California is not what it was
Rome too is not what it was
No more imperial cities
No more crazy societies
Where is one to go?
Berlin Vancouver Samarkand?

-Jean Baudrillard

Southern Fall

Fall has more or less come to Sydney -- which is a welcome site in my book. The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler and a bit wetter. I always welcome fall and the change that it brings, but it is always hard to adjust to it happening in the opposite time that it does in the north. It is also equally as interesting to contrast it with the Easter season -- since normally everyone talks about it as a time for things to come back to life, to turn green and bring summer in. In Australia it is a time of change in the other direction -- trees are shedding leave and bark, animals are starting to forage for the winter, and the bugs are slowly going. The only similarity that I notice is that things tend to stay green for awhile (in Sydney at least) as more rain comes in the winter. Its a time to sit outside eating under heat lamps, take chilly walks along cold sand on the beach and usher in a nice evening with some wine or a nice coffee, all of which are easily found in Sydney. Most people are not fans of the winter here, but for me, it echoes in a season of work and writing, change and thought.