Sunday, December 31, 2023

There are no fireworks tonight

 It's the first thing that they will tell you.

And they'll be fast with the reasons that they ascribe it to.

But despite our ability to survive this life with some level of satisfaction, nay, indeed even joy on every other day of the year (ish), it seems the local council economic decision to not fritter many dollars not readily available from the coffers PLUS the exorbitant insurance hike from keeping the constituents body and soul relatively intact during an election year is lamentable.

And you know full well that the b-side to this folksong of the taxed would be offended no matter which way.

Nature abhors a void and has, free of charge, put together it's own lights show for our entertainment.

To the North at the horizon is the silent flicker of yellows and oranges.

On our right, beyond our peripheral, is the Pacific.

And it seems society also abhors a vacuum - or rather, some members of society make stupid decisions under the influence of alcohol, and this night gives licence to stupid decisions and indeed getting influenced by alcohol (although not necessarily together) and we heard the approach of one such member well before we could see him, with the screaming of a racing engine bolting towards our stage.

At the intersection closest to our view, there is a low floodway bridge at an angle that is not right.

Because of the issues with my eyes, I actually find it easier at times to eschew my glasses, and so again I got to experience the next few minutes of sound effects and V's commentary.

This young man (major assumption but statistics probably back me that a goodly many more males than females are making stupid decisions under the influence of alcohol these days, no matter how hard some try) completely missed the entrance for the bridge, over-corrected and ended up being airborne, hitting the cement bottom of the drain with an almighty crunching of suspension, entered the bank on on the other side before, miraculously righting itself on the flood flat beyond.

I went to find a phone as I was certain that an injury had occurred when the engine started revving and the driver started to creep away with a slink of guilt.

He did an imperfect circle back to the other end of the bridge (culvert V interjects and he may be right), successfully traversed it and in the sweep towards our street he has taken out the Stop (or is it Give Way) sign. Either way, he did neither and instead dragged it several metres along our road.

Who said we did not have any local entertainment?

Neighbours on one side went to investigate, as did one of the new neighbours on t'other with her dog.

(A) I was in my nightie, and (B) my own miss sensible anxiety kicked in on many dot points including but not limited to missiles, kangaroos, disapproval and storms, so I did not join the council.

And it's not even 12 o'clock (here - it is if you are from my right and before the international dateline fence)

Happy anniversary of planet Earth spinning around the Sun.

3 comments:

Kelly said...

It sounds like someone is fortunate they didn't leave that scene in a body bag.
So what are the flickers to the north of you? Fires? City lights? Do you see the Southern Lights where you live? I'm not sure how far south you have to be for that. I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights, but that's way too far to the north of me.
Happy New Year to you and yours!!

jeanie said...

Thank you Kelly. Happy new year to you too. I would assume that both person and vehicle would have some very sore spots today.

jeanie said...

Oh, and the lights were lightning. Aurora australis can apparently be seen occasionally from Tasmania if everything aligns - we are too far north!