Four days ago, on the 24th of April, I reblogged the first part to: It’s raining!
I copy now the rest of this post from January 2014 and the comments to it! đ
So, it is April 2022 now. But it is still quite warm and very wet! Still. I try to put a walk on between showers along the footpath beside Brooks Creek.
Here is the copy now:
Brooks Creek âflowsâ along beside the wooded area on this side of Lakelands Park. Someone tried to build an access for walking down to the creek.
This is the place opposite our front door.My umbrella did get only a little bit wet. So I decide to take it inside to dry.As I enter the living-room I can see Peter being busy with the computer.
Auntie, Sister. Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Mother and Wife of German Descent I’ve lived in Australia since 1959 together with my husband Peter. We have four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I started blogging because I wanted to publish some of my childhood memories. I am blogging now also some of my other memories. I like to publish some photos too as well as a little bit of a diary from the present time. Occasionally I publish a story with a bit of fiction in it. Peter, my husband, is publishing some of his stories under berlioz1935.wordpress.com View all posts by auntyuta
berlioz1935Â EditIt is about time we had a little bit of rain. The man sitting at the computer is looking through a window to the world.Reply
auntyuta EditToo right, it is a window to the world, isnât it? I am glad we have now this change in this weather! Still, itâs only January. Some more heatwaves might still come our way.Reply
natswans EditAlthough itâs raining outside Uta , you captured the day beautifully. Brooks Creek looks very relaxing even in the rain. Take care and enjoy that clean fresh air. Sheila xxReply
auntyuta EditI find this warm summer rain quite enjoyable, Sheila. Brooks Creek doesnât really look much like a creek at the moment. A lot of plants grow in it and do not let the water run through freely anymore. I love the smell of the bush after it has been raining a bit. Uta, oxReply
araanz50 EditBoa noite! Sou amiga da Gislinde e vim conhecer o seu WD AraAbraçosâŠ.Araan.Reply
gerard oosterman EditGood pitures Uta. Peter looks a bit like my brother in law who is also German born. The garden looks lovely.Reply
auntyuta EditI love taking pictures while I am walking, Gerard. Makes my walks quite interesting for I look at things I would otherwise perhaps not take so much notice of. I do not mind a bit of rain, especially in summer. At the moment I do not fear that our grass might dry out. Reply
giselzitrone EditDanke liebe Ute fĂŒr deinen Besuch so schöne Bilder,war bestimmt eine schöne Wanderung ein schönes StĂŒcken Erde,da könnte ich mir vorstellen auch zu Wandern.Ich hoffe das es dir gut geht,wir haben hier in Köln Freuhlingsafte Temperaturen heute war es 13 Grad warm fast wie FrĂŒhling.Ich wĂŒnsche dir noch eine glĂŒckliche Zeit.Liebe GrĂŒĂe GislindeReply
auntyuta EditDanke, liebe Gislinde. Es war eigentlich mehr wie ein kleiner Spaziergang. Heute morgen gleich nach dem Aufstehen machte ich wieder so einen Spaziergang. Ich ging den gleichen Weg entlang, aber diesmal etwas schneller. Ich fĂŒhlte mich voller Energie und brauchte zwischendurch ĂŒberhaupt keine Pausen machen. Irgendwie ging es mit meinem Atem viel besser als sonst. Es war immer noch recht feucht, Temperatur 20 Grad Celsius. Liebe GrĂŒsse, Uta.Reply
rangewriter EditI bet that was refreshing after all the heat and smoke youâve endured!Reply
auntyuta EditLinda, yes, we did have a bit of heat before it rained, but where we live there was no smoke, none whatsoever. So our air is clean and beautiful fresh with that bit of rain we have at the moment.I hope the cooler temperatures and maybe some rain, where there are still a lot of fires, is going to keep all the fires under control. The fires are many miles away from us, but still they stretch over vast areas in several states of Australia. There are literally still hundreds of fires burning. Fires like this usually last for many weeks!Reply
The other day, on the First of May actually, we were enticed by the beautiful sunshine to drive into the country site. Not far from where we live, about 70 km is Kangaroo Valley.
On the way there and back we passed through Berry, a town on the Princes Highway. It is âold charmâ town where on weekends well to do people from Sydney come to visit and do some shopping for things that do not come from China, like craft work etc.
But before we reached Berry on our way back we still passed through some beautiful scenery of Australian landscape. The Australian landscape is not as much a cultural landscape as much as the European is.
Uta wanted to see Autumn Leaves on the way back. So, we decided to visit Berry again. This is part of the new Australia where introduced plants change the land and town scapes. In the evergreen Australia it is quite a sight.
Autumn in Berry
Autumn Leaves
We drove a bit further and suddenly saw the townâs Cenotaph erected for the fallen of the two World Wars. The floral tribute from the recent ANZAC Day were still to be seen.
I realised then, that perhaps Berry represents, in equal parts, the modern and the old Australia and the fallen soldiers are the connecting element of this duality. Without knowing it they gave their lives for just the Australia we have become. Migrants of the countries that were fighting in the Great War of 1914/18 are now here. The French bakery and the former migrant attest to that.
And I remembered a poem I wrote a few years ago and it contains the following lines referring to Gallipoli:
When Diggers stormed the Cove They could not know That many years hence Men from the other side Would come to their Land.
Did they fight and die in vain? Not so. They prevailed and shared their Land. Turned foes into welcome friends.
The Cenotaph
Every fallen soldier has a plaque in the wall and a tree planted in his name.
The trees of Rememberance
There was a war trophy, July 1918, too, a German heavy mortar
A fire belching monster from another time
Among all the names I noticed two especially, one airman who was flying for the RAF, perhaps he died on an air raid over Berlin where I come from and a seaman on the HMAS Sydney. The sinking of the Sydney was such a tragic event. What a crazy world we live in. Iâm so sorry all this happened. But we should look to the future and recognise that we live in an earthly paradise â Australia!
This beautiful Magnolia is to be seen in the centre of Berry
Magnolias have been around for twenty million years. It has been introduced into Australia but it is fitting for such an ancient plant to be here in Australia.
auntyuta on  said:Hi Peter!I am sure this day and the two posts you wrote about it are going to stay in my memory. I had a lovely day. It was such a good idea to go for this drive, wasnât it?Love, UtaReply â
berlioz1935on  said:Hi Uta, it was indeed a lovely day and I invite you to do same drive on the 1, May this year. Love PeterReply â
auntyutaon  said:Yes, Peter, sure Iâll love to do the same drive with you on the 1st of May this year. So, this is coming up in three days!! Very much looking forward to this. Love, UtaÂ
These thoughts about the 1st of May Peter published in 2012, that is ten years ago!
I copy here what I found in the comment section. It is so interesting to see who responded bt writing a comment and Peter’s answer to the comments!
Munira has been a dear blogger friend of mine ever since I started blogging! đ
What vivid memories to share! Wonderful. anneReply â
berlioz1935on said:Thanks for looking in and taking notice. The past is always with us, accompanying our life like our shadow. For some, depending on the experience, it is a burden But we should not get depressed about it. Quietly observe the past like an old family picture. Have a great day.Reply â
Munira on said:I love observing the past like it was an old family photo. In fact thatâs a great way of describing my other blog. Take a look if youâre interested http://munirazoom.wordpress.com/This post really evoked a sense of your memory, and in such few words. Lovely.Reply â
berliozon said:Thanks Munira for your comment. This is really what I felt and wanted to communicate. What is missing are the photos. In that time we had no camera and despite some shortages we looked forward to a brighter future.Reply â
berlioz1935on said:Thank you for the other link. I had already a short glance and it seems very interesting. By recording your familyâs history you also recording your countryâs history.
When I was still living in Berlin as a youngster the First of May always used to be a beautiful day. A cold night preceded a sunny day with blue sky all over the city. The trams were decorated with fresh green from the Birch trees and they carried the flag of Berlin with the little bear.
Of course, there used to be the rallies organised by the Unions for the rights and a better life for the workers. A couple of times I joined my mother and her colleagues from the post office and we marched through the still bombed out city. Nobody thought of torching the few cars that were parking on the side of the road. There might have been the odd three-wheeled Tempo who belonged to someone who had to earn a crust (this is an Australian expression about someone who earns a little bit of money to feed his family â crust of bread).
Later during the day, when the sun had risen to the zenith and warmed our naked arms â the sleeves were rolled up â we. my friends and I, took our bikes for a ride to the Havel lakes and went for a swim in the still icy water.
The 1st of May was always the start of the most beautiful month in Berlin. Spring was in full swing.
When I was still living in Berlin as a youngster the First of May always used to be a beautiful day. A cold night preceded a sunny day with blue sky all over the city. The trams were decorated with fresh green from the Birch trees and they carried the flag of Berlin with the little bear.
Of course, there used to be the rallies organised by the Unions for the rights and a better life for the workers. A couple of times I joined my mother and her colleagues from the post office and we marched through the still bombed out city. Nobody thought of torching the few cars that were parking on the side of the road. There might have been the odd three-wheeled Tempo who belonged to someone who had to earn a crust (this is an Australian expression about someone who earns a little bit ofâŠ
It is very interesting for me to read once more what I did write about the early years of my life. I can’t believe all this goes back for more than sixty years! Quite amazing . . . .
Two years ago when I had not been blogging for very long yet, I wrote the following about my parents:
âYour father has always been a selfish person. He doesnât send any money for you but I bet he sits down for breakfast with a soft boiled egg in front of him. He knows how to look after himself and doesnât care whether his children have anything to eat.â
The voice of my mother still rings in my ears. When years later I talked to my father about his so called selfishness, he justified himself with a lot of words and by producing the Post Office receipts which proved that he had constantly sent money for us children. True, he never could send much, however Mumâs claim that he didnât send any money at all was totally wrong, according to Dad. He made sure that I looked at all theâŠ
Ja, this goes back to some early childhood memories of mine!
Playing with the children that lived in our street:
I spent lots of time playing with all the children in our street, Bozener StraĂe. One of our games was playing ‘Vater, Mutter, Kind’. It was understood, that the father had to be a boy. Luckily, there were usually a couple of boys, who did not mind acting as the fathers. If the girls outnumbered the boys, it did not matter. They could all be mothers. Each girl was allowed to bring one doll along. This doll then was a Kind, so that each girl would be a mother with one child. And all tghe dolls would be shared with the boys. We would be very proud, to see the boys showing affection to our dolls, that were our children!
I think, a game like this would probably have lasted for only a few minutes! We would quickly have gone to play any of our other games. We could play all these games in our very small street, that was hidden away from any traffic. Not that there was much traffic yet at this point in time. I am talking of the end of the 1930s and early 1940s, and Bozener Str. is pretty much in the Centre of Berlin.
We loved to play ball games, or hide and seek, or singing and dancing games. I only went up to our apartment for meals. Mum would let me know, when it was time to come up for a meal by calling down to me from our balcony. From that balcony she could practically survey the whole of Bozener StraĂe!
The house, that I grew up, in is still standing. It survived all the bombings during the war. It just had to undergo some renovations in the post-war period.
We were lucky the cafe was open today, Wednesday, the first of May. We had some good breakfast there and ‘bowls’ of excellent coffee. Then we drove a bit around the backroads of this small town called Berry. Our first stop was here:
There were still a lot of wreaths and flowers from Anzac Day.
From Wikipedia:
“Anzac Day (/ËĂŠnzĂŠk/) is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served”.[1][2] Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, their first engagement in the First World War (1914â1918).”
Berry Station is just down this road!
Our next stop was the Berry Swimming Pool that was closed for the winter months from April to November.
Here is some Wikipedia information about this town :
“As of 2013, the small town has a variety of arts and craft shops, restaurants and cafes, a hotel, club, post office, supermarket and other businesses, including an ambulance station, general practitioner and a chemist.
Kangaroo Valley has a bus service to Nowra and Moss Vale. Priors Scenic Express also provides a long-distance coach service to Bowral, Mittagong, and Sydney as well as to the Shoalhaven and South Coast, as far as Narooma.”
We stopped at a very nice cafe in the main street.
Oh yes, we had not great difficulty pretending it was 1995!!
On the way home we stopped at the Robertson Pie Shop for a cup of refreshing tea and some delicious fruit pie.
Here is a link to a post Peter (Berlioz) wrote seven years ago:
Among other things you find the following in Peter’s post:
“The other day, on the First of May actually, we were enticed by the beautiful sunshine to drive into the country site. Not far from where we live, about 70 km is Kangaroo Valley. On the way there and back we passed through Berry, a town on the Princes Highway. It is âold charmâ town where on weekends well to do people from Sydney come to visit and do some shopping for things that do not come from China, like craft work etc. . . .”
“When the Cenotaph was unveiled in 1921, a tree was planted for each of the dead along Alexandra Street, at the base of each of these trees a bronze plaque was set recalling the soldier to whom the tree was originally dedicated. . . .”
Peter also did mention in his post from 2012 the Cenotaph in Berry that we visited again today:
“We drove a bit further and suddenly saw the townâs Cenotaph erected for the fallen of the two World Wars. The floral tributes from the recent ANZAC Day were still to be seen. I realised then, that perhaps Berry represents, in equal parts, the modern and the old Australia, and the fallen soldiers are the connecting element of this duality. Without knowing it they gave their lives for just the Australia we have become. Migrants of the countries that were fighting in the Great War of 1914/18 are now here. . . .”
In my post from seven years ago I mentioned the Berry Sourdough Cafe in Prince Alfred Street:
” . . . we drove on to Berry where we had some pies for lunch. We also bought some cake at the Milkwood Bakery. This is a newly opened bakery in Queen Street. They are a branch of the Berry Sourdough Cafe in Prince Alfred Street, which is famous for very good breakfasts.” So today, seven years later but also on the first of May, we did actually have breakfast at the cafe in Prince Alfred Street.
“Early in the morning we heard a song about the Hampden Bridge and we thought why not go there today? It seems to be the right thing to do. First of May is not a holiday in Australia. But what the heck, our life is a constant holiday and we can go to the Kangaroo Valley, that is where the bridge is, any time we want. So off we went. The Illawarra is a beautiful part of NSW and we are proud to live here. . . . “
Today we passed Hampden Bridge again, but did not stop there but drove on to the village of Kangaroo Valley.
When I put the ABC TV Morning program on just now, the first thing I heard was, that Drink Spiking has become a major problem. So, when I go out and someone offers me a drink, I have to make sure, it cannot be spiked!
Today is Wednesday, the 27th of May. Two days ago, last Monday, we had Anzac Day, that is a Public Holiday! This is why I had no home help last Monday.
My dear Summah is going to help me for two hours on Thursday (tomorrow) again! Then on Friday morning I can go over to the Club to see the knitting group ladies for a little bit, and maybe have a bit of lunch at the club. And tomorrow afternoon is another games afternoon for Barbara, Erika, Irene, and me!
This coming Saturday is going to be the last day of this month. So, that means on Sunday is the 1st of May!
Now, here is some great news: One week from next Sunday, that is on the 8th of May, I am going to be on the plane with my daughters Caroline and Monika, and Krystal (Monika’s daughter)!
We go first to Singapore. And from Singapore we catch a direct flight to Berlin, Germany, to see some relatives and friends . . . .
We are going to be back in Australia on Monday, the 23rd of May!
Noam Chomsky: âWeâre approaching the most dangerous point in human historyâ US professor, Noam Chomsky now 93, joins George Eaton to discuss the Ukraine Russia War, the climate catastrophe, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, Brexit, and much more. âItâs monstrous for Ukraine,â he said. In common with many Jews, Noam Chomsky has a family connection to the region: his father was born in present-day Ukraine and emigrated to the US in 1913 to avoid serving in the tsarist army; his mother was born in Belarus. Chomsky, who is often accused by critics of refusing to condemn any anti-Western government, unhesitatingly denounced Vladimir Putinâs âcriminal aggressionâ. Noam Chomsky is also still engaged by British politics. âBrexit was a very serious error, it means that Britain will be compelled to drift even further into subordination to the US,â he told me. âI think itâs a disaster. What does it mean for the Conservative Party? I imagine they can lie their way out of it, theyâre doing a good job of lying about a lot of things and getting away with it.â Read the full interview by George Eaton here: https://www.newstatesman.com/encounte… Chapters: 0:00–1:23 Intro 1:23–12:38 Ukraine Russia War 12:38–23:05 Afghanistan war, Yemen, and US foreign policy 23:05–28:30 Putin and US democracy 28:30–35:32 Trump and the “greatest threat to humanity” 35:32–37:00 Keir Starmer and the Labour Party 37:00–47:47 The US Democratic party 47:47–48:58 Brexit 48:58–53:37 Why Chomsky is still politically active 53:37–59:06 Hope and Extinction Rebellion #NoamChomsky#Brexit#RussiaUkraine
April 25 is a sacred day in the Australian and New Zealand national calendars. It is a day on which many of our citizens can set aside their divides and commemorate the ultimate sacrifice of over 102,000 members of the Australian armed forces who have died during or as a result of their service in wars and peacetime operations.
On the morning of April 25, 1915, those hardy yet inexperienced souls of the Anzac Corps landed at a place few Australians had heard of. It ended in disaster for the British Expeditionary Force. But, as Australian historian C.E.W. Bean wrote afterwards:
“In the first straight rush up the Anzac hills in the dark, in the easy figures first seen on the ridges against the dawn sky, in the working parties stacking stores on the shelled beach without the turning of a head, in the stretcher-bearers walking … onlookers had recognised in these men qualities always vital to the human race. Australians watched the name of their country rise high in the esteem of the world’s oldest and greatest nations.”
In the modern era, these words might also be applied to the courageous Ukrainians. Fighting against a larger, more technologically advanced nation since February 24, the Ukrainian people, their tenacious military and their inspirational president have demonstrated the kinds of qualities we so admire in our Anzac veterans and celebrate every April.
‘Why did he sign up?’: Historian uncovers his own family’s Anzac past
This Anzac Day, as Australians continue to see the Ukrainians demonstrate those qualities of courage, resilience, empathy and cleverness so “vital to the human race”, what might we learn from the Russo-Ukraine War?
We can’t disappear war with hope
The first lesson is that war remains a central aspect of human existence. No amount of hoping it goes away can make it disappear. As historian Ian Morris has written, war is “something that cannot be wished out of existence, because it cannot be done”.
Despite the theories of Steven Pinker and others, authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin believe that resorting to war to achieve their desired outcomes remains a valid course of action in the 21st century.
China is running out of time to achieve the glory so desired by President Xi Jinping.(AP: Li Xiang/Xinhua)
We must not fool ourselves into believing this might just be a European phenomenon. While nations such as China would have us believe they prefer to “win without fighting”, they have also engaged in the largest military build-up seen anywhere in the world in the past several decades.
And China is a nation running out of time to achieve the glory so desired by President Xi. It is getting older, smaller and more desperate to reintegrate Taiwan into China. The lesson for Australia is that a large-scale war is possible in our region in the coming years.
We must be prepared to fight
There is a follow-on lesson from this. We need to do everything we can to deter such an eventuality, but also be prepared to fight if deterrence and diplomacy fails.
This means that Australia will probably need to spend even more than recently promised increases in defence spending. Potentially, we may need to double the amount of our GDP spent on national defence.
This increase should apply to the larger national defence effort, and not just military spending. If our nation is to play a more substantial role in deterring conflict, and securing our region, we will need to significantly expand our diplomatic capacity.
Our nation’s diplomats are on the front line of our global engagement, every single day of the year. We need to expand their numbers, their presence, and their aid budget to shape the regional environment so it is less conducive to external coercion or military conflict.
Military might must expand
At the same time, our military capabilities will need to be sharpened considerably in quality and quantity â on land, at sea, in the air, in space and cyberspace.
Australia must be a nation that potential adversaries look at and think, “no thanks”. This may involve a significant and rapid enlargement in the size of the Australian Defence Force, complemented with a much-improved civil defence and resilience capacity.
It might even necessitate a form of national service for young Australians. Young Australians could serve in the military services or in a variety of state emergency response organisations and other forms of non-martial services.
Leadership matters
Perhaps the most important leader in the world right now is Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.(Reuters: Gleb Garanich)
Finally, leadership matters. Leadership and inspiration from individuals can make or break nations. Despite the centrality of slow, committee-based decision making in our national capital, it is clever, connected, empathetic and values-based leaders who are essential to our nation.
These leaders must be willing to take risks, nurture an environment where failure is permitted in a strategic learning culture, and accept that time is short. Too many in our national defence community think in terms of decades when it comes to risk and defence procurement. This must change, and quickly.
Ukraine gives us an alternative example of strategic leadership. Perhaps the most important leader in the world right now is President Zelenskyy. He was underestimated by Western leaders before the war, but has since unified his people, exhorted courage from his military and inspired millions around the world to reconsider why democracy is worth defending. He appreciates the need to take risks and knows that time is his most precious resource in saving his nation from potential extinction.
Many national leaders in the West will have since looked at themselves in the mirror and wondered if they could meet the high standard of leadership Zelenskyy has set.
This Anzac Day, Australia again looks on from afar as a foreign democracy fights desperately for its life. We must, as a nation, give thanks for the sacrifices of our forebears.
But we should also honour their sacrifices by learning from the war in Ukraine so in the coming years we might better defend our values, our democratic system, and our prosperity in the 21st century.
Mick Ryan is a strategist and recently retired Australian Army major general. He served in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, and as a strategist on the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff. His first book, War Transformed, is about 21st century warfare.
Ukrainians begin to rebuild in Irpin after Russian assaults
berlioz1935Â EditIt is about time we had a little bit of rain. The man sitting at the computer is looking through a window to the world.Reply
natswans EditAlthough itâs raining outside Uta , you captured the day beautifully. Brooks Creek looks very relaxing even in the rain.
araanz50Â EditBoa noite!
gerard oosterman EditGood pitures Uta. Peter looks a bit like my brother in law who is also German born. The garden looks lovely.Reply
giselzitrone EditDanke liebe Ute fĂŒr deinen Besuch so schöne Bilder,war bestimmt eine schöne Wanderung ein schönes StĂŒcken Erde,da könnte ich mir vorstellen auch zu Wandern.Ich hoffe das es dir gut geht,wir haben hier in Köln Freuhlingsafte Temperaturen heute war es 13 Grad warm fast wie FrĂŒhling.Ich wĂŒnsche dir noch eine glĂŒckliche Zeit.Liebe GrĂŒĂe GislindeReply
auntyuta EditDanke, liebe Gislinde. Es war eigentlich mehr wie ein kleiner Spaziergang. Heute morgen gleich nach dem Aufstehen machte ich wieder so einen Spaziergang. Ich ging den gleichen Weg entlang, aber diesmal etwas schneller. Ich fĂŒhlte mich voller Energie und brauchte zwischendurch ĂŒberhaupt keine Pausen machen. Irgendwie ging es mit meinem Atem viel besser als sonst. Es war immer noch recht feucht, Temperatur 20 Grad Celsius. Liebe GrĂŒsse, Uta.Reply
rangewriter EditI bet that was refreshing after all the heat and smoke youâve endured!Reply
AuntyUta 
