BY ROBERT CATTO
Like most of us, I’m finding this year hard.
I’m well aware that it could be worse, of course—Sydney (and New South Wales, and Australia) are comparatively speaking doing extremely well, with new cases under 20 per day for months now; meanwhile, to our south, Melbourne is in their second lockdown after case numbers went over 500/day for weeks on end.
But still, between my father’s passing earlier in the year, and the fact that the entire industry I’ve spent my career in is closed indefinitely, it’s hard to know what my purpose is at the moment. Mostly I try to stay safe, which means rarely leaving the house aside from walks in a nearby park or grocery shopping; so I see the same few blocks, and not much else.
But the same few blocks aren’t quite the same as they were a year ago, as with everywhere else—the signage, the empty venues, the mannequins with masks—and what struck me this time was actually the telephone poles, wrapped with so much tape from so many years of gig posters, but without a poster to be seen, now. They look like the gum trees, shedding their bark.
But what I forget, sometimes, is that there’s more to this city than the streets.
A tram to the harbour, a ferry to the northern beaches, and it’s all different—especially on the first warm spring day of the year.
I should get out more. (I NEED to get out more!) And while there aren't concerts, operas, plays & shows to go to…well, I guess I’ll just have to settle for the harbour.
Hope everyone else can find that, too—a way to relax, to feel normal, even just for a couple of hours.
Stay well. Keep safe.
Get out more.
