G’day From Melbourne

It looks like a different world outside my window this morning, as I write this article. It feels like I have been in a deep sleep somewhere else, maybe on another planet trapped and haunted by a nightmare called Covid-19. Not a face mask to been seen anywhere, children playing in the playground on monkey bars, the morning paper delivered to the door instead of being thrown at the ducks and water birds in my garden. I feel like a king being able to walk to the mailbox, without a mask. No more 5k travel limits that will change to 25k, limits pending on the whim of some whimsy, under-qualified health officers who won’t take available advice from their peers. No more shortage of toilet rolls and other essentials at the supermarkets. And who would have thought this time last year that a husband and wife would be able to travel and shop together, not having to wear masks. I had almost forgotten that having a coffee, or in some cases a few beers or wines with a friend, can be bliss. I had also forgotten what it was like to dress up to go out to dinner. I had never given it a second thought until Covid-19 told me you can’t do that anymore because if you do, you might catch me and it could be the last meal you will ever have. Australians have done enormously well, keeping Covid-19 to a minimum. Border closures, which were imposed upon us to retain political power by most state premiers, was not our saver. It was the ordinary man and woman who diligently stuck by the rules that have kept us safe. It’s shameful to see State Premiers taking credit for our safety. If they had put their house in order and united for the common good for all Australians instead of their greed and need for power first, we would have been much better off than we are now. Don’t be blindsided with comparisons of Covid-19 in Europe and other countries as they are vastly different to us, in many ways. Politicians like making the comparison to show us how lucky we are, by making us believe that they are our saviors. As I said earlier, the true saviors of Covid-19 are the ordinary men and women of Australia, not the politicians who wouldn’t lift a phone to help a parent to visit a dying child in hospital. Let’s not forget the enormous loss to the thousands of businesses that went to the wall and will never return, due to the border closures and lock downs. Marriages, birthdays, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day all became heart breakers, leaving memories that will linger for many years. So will the sight of families not being able to visit hospitals and nursing homes to comfort their loved ones, before passing away. While all this sadness and pain was being experienced by those with the greater losses, not one politician lost a day’s pay. Children making and blowing bubbles is a far cry from governments and airlines working together to make bubbles, for renewing flights in the near future. My ears are filling my head with the sweet sound of John Denver singing ‘I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane’. I let my imagination take me up into the clouds and I don’t mind if it’s only a dream, for a few moments I’m air bound. Melbourne has shed its ghost town image and the MCG has once again come back to life full of colour, now that the footy has returned. Flinders Street railway station is bustling and the sound of tram bells sounding warnings is like music to our ears after the long silence. Also to remind us that this city once called ‘the most livable city in the world’ isn’t dead yet, shows it hasn’t changed from having four seasons in a day so you better bring an umbrella, if you can’t catch a tram you’ll need your brolly. All this good news is better than winning top prize in Tatts Lotto. Why you may ask? Because having money and not having the freedom to spend it, makes it worthless. Most people seem to have taken freedom for granted until Covid-19 arrived, and in a way maybe having been through the worst of it so far, we can now look back and realize what a privilege it is to have freedom. Over the last year I have watched with envy, the native animals in my garden and the freedom they have, while we have been caged. I never again want to see an animal caged as we are all now well aware of what it’s like to be restrained, with the loss of freedom. St Patrick’s Day has come and gone and what a sad loss it is for the Irish all round the world, to not be able to celebrate our patron saint’s day with friends and family. Having the Covid-19 cloud hanging over the St Patrick’s Day Parade in New York, makes it looks more like a funeral for a lonely person who

Image: www.austadiums.com/

passed away without friends in the world. In normal times, the St Patrick’s Day Parade is seen as one of the more spectacular parades in the world. Hopefully next year we will see the return of the parade that is older than the US constitution. I have been back to Ireland a number of times and also to Tokyo, to join in the St Patrick’s Day parade and celebrations and have been astounded as to how the St Patrick’s Day celebrations have grown worldwide over the years. With the arrival of the new vaccines I’m optimistic that within the next few years things will be a lot better and we shall see the return of the St Patrick celebrations, providing we all stick to the social distancing and keeping in mind that the Virus is still out there waiting for that someone to infect, who is silly enough to think that it has gone away.