bottom of Adelaide Lead in June 1855.
- ref HERE
Back Creek waterway, between the 19th century gold hub of Bendigo and the Sheepwash, flows into Bendigo Creek about where Lake Weerona now is.
Back Creek is one of the tributaries of Gardiners Creek; one of the major tributaries of the the Yarra River. In 1861 Back Creek was considered an unflattering name for a town of 15,000 diggers and 49 hotels, so its name was changed to Talbot.
It is about 170km north west of Melbourne.

*Warburton East is a small community in the Yarra Ranges, 67km east of Melbourne.
It has a history of being a high fire risk area.

*Royal Southern Memorial Hospital, Caulfield - In Nov. 1987 the Alfred Hospital (Melbourne, Vic.) merged with the Caulfield Hospital and the Royal Southern Memorial Hospital (Caulfield, Vic.) to become the Amalgamated Alfred, Caulfield and Royal Southern Memorial Hospital, renamed in 1990 the Alfred Group of Hospitals. Within the amalgamated hospital, the Caulfield and Royal Southern Memorial hospitals were further merged, to operate as the Caulfield General Medical Centre.
Ref: National Library of Australia

*Andrew Hockley, Gordon's son, has strong Labour connections too.
Education:
Murrumbeena High School (1976-1981)
[Murrumbeena is an inner suburb of Melbourne.
In the 1990's, Murrumbeena High School was one of 350 schools closed by Jeff Kennett's Liberal government.]
 Monash University Politics, Econometrics, Statistics (1982-1984)
 University of Melbourne Economics, Industrial Relations (1985-1986)
Ref: Radaris
 In 2001 he was appointed to head the Strategic Communications and Government Information branch of the Premier's Department.
In 2007, he left this role and became general manager of marketing and sales at News Ltd. - Herald and Weekly Times.
Andrew is generally recognised as head of sales and marketing of the Herald Sun.
He is also on the Australia Day Committee - Victoria.

Hockley politics
From working class beginnings
To media voice

Linking to:
Taphophile Tragics

Have you been to the Devil's Gate?

Each of the places mentioned here are real place names in Tasmania.


No-Where-Else village
Promised Land and Paradise
Glimpse of real places


Linking to:
Blue Monday

More Spring Blossom Joy

Awak'ning blossom
Like a burst of Spring beauty
Kissed by soft sunlight


Linking to:
Sunday Snapshot
Your Sunday Best

I Love the Kookaburra

A kookaburra family regularly visits my Mornington Peninsula world.
Such friendly, knowing little characters.
The kookaburra (also known as laughing jackass) is part of the kingfisher family and is native to Australia and New Guinea.




Knowing character
The kookaburra magic
Reaches the spirit

So what is a friend
One who sings the earth for you
Echo of beauty


Linking to:
The Bird D'Pot
Camera Critters
Carry on Tuesday ~ What is a friend
One Single Impression ~ Echo
Poetry Pantry ~ Poets United

Figurine Shadow

 

A long gowned lady
Stylish shadowed stillness
Quiet elegance


Linking to:
Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Reflection Art of Light

Reflection chaos
Arty colour and light mix
Abstract visual


Linking to:
Weekend Reflections

It's a Green World

Lots of green tones in this corner of the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens


Green palms and ivy
Some bowing eucalypt boughs
Sweeping green parade


Linking to:
Green Day

Tooradin Dolphin

Sculpture of a dolphin at Tooradin, south of Melbourne.
This sculpture was originally used as part of an aquatic display for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.


Artistic dolphin
Unusual colour scheme
Swimming the heavens


Linking to:
Orange You Glad It's Friday

Spring Blossom

Apricot tree blossom in my Spring garden in the Dromana Hills.
Hopefully there are more hours of sunshine than we have seen for weeks!


  White blossom dancing
Expectation of Springtime
Like white fairy wings


Linking to:
Floral Friday Fotos 
Blooming Friday ~ Expectation
Floral Art Friday
Weekend Flowers on Friday

Blues and Soul Haiku

Spun haiku from Barbara Lynn's Don't Hit Me No More

I'm a good woman

Your good woman longs for you

Don't hit me no more

Don't hit me no more

Let me be your happiness

I'm a good woman

I'm a good woman

Should be your treasure and soul

Don't hit me no more

Don't hit me no more

Hit me no more please no more

Don't hit me no more

No more left no more

Of me is left no more left

Once a good woman

Linking to: 

Real Toads ~ Music ~  It's Better to Have It ~ Barbara Lynn

Fluffy Evening Skies

Silhouette branches
Etching the clouds with magic
Black dreams on white dreams


Linking to:
SkyWatch Friday
Himmelsk

Like a Gallery

These three signs are part of a collection of signs outside the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens entrance.
They look like a wall of an outdoor gallery!


Magical garden
Always new projects evolve
Inspirational


Linking to:
Signs, Signs

H is for Horses

Mostly in the summer season, horses wander Melbourne streets drawing romantic carriages.
They are a major tourist attraction.


Horse-drawn carriages
Romantic streetscape feature
A Melbourne icon


Linking to:
ABC Wednesday Round 11

Shoes

We are not well travelled
We have personality issues
So it seems

We pinch and cramp on hot days
And long walks
But soften the step on cold ones
But not long walks

We like to be admired for being different
Our pale green 
Like drought-ridden grasses
Our crinkle fabric
Like old parchment
Our stitched features
Our wood toned buckle badge
Like semi stylish accessories 

We proudly believe that we are creative art
Even avant garde
Unique
But no one has actually called us
Beautiful
Yet

SHE
Photographed us on her verandah
Where sun and shadow blotched the grey diagonals

I wonder why we did not have our moment
On her walkway
Winding under the arch of Spring roses
As if
We are going
Somewhere



Linking to:
Two Shoes Tuesday ~ Shoes

Reverend John Hale

A grave at Crib Point Cemetery on Westernport Bay, Mornington Peninsula.
Simple woods frame it like a raised garden bed of white pebbles and maybe a flowering shrub in Spring.
And a simple wooden cross.


I was surprised to read that this was the grave of Reverend John Hale.
A post on this man I intended to publish weeks ago.
Each week I have searched for details of his life, even of his church.
But each week, there has been complete silence.
There is just the tiny gold plaque of his life dates and below, that of his wife Susan.

So now, the story must be an imagined one, revolving around why.

At nearby HMAS Cerberus, there is a Roman Catholic Chapel, Our Lady Star of the Sea which opened in 1948, followed by St. Mark's Chapel in 1954.
I would expect this institution would record some connection.
That leaves the Uniting Church at Crib Point.
An image of it is HERE!
It appears to be a humble, small building, clearly only able to support a small congregation.
Somehow, I get the feeling this may be Rev Hale's world.

Perhaps he was a man of the people who sought no lasting public glory or memory except for those touched by his presence while he lived.
That is how I would like it to be.
That is one story.

Yet I cannot help but make some association with another Reverend John Hale.
He was a young Puritan Massachusetts pastor during the witch trials in 1692.
At first, he supported the trials and then changed his mind.
(And there is a Susanna in The Crucible version of these trials who is under Abigail's spell!
The mind is probably travelling too wild!)

I wonder which story reflects our Reverend.

A man of secrets
Silent elusive footprints
The Reverend Hale

Linking to:
Taphophile Tragics

Melbourne Tram Blues

Melbourne tram sings the blues


A colourful tram
Some whimsical art in blue
City character


Linking to:
Blue Monday

A Carriage Tale

At first the carriage sighed with
Grudging
Monday morning
Potential
Like simmering
Rebellion
Without the gumption to strike

Half-empty
Prison
And a little time to divert into
Alternative pleasantries

All too soon
The seats and aisles
Crammed with
Silent
Still life

(Actually
Pseudo "busyness" 
Indulging in
Electronic
Escapes)

But a seat
Unexpectedly
Vacated
Between the distillers of pleasantries and
Filled with
A studded revolution black vest
Armed with tattoos and
Helmeted with
Silky
Neonic
Green
Hair

Uncomfortable discord
Sizzled

The tattoos
Stroked the neonic greens
Constantly
As if being different was
A shifty business
While the pleasantries fried into
Medusa-like
Stony glares
Fixed
Straight ahead
Peripheral vision was
Negligible

Finally
The staged skit was
Broken

The neonics shuffled out at Parliament
Chewing gum
Fast

For the first time I saw her eyes
As she passed my window
They were large
And dark
And beautiful

But still life
Trained on

NOTE: Parliament is the name of an undergound train station in inner Melbourne


Linking to:
dVerse ~ The Art of Rebellion
Poets United ~ Poetry Pantry
Real Toads ~ Open Link Monday

Shadows by the Yarra

Some shadows relaxing by the Yarra River in Melbourne


Art by the Yarra
A story board of shadows
Like abstract thinking

Realms of loneliness
Dark corners and emptied space
Violate daylight

The pigment of guilt
Like black wells slashed with red blood
Like secret chasms

The palette of peace
Like gentle ripplings of blues
Tones to soothe the soul

The concept of love
Rainbow of passions and dreams
Colour coded worlds

Pandora's legend
When colours take flight from life
There is always hope


NOTE: For me, hope is like a transparency, picking up the colours you wish to be in your life.
Hope may transform into colour, yet is itself not a colour.
It is like a prism waiting to capture the colours of light.


Linking to:
Shadow Shot Sunday 2
Haiku Heights ~ Colour
One Single Impression ~ Violate
Sunday Scribblings ~ Soothe

New Journey

Geothermal pools
Boiling mud
Volcanic mountains

Soaring geysers

Waves of aurora lights in the night sky

And ice
Lots and
Lots of
Ice

Old voices serenade 
The old spirits
From medieval worlds
The families
The conflicts
The loves
Sagas of treasured yesterdays

But I have no place in these worlds

High winds
Frost
Everlasting rains
Keep me locked in
More southerly warms

Yet I long for 
New vistas
New horizons

I hear some of my friends
Have travelled to some rocky hillside
Gift of an old glacier

They're on trial

They have survived
And their numbers grow

But still
They're on trial

Soon
They may be welcome in a city park
But soon may mean years

Some visionaries say that
In coming decades
Iceland may be milder

Perhaps 
My child flowers may be there

I smile when I think of
White petals
Unfolding in
A white world

I live in hope
Always hope for
The strength
And beauty of

A future

Iceland  rose


NOTE: The Rose Club of Iceland was founded in April 2002.
Details of its activities are HERE!

The arctic tundra comprises the majority of the tundra landscape in the world, with 2 million square miles in North America and 1.3 million square miles in Eurasia. The North American tundra begins with coastal Greenland, goes west through northern Canada and extends all the way through northern Alaska. Tundra in Eurasia covers Siberia, parts of Russia, northern Scandinavia and Iceland. A second type of tundra, called alpine tundra, exists on high-altitude mountaintops throughout the world. Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington is one example of alpine tundra.
Read more: What Is the Landscape of the Tundra?

Linking to:
Real Toads - Transforming Fridays Take Two - Tundra

Wall Reflection

Wall at Dromana beach reflecting in a puddle after rain.

In a reflection
A beach wall looks much straighter
Than reality

Linking to:
Weekend Reflections