As i walked home from yoga tonight, trying to balance my mat, purse, keys and japanese takeaway without much luck, the wind suddenly stopped. The air shifted; i could feel it cool on my cheeks. A blurry streaky mess of hot blues and dark indigo covered the sky, erupting in a series of spectacular light shows and casting shadows on the nearby city skyscrapers. The clouds swam recklessly before my eyes, quickly turning the colour of swollen bruises and spilling open to reveal thousands of tiny hot droplets, which ran rivulets down my temples and into the small of my back.
The backpackers across the way are dancing in the rooftop in their underwear; fluro coloured sparklers alight from their fingertips. The drunk boys congregated in the main strip of the cross yelp and holler like adolescents, while the scantily dressed girls scream and grab at the ends of their chemically straightened hair. The only happy ones are the club owners; bad weather means more patrons inside and more patrons means more drinks, food and sex bought. The homeless men and women at the Wayside Chapel duck ungracefully under old tarps, shopping trolleys and moldy blankets. What is a lightening show for us -- a bit of fun and games and something nice to fall asleep to -- turns into yet another daily obstacle when you have no place to sleep at night.
I have recently started volunteering at the Wayside Chapel. nothing fancy, just an hour here or there, mainly in the op shop but it's an experience challenging in itself. I'm not up to writing about it -- yet -- but they are after a couple of essential items, so if you're in the Sydney area and have a) any blankets, pillows, sleeping bags b) any unused laptops/PC's (still in good working order) or c) crockery/cutlery that you no longer use, please drop off at Wayside (29 Hughes St, Potts Point). they do such an amazing job over there and really can use all the help they can get.
have a fabulous weekend my pets. i am planning to wine and dine with some old adelaide friends so i know i will :)
ness x
6 comments:
i love the way you describe events. That storm was beautiful. it seemed a bit surreal, i wanted to go outside and stand in the middle of the road but i just stood near the safety of our door.
yoga is the best!
have a good weekend.
good luck with the catch up :)
xx
It was a doozy of a storm, wasn't it. It was still full strength by the time it reached the Central Coast. I was dining out with my partner - a rare, very rare, Friday night thing for us - and there were calls to the teens at home - those still there - to batten down the hatches. I got home expecting to find them in front of a still on tele and the computer on and internet plugged in but they'd turned them off AND unplugged them. So proud. We have dodgy electrics in our house and any spike of power kills all sorts of things. TV and computer (with internet) are obviously precious items to them.
So glad to hear that you're volunteering at Wayside! I too used to be a volunteer there, and still go to lots of events. Funny to find we have this is common (as I just stumbled across your blog randomly, and have kept reading because I like the way you write!) Hope you enjoy Wayside, there really is nowhere else like it!
ness, your writing is so beautiful. how you moved from yoga to describing the storm and what you saw around you, to talking about your wayside chapel volunteering and mentioning the need for material donations. just beautiful. I am looking forward to hearing more about this new experience when you are ready. px
PS If I were in Sydney I'd be down in a flash to give them a collection of things. thanks for letting us know.
Girl you have a lovely way with words.
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