20 January 2009

Three Good Things*

(1) Black cockatoos filling the peppermint trees at my end of the street. The old boy next door chases them off - they bite bits of the trees off and mess up his lawn; they mess up all our lawns - but I love the way they stagger in, land at the tips of the branches making them sag right down, and then spend their time croaking and whistling to each other. They can create all the detritus they want to.

(2) A mulberry tree growing in a back yard and hanging over the fence above the footpath. A man standing on the footpath picking and eating all the mulberries he can see. My friend Melinda had a mulberry tree in her back yard when we were kids. We'd sit in it all year long, eating mulberries. Even the green ones. Even the white ones.

(3) A little old wisp of a man crossing Rockingham Road leaning on his walking frame, the wheels spinning madly. He crossed and then continued walking along the other side next to the kerb, but still on the road. Cars came up to him, slowed down and pulled out around him. No one beeped or yelled or told him to get out of the way. He was so skinny and small next to all that road. It was nice.



*All things that's good.

6 comments:

inkblot Inc. said...

Number four in a list of good things....reading Hazel's blog that reminds you about all the little cool stuff when you're having a shit of a day.

hazelblackberry said...

Why thank you, inkblot! You're very kind.

I'm a little afraid to check out your profile picture too closely, though.

Spud Mack said...

My neighbour had a mulberry tree that I spent many lazy summer evenings sitting and eating from as a child.

Fantastic memories there. Thanks for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

something tells me Inkblot inc is the artist formerly known as Jag?

Anonymous said...

I also remember having purple fingers and lips from mulberries I picked when I was a kid....
Gone are the days when the only thing you had to worry about was getting the purple off your clothes before mum saw it.
Wouldn't it be nice if life had remained that simple Haze?

hazelblackberry said...

It would. But then, it would also mena we'd still be living with our parents. Life has its little compensations.