Australia Day spent with friends invariably brings a reflection of what denotes a summer and how our summers have changed.
When I was a kid summer was the smell of Coppertone and then Reef Oil as I got older, hours spent at the local 50-metre swimming pool and in our backyard 3 metre round pool, noisy cicadas every day, heat, heat, and heat.
Christmas time used to bring with it the crazy Christmas Beetles that would fly into your hair or thud against your windows at night as they sought the light.
Coppertone doesn’t exist anymore, and I now know that roasting myself in Reef Oil probably hasn’t done me any good.
When I was a kid/teenager, the goal was to be brown in summer. If you were pale, you were sent outside to “get some sun”. How times change – lol!
The 50-metre pool has now become an “aquatic centre”, and from the images I found on Google, looks like it has either become an indoor pool or they’ve added an indoor pool to the original old pool. I couldn’t tell from its website.
It looks very different.
The cicadas don’t sing as much, and it’s been years since I have seen a cicada shell in my backyard.
I used to find them all the time.
The Christmas beetles have changed too. If you do see them, they are tiny. They are as big as your fingernail. They used to be much bigger.
However, a couple of days ago when I was in Tanya’s pool next door, I did see an enormous Christmas Beetle.
He was the size of my thumb down to the first joint. He was a beautiful golden colour.
I was hanging over the sided of the pool, so excited to see him.
He flew so close that I could hear the drone and see the rapid movement of his wings.
He was massive, really one of nature’s wonders as he flew that big body around looking for some water to drink.
I was jumping out of my skin compared to Tanya’s, “Meh” when I pointed him out –
hahahaha.
I’m not a fan of hot, but I am waiting for the steady flow of warmth that used to come with summer.
I had my heater on again last night because I was cold and felt so wrong and un-Australian on Australia Day.
There’s not much I can do to change anything back to the way it used to be except I will do my bit to limit my effect on climate change so that other kids get to experience their Australian summers with fond memories in the future.
Your tune for today is “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Croft.
Stay Safe.