Friday, 16 May

We've had Nera's nephew, Brendan, staying with us for a few days.  Nera is in the Philippines and Jamie needed a break from a teenage boy in the house. Brendan is studying here in Launceston and has made a friend of a Nepalese boy doing the same course.  Today, they're heading to Hobart to check out some of the sights: Mona, Salamanca Place, and so on.

I'm taking Marilyn for an appointment with the eye specialist.  She's had a couple of sessions and today is just a check-up that everything is fine.  Since the procedures she tells me she has never see better.  Maybe I should have a think about letting them have a go at me.

One time, at my Writing course, I was asked to produce something on the theme No Turning Back.  I dug out a poem I had written ages ago and re-worked it. Here it is:

NO TURNING BACK                                                     APRIL 29, 2022                                                           

When your days of toil are over and it’s time to take a break
There are options to consider and decisions you must make
For years you’ve spent each waking hour in trying to earn a crust
And now you’ve got to fill your days or your brain will start to rust.

Perhaps it’s time to take up bowls or join a cycling club
Or learn to play the oboe, or take refuge in the pub
Some take delight in reading books or watching DVDs
But I’m sure you’ll find you’ll soon get tired of nothing more than these.

Some folks take up cruising on the ocean wide and blue
And you might think that could be fun but it might be boring too
Some learn to use the internet, work out the family tree
Others think it’s pretty smart to get one more degree.

Your house is worth a million and that’s a tidy sum
And you know the kids have worked it out, although they’re playing dumb
The grand-kids talk of Disneyland when Nan and Pop are dead
You’re worth more to them when you’re gone, a truth that must be said.

Each time they come to visit you, only once in a blue moon
You can see the dollar signs in their eyes and they think, Will it be soon?
They look at you to calculate how long you might survive
Yes, how much longer will you live, when you’re only sixty-five.

You know there’s just one answer to make your last years fun
Sell the house, buy a ‘van and let the good times run
Join the Nomad army, grab freedom on the road
No more wasted afternoons, no lawns to be mowed.

With your Cruiser and your Jayco, your days will be your own
You can drive or you can sit around, your worries will have flown
You can feel the joys of this brown land and see what you can see
With new-made friends to pass the time and fill the hours with glee.

Live life as it was meant to be, with countless things to do
With every day a new delight and a new adventure too
There’s lots in this great country to make us shout and cheer
So pack your bags, hitch up the van - it’s off for another year.

There’s just one thing I need to say to emphasise this notion

Point your ‘van and do your best to reach the Indian Ocean

It won’t be highways all the way, some roads will be a track

Just set your course, trust to luck, and remember - no turning back.