I'm sure the very small readership of this blog has long ago given up on any sort of regular posting, almost certainly given up entirely. I apologise to those few, hitherto loyal, readers and trust that you might have stumbled upon this very rare post! I won't promise to post with my previous zeal but I will endeavour to get something on here every month (or two!). The reasons for my shocking lack of effort will become apparent if you read on.

I'd always felt very sorry for my dad when he retired in his early sixties, only to almost immediately be diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. He battled on and did some part time locum work for a couple of years, but was afflicted with a devastating, fast-progressing version of the disease that ultimately claimed his life by the time he was 67.

Cass and I retired when we were in our late 50s and basked in our decision and found ourselves in the fortunate position of not needing to work on. We were grateful, and keen to embrace our freedom and make the most of our new leisure time. Unfortunately, soon after, I was diagnosed with mid-range prostate cancer and elected to have my prostate removed. The operation was successful and I continue to be cancer free with only mild side effects ongoing. So, hurrah, bullet dodged! 

One day, eating my breakfast, the hand holding my spoon started to beat a staccato against the wall of the bowl. I joked with Cass that, "Oh, looks like I've got Parkinson's, too!" We were a few weeks away from embarking on a magical trip to the Middle East, so I went to the GP and he was wary of committing to a diagnosis and referred me to a neurologist. That appointment was the day after we arrived home. After shaking all over Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Türkiye it was no surprise to be diagnosed upon our return. It's been an interesting ride ever since!

Fast forward to today. I'm about to be assessed for DBS (deep brain stimulation), a type of brain surgery, as an annoying symptom I've developed (cervical dystonia) has restricted my ability to do most activities. Basically, I find myself capable of swimming or going to an exercise class for an hour or so a day, then I need to have my head supported for most of the remainder of the day. I'm in my "default position" right now writing this: sitting on the lounge with my head supported by a pillow to stop it arching backwards.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the relief a successful operation might bring. There are other symptoms that I have that I never knew were associated with Parkinson's (sorry dad!). I'm socially anxious, have drugs to calm my night terrors, have almost lost my sense of smell and I have a sensitivity to noise. My gait is slightly compromised, I have a lack of expression and, of course, I shake and lock certain muscles in flex as the regular levodopa wears off between doses. The fact that it is a degenerative, incurable disease also weighs heavily in a psychological sense, some times more than others.

So, there you have it! Re-reading this sounds a bit maudlin, but I'm pretty upbeat most of the time and Cassy is an amazing support for me in every way. I know I'm incredibly lucky to have had an amazing life and I haven't really had any real challenges until now. Let's face it, I could be living in much more dire situations in many places around the globe at the moment and I'm acutely aware of that.

Wow, January was the last post? I've been so slack! Sue and Duncan "enjoyed" the back end of the Knight's year when we were unable to go, soldiering through some terrible rainy days at times to be great supporters. Cass has gone with her mum to many ACO and Musica Viva concerts as well as out to lunch on occasions and meeting up periodically with Kristin (her sister) as well. Cass and Valerie went to South Australia (Kangaroo Island the highlight) for a special holiday and Cass also met up with her good friend Kristin in Sydney and the Blue Mountains when Kristin was visiting from Taipei on her annual big break. We managed to visit Ross and Ains in their Queenstown "batch" for a few days in April and the highlight was a special birthday present to us from them, a giddy flight to Milford Sound (seat next to the pilot form as the birthday boy!) and a spectacular day cruise. We were so spoilt by them and they catered for my spasticity so generously!

Ok, that will do for now. I'm pleased that I've "outed" myself, it was getting a little awkward not to mention the elephant in the blog! Photos: MJ the Musical (awesome!), birthday lunches, monthly coffee catchups with the boys and the last photo is my exercise physiologist, Jenny. She's a former two time Olympian (middle distance running) and I'm slightly in awe each week when I attend her class!

 

This photo was the inspiration for my short story entry for 2025. It was published in the Saturday edition of the local newspaper. I titled it, "Stormy".

Stormy 

 

Mark had made a big mistake. Striding up the big hill towards the coastal paths, he’d neglected to pay any attention to the weather. Admittedly, he’d been distracted by Charlotte’s constant chatter and need for him to be involved in her every activity: little sisters can be so painful! She had been especially needy since their dear old cat, Andy, had died last month. Their parents had asked him to be patient with her, but he just had to get out this afternoon to get some clear air. 

He loved the Anzac Walk. Most days It felt like a conveyor belt to the clouds with the sea sparkling and dancing below, usually with giant black crows dotted along the handrail, cawing loudly and studiously ignoring the human traffic. The tubular, stainless steel structure supporting the path looked like giant DNA strands. Myna birds chattered with local peewees, arguing over the rights to a stray chip. All abilities of people were catered for. The sturdy rails and non-slip tread assisted walking frames and wheelchairs. Located adjacent to a hang-gliding launch pad, a brightly coloured canopy might swoop and thrill impossibly low over the pathway. The pilot would even wave back if given a cheery greeting. Occasionally, a languid blue-tongue lizard could be spied sunning himself on one of the sandstone outcrops. The rusting silhouettes of military personnel stood guard over the walk at intervals and made Mark feel safe.  

Today, however, cast a different spell. Conditions were changing rapidly before his eyes. Huge banks of grey clouds tinged with green folded and forced themselves into an even greater mass as the sky groaned. Light rain misted downwards but was whipped and worried by swirling winds. Mark was half-way along and thought of shelter, but he was exposed and alone. As the sky made a ferocious clap above his head, lightning flashed and flickered. He began to run. 

Rain began to hammer down, as the sky continued to rumble and crash. The perforations in the pathway couldn’t cope with the huge volumes of water washing down and along. Mark slowed his run and reassessed. This wasn’t going to stop in a hurry, he was already drenched and he was getting washed away. Could he make it to the stairs at the end and try to get some cover underneath? Head down, determined, he made his dash. 

He was aware of an eerie glow emerging even as he splashed through the puddles on the path on his way to the stairs. The rain was changing too. The sheeting curtains of water were starting to break up, and heavier, plump, cold drops were punching his face. With another thunderous explosion, the drops turned to ice and the drumming started to hurt. 

Mark raced down the first flight and dived over the handrail, landing in some bushes and barking his knee just as the heavens unleashed. He scrambled under the stairs to a deafening roar, as the hail beat a staccato overhead. Giant malformed balls of ice bounced off one another and accumulated on the grass slopes beside the stairs, blanketing them with a wet glaze. Unlike other hailstorms he’d experienced, which were over before you knew it, this one seemed to be building to some distant crescendo. 

Despite the continuing deluge, Mark needed to take stock of his injuries. His knee ached from where he had fallen awkwardly, but he imagined he could still walk when he was eventually able to move from his shelter. Touching his head and face where the giant hailstones had hit revealed some soreness and, worryingly, some blood. He wiped the blood on his shorts and the second tentative swipe saw only a few minor streaks on his hands, so he thought he’d be fine. Just as he gazed out at the slightly easing maelstrom, he heard a plaintive cry. Was there a baby under here with him?! 

He looked up into the crevice under the first stair risers and realised straight away when he saw bright, green eyes staring at him. He slithered on his stomach till he could reach out, and despite some feeble swipes of defence, he managed to slide the bedraggled bundle down towards him. A tiny kitten! Mark was shocked by his find, yet the quivering creature didn’t struggle but immediately sought to snuggle against him, seeking warmth and comfort. He adjusted his shirt into a makeshift sling to cup the kitten and keep it secure and partly sheltered. He looked around under the stairs for evidence of a mother cat or other members of the litter, but there was no trace. He realised the kitten was really young and she seemed weak, underfed and abandoned. 

During his rescue mission, the hail had stopped and the rain had eased to a light shower. Mark scrambled from his shelter, carefully nursing his precious bundle in his T-shirt, slipping slightly on the icy blanket still covering the ground. He climbed back on the walk before limping along the footpath on the way down the hill toward home.  

“We’ve been so worried about you!” his parents exclaimed when he opened the front door, Charlotte behind them. After reassuring them he was OK, despite the scratches on his face and his saturated clothing, he revealed his precious cargo, asleep and purring against his stomach. Charlotte immediately cried, “Can we keep her?” before his mum said, “Let’s get her warm and dry and fed first, then we’ll see”. Giving Mark a knowing look, Charlotte declared, “OK mum, let’s see. I am going to call her ‘Stormy’ though!” 

 Newcastle's summer has been fairly typical of recent years, sun searing in the mid mornings and afternoons before a fierce nor-easter whips in in the late afternoon, sometimes accompanied by a spectacular storm, sometimes a mild freshen-up and sometimes a stifling blanket of heat that extends into night.

We enjoyed many family celebrations at Christmas time, including a three day spell in a row, that, while entertaining, was also mildly exhausting for us as we socialised more in that period than we'd normally do in a month. (I should really write that as "I"!) Cass and I also celebrated our wedding anniversary in style a little further afield at the iconic Cottage Point Inn, playground of the rich and famous! We also stayed the night after our wonderful degustation lunch and this allowed us to relax and really enjoy the lunch and a few drinks. It was all magnificent, but the experience was slightly spoiled by horrific, rainy conditions on the freeway there and back: we were again thankful for our modern, all wheel drive vehicle!

Cass has been religiously walking nearly every day on her usual trek along the coast, then onto King Edward Park via the Anzac Walk and back each day. She usually follows this with a rigorous free weights session, targeting different muscle groups on alternate days: I get tired just watching her! I've taken a break from accompanying her on the walk to swim each day instead. Ostensibly, I've been training for the Cross the Harbour Swim which I've done the past two years, although I was disappointed to see it cancelled last weekend because of polluted and debris-filled water washing down from the valley after recent storms. For the time being, I'll keep going with my laps in the Merewether Ocean Baths interspersed with some ocean swimming when the waves allow it and/or the baths are getting cleaned (or need a clean!)

In a neat segue, I was recently surprised to learn belatedly of the publishing of my short story on Merewether Baths on January 1st, 2024, which I subsequently published here below a little while back. I entered a very different story this year and was one of the finalists again, this time with a short story about a storm and a kitten! I'll publish it here in the next few days (or weeks!). I think it really made the short list this year as it was published on one of only four Saturdays in the publishing window of January 2025: Saturday's paper has the highest circulation by far. Anyway, it was fun to open up the paper and see it there.

"Adventure Days" are still happening too! We've been to see lots of great movies followed or preceded by lunch, gone on "hidden secrets" urban bushwalks, stayed overnight in Sydney for the last concert in Cold Chisel's 50th anniversary tour and made a day trip to Sydney to see the Renee Magritte exhibition and a smorgasbord of our favourites at the Art Gallery of NSW.

 

Footy season and classical music concert season are fast approaching! Oh, and I've been very slack in mentioning books we've been reading: I've such a backlog for each of us that it would be impossible to list them all (especially Cassy). So failing filling in the gaps, I'll try to mention just what we happen to be reading at the moment. Cass is reading Entitlement by Rumaan Allam and I've started Lee Child's short stories, Safe Enough.