Australia was reborn post WWII, we had gone through our first 45 years of nationhood, more or less, as an appendage of Britain. We were "all" white, "all" male, "all" English and "all" to a man enjoyed a beer and the little woman's Sunday roast. There certainly were no social issues! Well if there were we did an excellent job of sweeping them under the carpet. Only a few minor hiccups over that period in the shape of WWI & II and The Great Depression to upset the apple cart, nothing too serious really (that one said tongue in cheek). Growing up pre war is very much in the hands of the historians now days, not too many remember, only a few remain who knew those times first hand.

Moving on, there are many who do remember what it was like in the new land of opportunity, post war Australia, with a landscape created by Victa lawn mowers and Hills hoists, but they were not in everyone's backyard. How was growing up in the New Australia of the 1950's and 60's or maybe earlier, or later, in your neighbourhood? The good, the bad and the ugly of those times, Here's a chance to tell others how it was (in your experience) growing up back in the day!

In 70s, Preston was a pretty rough area with a few areas that were especially tough, near Reservoir and Heidelberg.

Lot of tension between tech and high school, and some tension between anglo-celts and southern Europeans.

You either got involved in sport, or often hung around with the wrong crowd.

Unfortunately, I hung around the wrong crowd for excitement in early teens, at least until late 70s/early 80s when took up sport more seriously as a way of life.

Fun times, but a waste of time too

Hi Paul,

Thanks for this discussion.

My family came out to Australia in 1949.
As refugees. Displaced people who fled the
terror of the Soviet Regime.

Initially my father had to fulfill his two year work
contract. He worked wherever the government sent him.
From building roads, to cutting sugar-cane in
Queensland. They lived in camps and life was tough.
Language was a problem, especially for dad who spoke
several languages, English was not one of them.
However he learned quickly and learned to adapt and
fit in. Dad was liked at work. Hundreds turned up at
his funeral - he died of a massive coronary - at 52
years of age.

But they managed to work hard and eventually bought
a house. My grand-parents both died of illnesses.
They died in the DP camps. They never got to live in the
house that dad bought.

Dad believed in self-reliance. He worked two shifts in
a rubber factory to pay off the house. He also made sure that
his kids went on to higher education and got the job skills
necessary for their futures in this country. Our family life
was strong. And together we worked, studied hard and prospered.

growing up in the 60's and 70's in a Government house and without a family car for a long time was simple and yet satisfying. Many of my friends were 'wogs'. There was much bullying in schools and the only way to survive was to fight back or become good at sport. Unfortunately like today people who were different were often picked on. Italians and Greeks often had generations of people in their houses as they worked hard to get established. It was kind of good as a kid not having anything to do with politics. Personally I would not of known liberal from labour or conservative from 'progressive'. We were taught real history at school instead of the social engineering today with the gw myth and gender rubbish used to sexualise kids. I do however remember one Geography teacher who was convinced we were in for an ice age (as many did back then) and the hysterical nonsense with the ozone layer (groupthink of the day).

Shame was a big thing in those days. My father had been divorced and it was considered a terrible thing. Strange these days society is shameless. Sex with whomever and whatever, no value on wedding vows and the belief we are morally superior (virtue signallers) to others because we wear a blm badge. We left our homes open, cars unlocked (when we got one) and generally people were true to their word. Yeah overall Australia was a great place in the 60's 70's and 80's.

Foxy,

And look where you ended up: arguing with us on OLO.

runner,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but WE ARE STILL IN THE ICE AGE.

I think that's what your geography teacher was trying ti tell you.

You really do need to get out more often.

'And look where you ended up: arguing with us on OLO.'

same place as you Mr Opinion. Shows what a tolerant lot we are.

I forgot to mention that my parents also contributed
to the Lithuanian Community in Sydney. Financially and
socially. They were well known in the community.

Then years later when mum moved to Melbounre after
dad's death she joined the Lithuanian Social Care
Women's Association in Melbourne. The Lithuanian
Choir with whom she toured and performed in Lithuania,
after Lithuania regained her independence. Our family
in general gave their time and willingly worked and
supported the Lithuanian communities strongly.

This at that time was fairly common amongst older
people and their families. Today
things have changed to the extent that mixed
marriages are far more common and choices for younger
people are becoming more acceptable. In times past
this was not the case.

I should also say that politically - our family
always supported the Liberal Party. I guess that
was true of the Lithuanian Communities in
general. This was due to the fact that our parents
had fled from the Communist Soviet Regime that
invaded and occupied our country. People at that time
associated the Labor Party with communism. So voting
for Labor then was not an option.

And for many today - not much has changed in the
Lithuanian community.

I don't remember much about the war. Dad was at Amberley before going overseas, & we lived in a housing commission or air force house in Ipswitch while he was overseas. I remember getting milk in a billy can from the dairy across the road, & the big hail storm that broke many windows in the school, but not much else.

Moved to Townsville when dad came back, it was a great place for a kid. We all walked to school, up to a couple of miles, I don't remember ever seeing a bus, school or public. All kids were barefoot, shoes were expensive, when you could get them. No one bothered with rain coats, even if they had them, you dried quickly in shorts & a shirt.

School was pretty serious. We were given a dozen words to learn to spell, & some arithmetic to do each night. You were tested on the spelling daily, & it was the strap if you got too many wrong, or hadn't done the math. We swam in shark proof [almost] enclosures on the beach, & we had never heard of marine stingers. Life was good.

Moved to Bathurst when I was 10. We lived in a dirt floored tin shed for 2 years, while dad built a house, when ever materials became available. Winters were very cold. We did not feel deprived, about a hundred or so families in the area were all doing the same. It was how you got your own house.

I got a bike, & a paper delivery job to pay for it. Someone gave me a horse, & like the other kids, rode it bareback. Saddles cost as much as a car. A farmer let me keep it at his farm in exchange for bring his cows back from the river where they grazed most days. We got our first after war car, life was great.
Continued

Continued
We moved to Young. I had to ride the horse 110 miles, as transport was too expensive. We bought a small orchard where I could keep my horse, & built another house. Small country schools were great, I was good at sport so easily accepted. Not many kids to chose from, so I was in the school senior football & cricket teams, the debating team, & an officer in the cadet core.

Small country schools were great. Young High had only 14 kids in 5Th year, so we got plenty of help from really great teachers, who really wanted to do their best for us. They ran after school classes for honor courses for kids trying to get scholarships to Uni or teachers college. They helped us greatly to put in the effort to succeed.

I went back a few years ago & saw that our old science/math master had made it to head, something he truly deserved.

Foxy,

Your mum didn't happen to be the Liberal Party's TV ad's famous Little Old Lady from Lithuania who scared people from voting for Labor by telling them how she had escaped from Communism?

Goodness, Runner, you must have been so virtuous in those days :)

Joe

'Goodness, Runner, you must have been so virtuous in those days :)'

you are telling the story Joe!

Mr O,

No. My mother was not involved in politics
at all. She was an educator.
A teacher. An academic.

Also -

She was involved in helping both the young and the
elderly in the community. In the choir.
And - Working full time
to pay the bills, plus, educating and raising her family.

She was too busy to worry about politics.

What about you Mr O?

Where are you from and where is your ancestry
from? And were any of you involved in politics
at all?

Your turn to do more than just question others.

Do tell.

Foxy,

Well you have probably guessed by now that I am not Chinese.

My sky blue eyes tell you that I can trace my gene pool back to the prehistoric east Baltic area, maybe even Lithuania. I might even be the long lost cousin you have always wanted.

The first of my Australian ancestors was a free settler from England to NSW in the 1840s. Add some Irish and Danish into the mix during the late 1800s and the rest is history.

That should be enough to whet your appetite.

"Australia was reborn post WWII…".

Funny that; I thought the date was 1901, Federation. I wonder if I could sue the educational institutions I attended. Even the "all" men drinking beer is at odds with history, with 20% of us not touching a drop - probably more those days, with all those fierce temperance ladies, and the ability of wives wanting enough money for food to put boozy husbands under the 'blackfella act'.

I was a 'war baby', born in 1943, a couple of years before the Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. My wife was a baby boomer (1946). While we have appreciated and used the advances in technology and consumer goods during our lives, we reckon that we saw the best of Australia before the end of the 1960s, and Australia started sticking its nose into places like Vietnam. It's all been downhill from there.

Mr O,

Nope. you're not going to be a cousin of mine.

Dad's only brother was killed in Lithuania.
During the war.
He was a high school student.
And mum was an only child.

So - we're not going to be related.

Although - your blue eyes might help.

My Gran was from St. Petersburg and she had the
bluest eyes. Remarkable lady. I've inherited her
mane of hair. Although my eyes are green. But they
do change colour - depending on my mood.

But no - she was an only child as well.

Sorry, can't help you.

Although, there's grandpa ...

Mr O,

How tall are you?

Grandpa was about six feet seven.

Well Foxy, you've sparked me into joining in, after a long period of disenchantment with too many on OLO raging against moderation and civility.
(I've kept checking-in fairly regularly, but have resisted - though I was somewhat inclined to contribute a comment on your thread about "Aussies". In that vein, my observation has been that it takes all kinds, and virtually every possible configuration may be found - from PhD's to dolts, artists, musicians, poets and story-tellers, to those who refuse to accept the limitations/imperatives of their DNA.

From my childhood in 1940's Wagga, to my adult life in Sydney and beyond, I have assessed that the Aussie bludger/larrikin has been a constant, unfortunately - but thankfully in a relative minority, particularly now, thanks to so many more recent arrivals to this great country.)

My Dad came out from Greece in 1920 - having been a police officer in Greece during WW1 - to join his older brother, who sponsored him.
My Mum was a third-generation Aussie, from English/Scottish and Irish heritage.
Naturally, when my parents got together they were both working in cafes, bought a chicken farm, then a milk bar - and from there to Sydney for the boys' education, and to reasonable comfort - with two proud and reasonably successful sons.
Dad worked hard, and certainly kept involved with the Greek community where we lived, and Mum worked like a Trojan, maintained a tender cautious hand on the tiller, and raised us well (I think).

Much has changed, with somewhat less community spirit, and a substantial increase in those who feel 'entitled' and take an awful lot for granted - though fortunately there are still enough of us volunteering to fight bushfires and support do's and undertake maintenance at the local hall.
I was a Natio in '65 and saw some country, and a little more since.
We are the 'Lucky Country', though some, possibly many, are yet to recognize their good fortune being here.

My blessings Foxy. Keep well.

I was born in the bush, central NSW, but lived most of my growing up days in Sydney. Although my mother never lost her longing for the country life, and she would return there often with us kids, up to six months at a time, away from the 'old man', we always spent the 6 weeks Xmas hols back at the "old place", as Mum always called it. City and country life were like chalk and cheese.

The grandparents lived in the village, granddad had years before bought the station masters house, his sheep property of 750 acres was about 5 miles away. There was a one room primary school in the village, timber railway station, passenger trains 3 times a day, tiny post office run by two old spinster sisters, it was the hub of the village, everyone had mail collect daily, two shops, two small churches, used once a month each, and I don't know why a tennis court for the locals. Very picturesque, with its few houses dotted on the surrounding hills. Progress over the years has seen all that disappear.

What do I recall about the bush; besides the people, sheep, and all things sheep, lot of sheep, steam trains, some for people, but most for sheep. there were plenty of rabbits and blackberries, two enemies of the farmer, one to be shot or trapped, the other to be burned, but both nice eating. Yabbies in the creek and dams, another feast for both man and chook, lots of chooks and associates of chooks, ducks, geese and turkeys! The turkeys were the royalty, the ducks and geese the dopes and the chickens the plebs of the poultry pen. Dogs, not pets, but working dogs, you guessed it, for the sheep, Simon and Lassie, I still remember their names. The only real freeloader was Grandmas cat, which couldn't do anything when it came to sheep. Oh! and snakes uninvited guests.

Hi Saltpetre

My parents are also greek, albeit i was ward of state under anglo-celtic parents from age of 5.

i watched SBS show about greeks in Darwin this week.

Was extremely amused that one of the greeks in early 20th century had to play with aboriginals football team given he was deemed not white enough. He helped them win four premierships.

Yes, the early 20th century days of Australia were hardly golden were they, if you were not British.

However, having experienced some small scarring from being called a wog often during the 1970s, I believe that Australia has moved on and has changed for the better in recent decades.

After all, racism is for neanderthals, and even they probably did not discriminate given they mingled with homosapiens.

I will correct last sentence.

Yes, people will discriminate sometimes against outsiders, but it is a nonsense when such discrimination is based on race and how you look.

IMO, as people interact, as the Australian example proves to most of us, most of the perceived and real differences can and will dissipate.

I said most

Foxy,

Asking me how tall I am is getting a bit personal.

I'm a happily married man and OLO is a family show so let's keep it platonic.

I remember how isolated from world, or even national events we were in the 40s and 50s, before tv came to this country. Having no car or tv, life was reduced to a small world revolving around close family, school and for my mother, work. We had a radio, which mum used to listen to the popular serials that were broadcast then but rarely any news items.
It was a time of innocence for most children. What porn and violence existed was very well hidden, we were free and safe to roam around our local bush land and streets, we stared at the funny clothes worn by the post war immigrants, wondered why all the old Italian grannies always wore black and made tentative overtures to kids with strange names and even stranger lunches at school.
Values were very different. Men generally didn’t leave their wives and kids. My family was one of the few and we were stigmatised as kids for having no father. Most girls didn’t have random casual sex and those who got pregnant ensured they didn’t get pregnant again outside marriage.It was taken for granted that if you didn’t have a job you went out every day looking until you found one.
Sport was an aural event unless you were able to attend the match. One of my greatest joys was being able to watch cricket and tennis on tv after only listening to it over the radio. We all read books, played stimulating games like chess, scrabble and monopoly.
The average family recycled clothes, patched them and handed them on. White goods and electronics were used until they were so broken they couldn’t be repaired any more. Holidays were something special, certainly not an annual event and only affordable for those with higher incomes.
There was no Medicare or loans to get into uni, limited welfare, very limited social housing, no help for abused or abandoned mothers, no help for disabled, no rebates or supplements for pensioners, and parents were held responsible for the raising and behaviour of their own children.
Harder but simpler times

Mr O,

You were the one who brought up the subject of
being related to me. A blue-eyed cousin?
Therefore my question about height is relevant
and believe me - its certainly platonic.
I didn't ask for more
personal details - because - frankly I'm not
interested.

I suspect that you're not from the Baltic region at all.
Just a troll - and a stirrer. And your obsession with
the Chinese is a very "Ruskie" leaning - dating back
generations.

Well for me, I was born in July of 1941, I guess I don't fall within the exact parameters of a 'baby boomer'. Our family came from very much an English and white South African background. My paternal grandfather fought in the Anglo-Boer War and my maternal, WWl.

My parents struggled all their lives, coming up through the depression, and WWll. They always ensured there was bread & butter on the table if not much else. I left school, at 15, my parents always wanted me to pursue a more genteel lifestyle and join a Bank. None the less I tried many different jobs, but none suited. At 17 I joined the Military, with the aid of their signature on the paperwork, and the rest became history as they say. Serving first on the Malay/Thai Border, against the Chinese Communist terrorists, and later South Vietnam fighting amongst ourselves, so it seemed anyway?

Afterwhich, the police force (in NSW) and there I remained until I retired, after reaching the lofty heights of a Det. Sergeant. My story is not that dissimilar to many others, but far less remarkable, within my demographic, save from ages 15 to 17, I could've very easily ended up, wearing green, out at Long Bay Gaol, then khaki? Still, I didn't, and so that was that.

o sung wu,

You will go down in history as the first person on OLO who said that the High Court would have no option but to acquit George Pell following the comments made by Judge Mark Weinberg.

You had the foresight to see it for what it was. Obviously an intellectual capacity acquired from your experience as a detective.

I have lots of foresight as a sociologist especially re China but everyone thinks it's because I'm just crazy. Although I see Scott Morrison is ramping up Australia's military preparedness in readiness to a threat from Guess Who.

A little expansion on the lifestyle.

Living in the 3 completed rooms of the house dad was building in Bathurst in 1952, we ate rabbit once or twice a week. These I supplied, either by digging them out of their borrows, or shooting them. Yes at 12 I had my own 22. A single shot, with broken extractors, a farmer had given me for helping out. You had to dig the spent round out of the breech with a knife.

Yes at 12 I had a hunting knife on my belt, for digging our those spent cartridges, & cleaning & gutting the rabbits. I also had my paper round, & a cleaning job in town a couple of nights a week, to pay fro things like football boots, the folks could not manage.

Another earn was selling programs around Mount Panorama race track for the then annual Easter race meetings, both motor bikes & cars. I was pretty impressed with the formula 1 race cars, & their wealthy gentleman drivers, particularly the big Largo Talbert, which won the feature race. It lapped the track which took me 17 minutes to ride my bike around in 3 minutes flat.

It never occurred to me that a kid from the wrong side of the river could ever aspire to race a motor car, we couldn't even afford a road car yet after the war.

Such was the growth in Australias wealth that I was back there in 1963 racing my Morgan +4 normal road going sports car, winning my class & lapping in the same 3 minutes flat. 5 years later I would win the Formula 1 feature race driving a Brabham Repco for one of Australias top teams.

Such a thing for someone of my background was totally unthinkable in the early 50s, but by the late 60s was pretty normal. Yes in some ways the old days of the homogeneous society post war was a better place, but the much richer society makes all things possible for anyone who has a real go at it in the 60s & today.

"Yes in some ways the old days of the homogeneous society post war was a better place, but the much richer society makes all things possible for anyone who has a real go at it in the 60s & today".

Yes.

I was fortunate to have spent my childhood in the 1950s and teens in the 1960s.

What a fascinating period to go up. Life was easy and free and it was a period of peace for most of the world and we were not faced with the environmental problems we have today.

Misopinionated,

I think you're trying to channel your grand-dad :) I don't believe you're out of school yet.

Joe

Well, Mr OPINION...

Generally, sir, I know nothing from nothing. But unless the world's great powers do something to inhibit the military might that China now has, By about 2040, she'll no longer only possess the military might, but the economic strength as well, sufficient enough to rule the world, similarly as she's now applying to the residents' of Hong Kong - Overt bullying!

Whatever happened to the fifty years moratorium, the Brit's and the Peoples Republic agreed upon and promised for HKG's way of life to continue peacefully. A condition that was determined during the negotiations at the 'hand-over' in 1997?

China knows the British no longer possess the will and perhaps even the military muscle to enforce the 50 years of virtual peace and way of life, so she thumbs her nose at it, just 23 years later!

Of course, Taiwan is altogether different, in so much as she has a small but effective military arsenal; Moreover, and more importantly, she has a military treaty with the US, and that's what keeps her safe...for the moment at least. Until about the 2040s or whenever China thinks she got the necessary military and economic wherewithal to rule the world?

And what of Australia? We have just about everything here, sufficient enough to cause China to salivate? Masses of minerals, a land of plenty, with enough food to feed their masses, together with 24 million or so able workers, to toil away at China's direction. And those who fail to 'get on board' with Chinese expansionism? Well, there's always the mines for them to work. Save for that, a 7.92cal bullet for their troubles?

Dear Saltpetre,

Thank You for your kind words and Welcome back
to the forum

So glad that you're posting again.

You have been missed.

I wish that many others would come back.

But I am grateful for the ones, like yourself that do.

This discussion has worked wonders for my moral. There's
so many interesting posts that are appearing here.
Learning about people's backgrounds is interesting.
And makes me realise just how similar many of us really are.

It's great to have things that unite us to share and learn
from.

Paul, has done a great job with this discussion.

We're a fascinating lot !

I'm Sydney, Wagga, Darwin. I'm happy to report that when I was in Darwin in the late fifties, the Waratahs (the almost all-white football team) didn't win a single game in three seasons, even though they used to bring up Victorian players in their off-season. Not a single game. Beeooooodiful.

Yes, thanks, Paul :)

Joe

o sung wu,

I think things might happen a lot earlier than 2040. I'm thinking within the next 10 years.

I think a massive surprise invasion of East Asia and SE Asia and Oceania (incl Australia). Very similar to what Japan did in 1941-42 but on a much bigger scale and for Australia I think part of the attack will come from within. How many agents and PLA operatives are already here disguised as engineers, bank tellers, etc.?

The only way we could possibly defend Australia from any major power today would be to have a massive nuclear deterrent in both cruise missiles & ICBMs. Anything else is just a joke, other than for local police duties.

We would have to be more costly to invade, than any residual value to be gained from taking the place. As it is, we would be doing a WW11 again, with brave under armed men giving their lives in an impossible effort.

Just as our under armed men fought in Malaya, Singapore, Rabaul, & the east indies, we could not even have much of a delaying effect today.

Suitably armed we make it easier & cheaper to spend a few dollars buying what we have, rather than taking the country & harvesting the minerals directly. Today when a smart guided bomb costs more than a WW11 Spitfire war gets expensive, even for the winner. If we are thoroughly prickly, with nuclear arms, the cost becomes not worth the result, & we would be left alone. Well that is unless drawn into a world war. I doubt any country is silly enough to believe they, or anyone could be a winner in one of those in the final outcome.

we should get nuclear weapons, rather than rely on the USA.

Mr O, did you not experience the US-Soviet nuclear standoff in 1960s.

Were you as concerned about the Soviets then, like u r the Chinese now

Hi there Mr OPINION, HASBEEN and CHRIS LEWIS...

You're all so very right. Unless and until, we embark upon a massive rearmament and refit programme for the entire ADF, including a formidable fleet of heavily armed warships, Aircraft Carriers, capable of launching nuclear missiles, and long-distance attack A/C. Supported by a flotilla of nuclear attack submarines...Well, this country and its population have a very minimal future ahead of it.

Diplomacy with the Chinese will fail. Look at GB with their determination for fifty years of peaceful existence with HKG. The Chinese have just snubbed them. And GB does have a formidable nuclear deterrent?

The Peoples Republic of China should be treated as you'd deal with all bullies, give the bastards a blood nose, just a little one, to let 'em know that we Aussies will not be intimidated and pushed around by anyone. But with a total strength of approximately 62,000 regulars, not all of them physically fit for operations, and about 16,000 reservists - We'd have trouble initially finding, mounting an attack, and occupying even a tiny place like Lord Howe Island, at this rate Gentlemen?

I'm buggered if I know?

yes, with an aggressive authoritaian CCP, it is surely better to be prepared.

I am quietly confident that the world will rise to the challenge.

The more aggressive the CCP is, the more serious the response will be.

And if that calls for nuclear weapons to be based here and abroad, so be it

Chris,

I think China treats the rest of the world as a bit of a joke.

I just saw a news item where the Pentagon is highly critical of China staging large scale military exercises in the South China Sea this week.

Parasites!

You may be buggered if you know o sung wu, but not as buggered as the people running the show.

We don't even have enough engineers to man the landing craft of our 2 big assault ships. We can get our men, their trucks & tanks almost anywhere in the world, but getting them off the ship may be a bit more difficult.

My son resigned from the navy when they tried to give him a crash draft to one of our turbine powered frigates, 3 days before it was due to sail for a tour of the gulf.

He had never even seen one of those turbines, let alone trained on them, but was going to be responsible for running one in hostile waters, thousands of miles from home.

Buggered if I know either old mate.

G'day HASBEEN...

I think you and I are from the old school, where good training was paramount. I recall you couldn't even get an Army licence to drive a ute, without undertaking half a dozen courses, training you to do so. Same with small arms.

Your son being deployed to the Gulf on a ship powered by turbines, without first undertaking a squillion course to do so, is utterly amazing. What's happened to our once proud Navy? I have great fears for this country, if we don't wake up soon, it'll be too late, and the metaphoric horse will've bolted if he ever was here at all?

It's really interesting reading the various posts
and learning so much about each other on this forum.
I'm so glad that so many have chosen to contribute
and share their stories. I wish I could hug you all.

When my mum's health deteriorated with dementia - and she
had to go into a dementia wing of a nursing home. We
visited regularly and got to know so many people and their
families in the dementia wing. I ended up working as a
volunteer there part-time so that I could help out.

Now of course as we're all in lock-down that job has
stopped. Mum passed away a few years back. But I still
think about many of the people I'd met there.

There was a Greek man _ Charalambos - everyone called him
Harry. And Georgios - George. Their faces would light up
when they saw me and I'd greet them with "Yassou".
(hello).

They called me "Kukla", Which I found out meant "doll".

We all got along beautifully - to the extent that they
preferred to sit with mum and me - rather than sit
separately. I always brought fresh fruit for mum - and
there was always enough for sharing. Also - singing was
a favourite past time. Beautiful voices, and Greek songs
enjoyed by everyone. And Harry even did a "Zorba" dance
for everyone with me once.

Dementia did not stop any one from enjoying themselves.

I first encountered the poetry of Al Zolynas many
years ago in "Lituanus", the Lithuanian multi-disciplinary
academic journal presenting and examining various aspects
in Lithuanian culture and history.

Authors are invited to submit scholarly articles, "belles
lettres", and art work. Manuscripts will be reviewed and books
are accepted for review purposes.

Zolynas is a Lithuanian-American. Therefore it was with
great pleasure that I opened his most recent work -
"Near and Far: Poems". Many of the poems involve a nostalgic
and knowing gaze at the past, whether the author's past as
an immigrant boy, or the more distant past of his ancestors'
life in Lithuania.

I thought this poem would be appropriate to this discussion:

An Old Story.

Across from the house
where I grew up
lived an old couple
whose shadows slowly
passed behind windows
as we children
played in the street
crying out in our joy and wonder.

And here I am now
half of an old couple
behind winter-windows listening
to children play in our cul de sac
as a dark sky
deepens and settles
and I swear I can hear
my own voice
calling out in the street.

Again I want to say that I am a firm believer that our present
is linked with our past.

As Zolynas puts it so well:

"I come from a tribe of nature worshippers, pantheists,
believers in fairies, forest sprites, and wood nymphs,
who heard devils in their windmills, met them in the
woods, cloven-hooved and dapper gentlemen of the night,
who named the god of thunder, who praised and glorified
bread, dark rye waving waist-high out of the earth,
and held it sacred, wasting not a crumb, who
spent afternoons mushrooming in forests of pine, fir, and
birch, who transferred Jesus from his wooden cross,
transformed him into a wood-carved, worrying peasant,
raised him on a wooden pole above the crossroads where he
sat with infinite patience in rain and snow, wooden legs
apart, wooden elbows on wooden knees, wooden chin in wooden
hand, worrying and sorrowing for the world...

These people who named their sons and daughters after amber,
rue, fir tree, dawn, storm, and the only people I know who
have a diminutive form for God Himself - "Dievulis",
"God My Little Buddy".

Any wonder I catch myself speaking to trees, flowers, bushes ,
these eucalyptus so far from Easter Europe, or that I bend down
to the earth, gather pebbles, acorns, leaves, boles, bring
them home, enshrine them on mantelpieces or above porcelain
fixtures in corners, any wonder I grow nervous in rooms and
must step outside and touch a tree, or sink my toes in the
dirt, or watch the birds fly by".

I feel a strong kinship with Al Zolynas. We're kindred spirits,
as I'm from the same tribe.

I haven't started talking to the trees yet Foxy, but I have the dog the cats, the horse & the magpies for idle chatter.

The magpies swooped when we first came, then I did what I'm told is a no no. I picked up a fledgling just out of the nest, which could not get airborne, & put it on the top rail of the round yard for safety. The magpies became less aggressive contrary to the experts advice.

I started throwing left over dry cat food invaded by ants out on the grass in front of the house. The Maggies & the topnotch crested native pigeons enjoyed a banquet. I started grating old bred into crumbs in the same area, & was surprised at what joined the throng. I had not expected lorikeets & blue faced honey eaters to be interested in bread.

The lorikeets are rather fickle, just a couple some days, but up to thirty at times but I now have quite a flock of others as well. Every time I walk out of the door the maggies will land at my feet, demanding a tit bit. The young ones will land on the bench I sit on & take mince from my fingers. I admit I sometimes do talk to them, but still not the trees just yet.

Flying our remote control aircraft the other day with a mate, he had his plane attacked by a wedge tail eagle, the first time I've seen one around here. We often get white cockatoos & magpies objecting to our use of their airspace, but this was a first. It left it's calling card in puncture damage in the tail. It indicates much of the farming & grazing country is going back to bush as aging men give up agriculture, & youngsters are just not interested, another sign of the changing times.

i feed four magpies (and minors who sneak scraps) oats.

Lady who saves birds advises against bread, as it can cause deformities for young chicks due to poor nutrition, but recommends oats.

Hi Hassie and Chris,

My husband feeds the magpies and others. They've all
gotten to recognise him and come running when he walks out
into the garden. I'll tell him about the bread. I don't
think he knows. He gives them all sorts of crumbs.
Left-overs. I'll tell him to buy bird-seed from now on.

I like magpies.

Do you know that according to evolutionary psychologists we humans have more in common with birds than any other animal species?

Misop,

What, even Neanderthals ? Or other great apes ?

Joe

I don't think ours will suffer nutritionally Chris, the maggies not only get mince as a tidbit, but spend all day digging "bush" tucker from my acre & a half house paddock, their exclusive territory.

For the honey eaters there are 70 Hibiscus & 40 grevilleas among dozens of other flouring shrubs & trees. When the 5 silky oaks, [Grevillea robusta] are in flour the squabbling can become intrusive.

This year is amazing. I have not seen hibiscus flower into winter as they have this year, in what is a very cold early winter, & I have never seen wattle & hibiscus in flower simultaneously before. There is certainly plenty of natural food around here.

When I was a kid a lady in our area had a pet magpie.

During the day she put it in a bush inside the front fence. She enclosed the bush with chicken wire for the bird's protection against cats.

The magpie seemed content with its life and was people friendly and always seemed especially happy to have children come up to the bush and pet it.

LOUDmouth,

Fortunately for the future of the human race you just happen to be one of a kind.

Dear Hassie,

Our magnolias are also flowering, as are other trees.
And it's absolutely freezing in Melbourne at the moment.

Hasbeen,

yes, the magpies do forage for vital wild food, but I thought i would given them oats which is much more nutritious.

only occasionally I now give them wholemeal bread, normally stale crusts I would throw out.

Ok, so my 'pets' are brush turkeys, bar-shouldered doves, wonga pigeons and a healthy throng of satin bower birds, plus a few brush-tailed possums and bandicoots - with an occasional visit by baldy pigeons, king parrots, crimson rozellas, eastern rozellas, magpies, crows and currawongs. (Which come for the molasses-barley I've been putting out since the '91/92 drought - only because the brush turkeys are so 'pushy'.)

There used to be a pair of resident wedge-tailed eagles, who raised one youngster about every two years, but their nest-tree fell down and they moved away.

No dog, cat, horse or cattle any more, and no sheep, goats or other non-Aussies - other than some rabbits, rattus norvegicus, mice, and occasional visiting feral dogs.

But, I have some pademelons in the surrounding bush (and used to see quite a lot of red-necked wallaby, which seem to have disappeared for some unknown reason) and see an occasional goanna, diamond python, red-belly or brown, and have seen one bandy-bandy, one ring-tailed possum, one brush-tailed phascogale, a few koalas and one spotted-tailed quoll, plus some pee-wees and hosts of noisy minors and bell-minors and the occasional whip-bird, and have seen a few brown pigeons, bronze-wings and regent bower birds and noisy yellow-tailed black cockatoos and occasional kookaburras, a few grey (white) goshawk, one azure kingfisher on the creek and one passing rainbow bee-eater. Visiting welcome swallows and some painted button-quail stopping to breed on their migration, as well as some occasional rufous fantail and grey fantail and some nesting superb blue-wrens.

Nature sure hosts a true kaleidoscope of wonder, and I have so very much more to see and admire.

Dear Saltpetre,

We have the usual suburban birds of which my husband is
very fond and he does feed them from time to time - mainly
left over bread crusts that he chops up very finely for them.
The bread is mainly rye, black, or sweet loaf. They seem to
like it.

We have a fox who takes short cuts through our property, and
we have had some unusual birds stop and drink from our bird
baths on their way elsewhere.

Your home sounds fascinating. So much wildlife. One of my brothers
lives in Byron Bay and the nature around him is also remarkable.
As is my other brother's property near Port Macquarie.

Ours is more citified unfortunately. But we are surrounded by
parks and the Yarra Valley, and we do have the Dandenong Ranges
nearby. So we are spoilt for choice.

I'd just like to add a bit more on the kind of life
that I've led. Working and living on two continents
was really educational and broadened my outlook in
so many ways. Meeting people from different cultures,
learning other languages, being able to travel to
other places - is something that I have learned to
appreciate and it has made me the person I am today.

I've also worked in a variety of jobs. In my student
days - as a hostess in a restaurant, for the Brazilian
Consulate in Sydney at the Royal Easter Show selling coffee
and teaching people about Brazil and learning to cook Paella.
Then in retail - for David Jones. And later for private
and public companies and organisations. In universities,
and government agencies - ending up in helping my husband
with his own company. And volunteering in a dementia wing
of an aged care facility (part-time). As well as helping out
with my grand-children.

It's been interesting so far. And I can't wait for the journey
still ahead. Life tends to surprise when you least expect it.

Mr O,
I could dispute your opinion that O sung wu was the first to claim George Pell would be found innocent, but I wont bother.I recall having quite a spirited debate with SR on the matter at the time.

I followed the case closely and was shocked to find that the prosecution did not have one skerrick of evidence to support the allegations of the complainant. I reasoned that the high court would find Pell not guilty.

Pleased to see O sung wu still active, he has my greatest respect

HenryL,

Are we talking about the same thing?

Dear Foxy,

Well, you have indeed traversed an amazing breadth of experience and immersion in life endeavour, and have come out smiling, and are very much to be congratulated for having a real go and leaving no stone unturned within your capable capacities and grasp.
Thank you for sharing, and I wish you all the very best with all the surprises yet to come.

I have had a much simpler journey. Didn't succeed at Uni (though parts were interesting enough), had a short stint as a store-man and then was called-up in the birthday-ballot for conscription to the Nasho's in '65 (first intake). After basic training at Puckapunyal, Vic., went to corps training at School of Military Engineering (SME) at Casula, Holsworthy, near Liverpool, Sydney, and thence to 7th Field Engineers in Enoggera, Brisbane, then to 22 Construction Engineers in Karrakatta, Perth WA, by train via Sydney and Adelaide and across the Nullarbor (on which leg I had my 21st birthday - without celebration) and after some more training had a 6-month stint in Sabah, Malaysia (formerly British North Borneo) during the so-called Indonesian Confrontation - which I actually reasonably enjoyed, mostly because I saw some new landscape with massive buttressed Meranti trees - remember all those coffee tables back then in Aus - and Gibbons swinging by in acrobatic ease, and hooting, plus some other critters not to be messed with, and some bridge-building, some explosives action and some heat stress. Interesting times and interesting locals. Six months and back to Perth and scale-down.

Bought a Holden Ute and drove back across the Nullarbor to Sydney (and my parents in Manly) with an army mate from Casino, and, after discharge drove him home and met his elderly dairy-farming parents at Dyraaba. They were still milking by hand, separating the cream to go to the local butter factory, and using the butter-milk and some corn they grew and husked by hand to raise a few pigs. Magic. Saw a band of Whiptail Wallaby (Macropus parryi) and my first Echidna. Fun times.
(TBC)

Continued:

Anyhow, slack times after - a stint demolishing houses and then into the CPS as a Clerk. Wow, what a waste, but included an interesting 3-year stint in Port Moresby.

Much of my best times have been volunteering - surf lifesaving, archery instructing (and participating of course) and judging, some amateur theatre, acting as Secretary and as Treasurer for various activity groups with which I've been involved and lately as a volunteer firefighter and Sec/Treas of our brigade and Sec of the local rifle club - as I started fullbore target shooting in Moresby, then at Anzac range in Malabar, Sydney, and now in country NSW. I don't shoot critters anymore (except a feral dog if necessary), and am not that proud of the fortunately scarce hunting I did in my youth.

As you may have gathered, I moved to the country quite some years ago and I raised some quite fine cattle up till 5 years ago, and am now scaling down.

A brother (retired pharmacist) and sister-in-law, Nephew, his wife and their two brilliant kids. Me, a widower, once-married, and no children. Scaling back and doing my best not to be too bored, or too boring, and doing my best to maintain, and to leave, only a small footprint.

Best regards, and keep well.

Dear Saltpetre,

What an amazing life you've had.
Thank You for sharing it with us.
I'm sorry to hear about your wife
but it sounds like you've got
some wonderful family support.
I can't imagine what I would do without
my family. Family to me is everything.
And my grand-children are the joy of my life.
They make me laugh so much. I love them
unconditionally. I told my son - discipline is
your job. Mine is to love them unconditionally.
And I admit that I spoil them. But that's what
grand-mothers are supposed to do - I think.

Again - Thank You for sharing.

I must admit, reading about the history and back-ground of some people is most interesting.
It brought back memories of my own parents and family, and their struggle and eventual success in their "new country".
The journey began with my parents arriving by ship, from Italy back in 49'.
Once here, their sponsor had organised a corrugated iron, "cubby house", (an ex wood shed) as their first accommodation.
It had potato sacks (without the potatoes in them) for the floor and over the otherwise open front of the structure.
I came along in 1950, by now they had moved into a house.
Not long after they set up a shop in Beaufort st in Perth, the usual scenario, living upstairs, the shop downstairs and as was customary at the time, even if the shop was closed, you would still entertain anyone, for fear of losing a sale.
Dad found work with a local shire council, who later found him a job based on his profession rather than on the "chain gang", which was mechanic and engineering at a GM dealer called Youngs WA in Stirling st Perth, as the deli was more mum's passion.
During the next ten years, I was dispatched to board at a local catholic school, called Aquinas College, dad built a new house, bought an industrial block, established his own engineering business eventually supplying transport and other equipment to the mining and transport industry.
I started my own coarse in 80', leaving my younger brother to continue in my stead.
In 83' I started my own auto design/engineering business, which led me to design/create/supply vehicles and products throughout Australia and also a few overseas countries, along the way having met and dealt with all manner of people and places, from Saudi in the middle East to establishing a production facility as a joint venture partner with the Malaysian govt.
I confess that the reason I malign Australia and it's workers, is that I attribute my success to my international business, and less to the absolutely hard fought struggle to my Australian achievements.

Yes, Altrav, we all have interesting backgrounds.

Great that your family came here and prospered, and that you have a great interest in curent affairs.

Despite our different backgrounds, we all have the latter in common.