Monday, November 5

Breathtaking Blue

After 3 days of rain, -much needed- & grey skies, yesterday was windswept, blue & sunny.

This beautiful old Jacaranda tree grows in the front garden of an old house, the grounds of which are weed covered, & neglected. Every year, this beautiful tree blossoms in a rich opulent spread of purple, which is almost obscene in it's wealth of bloom.
I have been wanting to take a photograph for a week. When the rain came, was about when it peaked at the height of it's perfection. Of course, I missed the opportunity, & yesterday was my first chance to try to capture the beauty.

It grows at the side of the Pacific Highway, & is much admired each year, & often discussed. I hate to think, that when the old house finally is sold, some developer will buy the place, & this lovely old tree will be taken down.


An errand at a shop, which is adjacent to the railway yards, prompted me to take a pic of the sheer ugliness of the yard.

The hill in the background is above the Hospital, & on the right of the pic, if you click on it, to enlarge it, you can see the windsock on the Heli Pad of the hospital. One year some idiots lit fires in the bush up on the hill, which of course endangered the Hospital.

This yard is full of machinery for track maintenance, at present. I wished I had a zoom feature on my camera, to show the old rusty wheels, on one of the frames above the tracks. Those old frames date from the first railway to open, & it is a wonder they are still standing when I look at the state of rust.

This is the main line to points north, on the East Coast of New South Wales, & on up to Queensland. All North & Southbound Passenger trains stop at this sad looking station. Certainly no beauty to be seen at the actual station! This dishevelled yard is just north of the actual Station.

As I stood in the car park, I turned my gaze to the East, & saw this lone Norfolk Pine, reaching up to the blue sky, & the puffy white clouds. A contrast after the ugly rail machinery!
*******

I have just been over at Ian's "Or so I thought", reading an interesting post about 'Faking it'.

He asked the question have you ever Faked it? in the sense of pretending to have read some book, seen some movie, or some other item that is 'hot' & it seems everyone but you has read/viewed/or listened.

In the arrogance of youth I once drunkenly argued discussed the merits of a drummer called Gene Kruper. I had/have no knowledge of the person, have probably never heard any of his drumming & had only briefly heard him discussed by someone who was probably even less informed than I was, in matters musical!

Why would I do this? Who knows. I suppose I was wanting to impress the person I was arguing with. I do remember having borrowed my flat mate's coat for the evening, & on waking the next morning, I realised with horror I had left the coat at the residence where the party had been held.

My flatmate was rightfully irate, so I called a friend, who took me back to the house, hoping to retrieve the coat. I did not know the actual resident, but had met a girl I had known as a child, & as I knocked, I hoped she actually lived there!

No one answered my knock, & since the door stood ajar, I ventured inside. There were sleeping forms lying about in the rooms, & the borrowed coat, lay on a bed, which luckily, was not occupied. I grabbed the coat & took my leave, feeling like a sneak thief, even though no one stirred or seemed aware of my presence.

My friend took me home, & my flatmate was suitably placated on the return of her coat. I mentally vowed never to borrow clothes again, & also, kept thinking about what an utter idiot I had made of myself over the Gene Kruper conversation.

As to 'faking it', I haven't made a practice of faking it, since that night. I have often resisted joining the tide of hyesteria to read/view/ or listen to, something everyone else is raving on about.

I was determined not to see The Sound of Music. Some friends tricked me into going, & I was shocked to realise I thoroughly enjoyed it! I had previously detested musicals. I once walked out of Showboat, I found it so irritating.

My brother & I joke about our 'stubborn streak'. We feel it comes from our contrary Yorkshire ancestors... but then, we have contrary Irish, & also contrary Scots too, so I guess we are doomed to just be contrary!


David Gray, Babylon

22 comments:

Jellyhead said...

I can't imagine you being one for 'faking it' Meggie - you have no air of pretence about you whatsoever! Whenever I have tried to act as though I knew something, when I didn't really, I seemed to always get caught out, so I gave that away long ago!

Have a lovely day Meggie :)

Tanya Brown said...

Glad to see your post; I was needing my Meggie "fix".

I had a nice giggle over your adventure. Ah, if only all of us in the world had the excuse of being in our cups when we engaged in silliness!

Ali Honey said...

Wow Meggie , you have been busy posting. I didn't get in here all weekend and am behind with what my friends have been saying.I've had my nose to the grindstone( silly expression eh ).For once I can say I have visited where you went to see your son. I too have photo of beautiful flowers for sale in the open air there.

I did wonder what you were going to say about faking it.......! But then I have always had a naughty sense of humour!

Aunty Evil said...

That Jacaranda is lovely. I fear, like you, that its days are numbered though. It's too big for today's suburban yard, someone will tear down the tree for a shed.

Ian Lidster said...

Actually, it's Gene 'Krupa' and, even though he was my mother's generation, we thought he was way cool -- especially since he'd been busted for pot way back in the 1940s when most people hadn't even heard of pot.
Sound of Music. Well, Christopher Plummer, who played Von Trapp said he always referred to it as the Sound of Mucous.
Just love the Jacaranda and it makes me long for tropical climes 'again'. But, it's bright and sunny here today, so am not complaining.

LBA said...

I bought an "Iron Maiden" album to impress a boy i'd had a crush on for about 3yrs. He was really impressed, but still refused to love me back.

Probably a good thing, looking back :)

I didn't see "E.T." until about 10yrs after it was made, when it appeared on the tele. SO much hype, and it was about an ugly alien. I *hate* Schi-Fi shite!

Like you, I was really, really surprised to be touched, and find it really WAS a good movie...

I shouldn't have waited so long..

meggie said...

Hi All, I have been happy to be corrected Ian, about the spelling of Krupa! Seeing I pinched half my post off you, I must also thank you for the memories it brought back, & also the theme. I did laugh at the Christopher Plummer nickname! I always loathed poor Julie Andrews, for no real reason. I never did see Mary Poppins for that reason!
The Jacarandas are really beautiful all around Sydney at present. A lot of people think they are native to Australia, but they are actually a South African native. They can also be very messy in a back yard, as when they shed the blossom, it enevitably gets tramped indoors.
H & B I dont know about Iron Maiden, but I once pretended to like motorbikes to impress someone. My first ride cured me! I was a shaken wreck!

Marja said...

Hi Meggie what an amazing tree you can see over there. I loved reading your story, very funnie. i never faked knowing something but we always pretended when we were young to be german or belgian or whatever. One nigh we had spoken german all night in a dance tent, went home and our moped broke down. A couple of boys came past. And we yelled desparate in Dutch for help. They said oh you can talk dutch and moved on. Luckely they came back to help.
Oh and you did live in a nice place in Christchurch

Pauline said...

a purple tree! I've never seen one

Christine Thresh said...

That Jacaranda tree is so beautiful. How long does it bloom? I wonder if I could find one on the west coast of California. What climate does it like?

I was once married to a faker. His attitude so disturbed me that I vowed never to lie. I think I've been pretty true to my vow.

Mary said...

Now THAT"S a jacaranda! and such a contrast to that ugly old railway yard.

Faking it eh? I used to read the back sports page just so I could throw into a conversation with male colleagues some trivial fact - knowing that I need not say anything else but let them run with it. And they would think I knew what I was talking about.

Mary Johnson said...

What a beautiful tree.

I'm not a very trendy person so I don't bother pretending to know about things I don't but watch out if I'm arguing about a topic I THINK I know something about - I can be pretty stubborn.

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Another enjoyable post. I used to have a habit of exaggerating my facts to win arguments. Not faking it in the same sense but with the same intention. I only beat the habit by keeping totally silent.

Joyce said...

I just love Jacaranda trees and that one is a beauty. Hopefully it will still have a long life.

~Bren~ said...

The tree is about the most beautiful I have seen. Until I started blogging, I did not know they existed. Chookyblue has many of these trees on her property. We have nothing like that here :(

Unknown said...

Perhaps you should have been named Mary (Contrary Mary!)

Linda G. said...

Beautiful blue Jacaranda! If I were Olivia, I'd write a Haiku to it...I hope it lives a very long time...

ancient one said...

I do love that beautiful tree!!

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

Our trees all have white, pink, rose, red or yellow blooms. I have never seen on with purple or blue blooms.

Katie said...

That's a wonderful tree!!!

meggie said...

Yes, they really are a glorious cloud of purple in the season of their blooming. We also had them in New Zealand, though not is such profusion as they can be seen here.
There is a city called Grafton in New South Wales where they have a Festival for the Jacaranda.
http://www.jacarandafestival.org.au/
If you click onto the above address you will see wonderul photos, & information re, the Jacaranda.

Catalyst said...

When we lived in Mexico, there were many huge jacaranda trees. When the blooms fell, the streets became purple and the maids and street sweepers spent days gathering up purple garbage.

Hmmm, wonder if that's where Prince came up with Purple Rain?