Oiling the bat
Oiling the bat DM 17th January 2026 Fond memories. Each summer my brothers and I would take turns to brush the family cricket bat with linseed oil. I don’t know if that still needs to be done with the modern bats, but in the olden days, bats certainly required such regular treatment, else they would […]
The Acorn Child
The Acorn Child DM 10th January 2026 I’ve heard of identical twins dying on the same day, but who has ever heard of twin-oaks being erased from the world on the same day? Many years ago, a friend gave me oak-triplets – one I gave away, one I kept in its pot to attempt to […]
The Impossible Puzzle?
The Impossible Puzzle? DM 3rd January 2026 A puzzle pops up on my sidebar that requires certain obstacles to be removed in order to collect some treasure. In one obstructing-chamber is burning lava, and in another, cooling water; and the challenge is to remove, but in the correct order, and without scorching your player, the […]
O Christmas Tree
O Christmas Tree DM 27th December 2025 I didn’t realise that Isaiah wrote so many of the Christmas Carols. In their original form, ‘Silent Night’ and ‘O Come, O Come Immanuel’, were penned this way: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.’ Isaiah even […]
How to make Grace
How to make Grace DM 20th December 2025 The twenty-first of December in Australia is called ‘Gravy Day’, by virtue of Paul Kelly’s famous song ‘How to make gravy’ – a melancholy ballad about a family-man in jail, missing his wife and kids, and lamenting that he won’t be with them on Christmas Day. “It’s […]
Surprise catch
Surprise catch DM 13th December 2025 I’ve fished out my fishing rod for the holiday break. Last time I used it, I didn’t catch a thing. A few bites, but nothing hooked. And I didn’t mind a bit. Just to stand on the beach with my toes in the water, sun on my back, no-one […]
Letter to self
Letter to self DM 6th December 2025 One of the questions that is typically asked when interviewing people of more mature years is this: “If you could give some advice to your younger self, what would it be?” It’s a thoughtful question. But an even better one is this: “If you could give some advice […]
Pa rum pa pum pum
Pa rum pa pum pum DM 29th November 2025 I have a friend who goes into paroxysms whenever he hears that Christmas classic, ‘The Little Drummer Boy’. I feel some sympathy for him, but could not resist forwarding to him the latest iteration called ‘The Little Drummer Girl’, presumably a story that follows the same […]
Star of wonder
Star of wonder DM 19th November 2025 This year’s Australian Christmas stamp has just been issued, and bears the first-day postmark of our suburb of Merrylands, and features the scene of three angels, in psychedelic costumes, adoring mother and child. Mary in her royal robes sits enthroned, and Jesus, wearing little buddha-pants, looks nonchalant and […]
The Sun and the Wind
The Sun and the Wind DM 8th November 2025 One of Aesop’s fables begins this way: ‘The North Wind and the Sun had a quarrel about which of them was the stronger. While they were disputing with much heat and bluster, a Traveler passed along the road wrapped in a cloak. “Let us agree,” said […]