A Change of Season

Our summer seemed to go on for ever. Even as late as mid May, days were sunny and clear and temperatures hovered in the high teens and low twenties. Alas, all good things come to end and the official start of winter on 1 January has brought us a dose of what the locals call English weather. Today, for example, saw no sun; rather just low grey clouds eternally spitting rain. And the temperature tanked accordingly, reaching only 11 degrees at midday. The whole ambiance of the town reminded me of many damp days experienced in Scotland or the west of Ireland.

Unsurprisingly, I've gone down with a bad cold just like many others. Poor Max spent most of last week at home similarly inconvenienced. And it's going to get worse! A deep low pressure cell forming of the NSW North Coast is going to create wild weather with heavy rain, flooding, and dull days over the next 7 days. Hey, this really is like Britain and even the weather we used to see 30 years ago. Perhaps we're about to see a period of global cooling.

Why does this weather also remind me of a public toilet? Well, Dot has just reminded me that we're going to see a Broadway Musical tomorrow night. After 965 performances on Broadway, it's now opening in Armidale as one of the long run of top musicals directed by George Torbay, brother of our esteemed Member of Parliament, Richard Torbay. And the musical is ... Urinetown!! Has any reader ever heard of it? I must admit I hadn't, but a quick look at a few web-pages tells me it won three of my Tony Awards. Those sites also inform me that the musical is about ... urinals and how they are managed in a drought. What a wonderful scenario for a musical! I can't wait to take my seat. And, by the way, it reminds me that Armidale now has two of those 5-star loos, or Royal Flushes - you know, the automatic ones that pamper your rear end, and much better than the basic model employed in Urinetown.

AS