The Rocks with my Photography Meetup

 A fun morning shooting black and white with my Photography Meetup.  The perfect location for this kind of photography.

Dee Why with Chris after watching pickleball

 Chris and I went to watch a pickleball competition. We then went to a cafe in Dee Why for a lovely bowl of pumpkin soup. It was a beautiful winter's day.

Beautiful art in the cafe

Memorable moments: The Newlands dilemma

During my twenties, I shared a house in Newlands, Cape Town, with three housemates. Among them was Dane—a really lovely, generally friendly person who also possessed a fierce temper if provoked. Her ultimate trigger was simple: anyone touching her food without asking.

One afternoon, I found myself alone in the kitchen making a sandwich. I assembled the ingredients, only to realize with disappointment that I was completely out of lettuce. Scanning the fridge, my eyes landed on Dane’s shelf. There, sitting inside a pristine Tupperware container, was a large, crisp head of lettuce.

She’ll never notice a single leaf, I thought, letting hunger override my better judgment.

I surreptitiously cracked open the lid and began peeling a piece away. Suddenly, I stopped. The leaf wasn't just textured—it was alive. The entire thing was wriggling with a miniature army of worms. Feeling a wave of disgust, I put it back, snapped the lid shut, and settled for a leaf-free sandwich.

The real complication, however, arrived the following day.

I walked into the lounge to find Dane happily relaxing on the couch, halfway through eating a massive sandwich of her own. To my horror, a large piece of lettuce was protruding from the crusts. I stood there, completely convinced I could see the edges of the green leaf subtly moving.

I wanted to tell her, but the calculus of the situation was brutal. If I spoke up, she would instantly realize I had been into her private Tupperware. The fierce Newlands temper would be unleashed on me.

Feeling extremely guilty, I chose to stay quiet. I left her to finish her meal in blissful, oblivious peace, keeping the secret of the kitchen fridge entirely to myself.

Memorable moments: The orthodontic awakening

When I was thirteen, I went through the standard teenage rite of passage: getting orthodontic braces. Periodically, I had to visit the clinic to have them tightened. For most teenagers, this is a dreaded chore, notorious for causing days of dull ache and intense discomfort.

Naturally, my parents were utterly baffled by my reaction to these appointments. Instead of dreading them, I always got incredibly excited. I counted down the days, practically leaping into the car when it was time to go. They probably thought they had raised the most resilient, stoic teenager in South Africa.

They wouldn't have been surprised if they had known the truth.

My mum would drop me off outside the clinic, and I would head upstairs with an uncharacteristic spring in my step. The magic began the moment the orthodontic nurse came to fetch me from the waiting room. She was a gorgeous, friendly blonde who always made a point of asking me how school was going, treating me with a warmth that completely disarmed my thirteen-year-old self.

The highlight, however, was the actual procedure. I would lie back in the chair, and she would lean closely over me with her tightening tool to adjust the wires, her ample bosom just inches from my dazzled gaze. For a teenager right at the precipice of waking up to the world of romance and attraction, having this lovely woman so close  was absolute heaven.

To her, it was just a routine, innocent Tuesday morning at the office. To me, it was a profound, thrilling introduction to the opposite sex. The physical discomfort of the tightening didn't matter at all; the scenery more than made up for it. It remains one of my funniest memories of growing up—a time when a painful dental adjustment somehow became the most anticipated event on my social calendar.

A walk through central Sydney

It was lovely to go back to my Photography Meetup after so much time away. A lovely morning strolling around the city near Central Station followed by our usual pub lunch.