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...Robin approached the Western Australian Department of Health for permission to carry out a vaccination program in the North and North West of the state. Permission granted, she borrowed money and bought a Cessna 182. On 22 May 1967 she boarded her plane and headed out alone to the remote areas of the state to hand out her sugar cubes...
Paula Wilson tells the astonishing and inspirational story of flying nurse Robin Wilson.
Peggy Mitchell tells of the Thailand of 40 years ago.
Dorothy Moffitt makes an informed and profound recommendation for future food production in Australia.
Ken Sillcock puts in a plea for the wedge-tailed eagle and the dingo.
Continue reading " Should Have Saved Our Native Predators" »
Gehan Wijesinha tells of climbing the lion rock in Sri Lanka.
...Meanwhile life in the classroom was a daily battle to stimulate and educate, or at least keep 40 larky lads occupied for the remaining weeks of their schooling before those not gaining apprenticeships were condemned to the local brickyard...
John Turner recalls his early days as a teacher.
There should have been shoes in the brown paper bag but Robin Hillard found that it contained a wad of money.
This story by Mary Clemons tells of acute terror in a storm.
Mary writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Above her cot on the card was written, Baby Henwood, Mid Forceps Delivery...
Shirley Henwood tells of exhaustion and joy.
...As the fighting at the stockade ended a trooper tore down the Southern Cross flag and trampled it into the blood stained dirt, fragments of the flag were ripped off leaving it in tatters...
Paula Wilson tells of the three women who made the flag around which more than 8,000 miners rallied in the Ballarat goldfields of Victoria, Australia, in 1854 to protest against injustice.
Peggy Mitchell tells of Smokey, a cat with a devil-may-care attitude.
...Don’t get me wrong. I am not against giving to charity. I think we all have to give in whatever way we can. But I would like to make that decision myself without being hounded into it...
Lytrice Adams is tired of the constant appeals on her charitable nature.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Stepping up to the counter with my passport, I noticed that he did not wear a watch confirming my belief that being mindful of the time was not particularly harmonious with tropical living...
Gehan Wijesinha tells of arriving in Sri Lanka on a hot steamy night.
Ellen Fisher recalls her father's life as a farmer and his relief at leaving the land.
Colleen McMillan observes the behaviour of widows in church.
Colin Fisher sings he praises of domestic cats.
...Hourly they listened to the weather reports, noting where new outbreaks had started, and anxiously scanning the sky for tell-tale signs of smoke. He could smell the smoke in the air, long before it became visible. For days, the wind fluctuated, unpredictable, fire crews cut breaks and tried to establish containment lines, but suddenly, it was all to no avail. The fire had jumped the main road and could now be seen creeping down the hill opposite the township...
Wendy Ogbourne tells of a man who fought to save his home as an Australian bushfire came raging towards him.
...When the ship was wallowing, somebody said the stabilisers had not been turned on, and we accepted this explanation. That night my head slid, bump, into the wall at the top of the bunk; and next I was sliding down to have my feet bang the bottom of the bunk...
Shirley Henwood and her family rode out the aftermath of a cyclone.
...When the ship was wallowing, somebody said the stabilisers had not been turned on, and we accepted this explanation. That night my head slid, bump, into the wall at the top of the bunk; and next I was sliding down to have my feet bang the bottom of the bunk...
Shirley Henwood and her family rode out the aftermath of a cyclone.
...Legend has it Mary Ann swam across the shark-infested waters to the island carrying a file. Ward used the file to break his chains and they swam back to Balmain. Mary Ann hid him and a fellow escapee in a disused boiler until the search died down...
Paula Wilson tells of the life of female bushranger Mary Ann Bugg, who went marauding with Captain Thunderbolt.
Peggy Mitchell recalls a Christmas spent in Yokohama 40 years ago.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
"China strikes me as a country of contradictions,'' says Lytrice Adams.
Gehan Wijesinha presents a snapshot in words of the vibrant city of Hong Kong.
Shirley Henwood says that from the beginning of time, men have had sheds to escape to.
Rodney Gascoyne rides the scenic rail route in North-Western Canada.
...The proprietor greeted us in a friendly, if not astounded manner. To our enquiry as to whether there were any other campers booked in, he answered bluntly: 'Nobody else is that crazy!'...
Peter King recalls a stormy Christmas under canvas in the Lake District.
Paula Wilson tells the inspiring story of Mother Mary Berchmans Daly, the ninth child of an Irish blacksmith, who made a huge success of her life in Australia.
Peggy Mitchell tells of the day there was an almighty explosion in her Bangkok kitchen.
Robert Heller wrote this article expressing his delight in the Christmas season,and its real significance, three years ago. It is just as relevant in 2009 as it was then.
...Around the turn of this century, a small inn, named the Auberge de Saint-Michel Tête d'Or flourished at the foot of the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. The owners were a Normand couple named Poulard, and over the years, the little inn established a reputation based upon the wife's masterful omelette-making technique...
Poppy Fogarty telles of a delicious omlette - and how to make it.
Ken Sillcock offers some sensible words on the subject of food.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...If I had stuck with Anne, would she and I still be together? What of all the women I have loved since then? Their influences have helped forge the man I am today. If Anne had been my last and enduring love, I would not be the person I now am. Would I like myself more or less?...
Peter Lingard endevours to recall some of the loves of his life.
Peter writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Until you have been to a Cat Show, you have no idea how many dozens of breeds there are, and how obsessed their owners can be with them. Doting mothers entering their small daughters in a modelling contest could not be more competitive and, well, 'catty'...
Wendy Ogbourne reveals secrets of the feline show world.
Wendy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Keith Ford remembers with affection his first car, a Fiat 500.
Keith writes for Bonzer magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Mother came home from caring for her mother and bought herself a Holden utility, and obtained her licence again at age 53. She had many adventures with this on gravel roads. One time, she turned the vehicle over and was found by a local minister calmly sitting on the side of the road drinking tea from a thermos...
Dorothy Moffitt recalls driving days.
Dorothy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...My favourite is a girl who makes me laugh. She tells me things about the story. She says, 'We have fun, don't we?' And we do...
Shirley Henwood tells of the pleasure of going as a volunteer into a school to help young children improve their reading ability.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson tells of three Australian sisters who between 1926 and 1933 co-wrote, directed, starred in and handled the behind the scene workings that were required to produce movies.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Peggy Mitchell is invited by 'Bottler of the Year', Mrs Yomiura, to a celebration at the most expensive Geisha house in Tokyo. Mrs Yomiura is determined to teach the dominant males a lesson.
Peggy writes or Bonzer! magazinw. please visit www.bonzer.org.au
To read the first part of this story please visit http://www.openwriting.com/cgi-bin/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=peggy+mitchell
"When I came to Canada as a young woman, I discovered the glorious reality of autumn,'' writes Lytrice Adams.
Lytrice contributers to Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...As a practicing Buddhist, it is my duty to work out my own salvation with diligence, while allowing all other people to do the same. In this way whatever refinement of the Buddhist path I achieve will stand as testament to others of the worth of the endeavour...
Terry O'Connor points the way to a path which could lead to a better world.
Terry writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Each life is like a rose, says Rose Perry.
Rose writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Should a man going grey dye his hair? Peter Lingard proves a point.
Peter writes for Bonzer magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
The person hiring the dinghy helped us in, and my father took the oars and started off. He'd only rowed about four strokes, when because of the waves washing onto the shore, the boat turned sideways and over, and tipped us all into the sea. Boy! What pandemonium!
Shirley Henwood, with a belated smile, tells of a holiday misadventure.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...We wrote everything in ink in those days before the Biro, when pencils were thought not good enough. We ordered nib-holders and nibs, plus other stationery, from the school office, as well as Quink ink, but if you were lucky, you owned a fountain pen that would save you from dipping into the inkbottle every few words...
Rodney Gascoyne recalls his days at a 1950s boarding school.
Rodney writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson presents a brief biography of May Wirth, a circus artiste who was the best bare back rider in the world.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Peggy Mitchell tells of the night when she was a guest of honour in the usually male preserve of a Japanese geisha house.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Throughout the ages, women have been socialized to focus their lives on nurturing others. To the extent of undervaluing their own growth, their own independence. But with the loss of the extended family, many women are finding themselves alone as they age...
Lytrice Adams writes encouragingly about dealing with a universal problem.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Picture if you will, a large round table, around which are grouped a dozen chairs. Each place has its glass, knives and forks, and a simple plate on which sits a folded serviette. A carafe of vin de table and a bottle of eau du robinet is in the middle of the table, and on the side are some long, crisp baguettes...
As you must already have guessed Poppy Fogarty is a "foody''.
Poppy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I’m sitting at the computer, eyes glued to the screen, fingers hovering over the keys. The message reads 'You are the highest bidder.' My hands are sweating and my heart racing, as I wonder whether to increase my bid or if someone else will come in at the last minute and gazump me. I imagine other bidders sitting at their computers just like me, trying to work out their best strategy...
Wendy Ogbourne tells of her addiction to eBay.
Wendy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
"My welcome to Australia consisted of being sprayed with decontamination spray.''
Derek Smith recalls arriving in Australia at the age of 17.
Derek writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Joe Lee, an Aussie living in New Zealand, tells of an astonishing one-year-old and a ket.
Joe writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Derek Smith remembers with happiness and sadness those who figured in his younger years.
Derek writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer,org.au
...The curator had noticed our emotional reaction and came over to us. We related our story to him and he seemed to be looking at me rather intensely.
'What number did you live in? ' He asked.
'Number three.' I replied.
I was not prepared for what happened next...''
Violet Hall tells of an amazing counter in a war museum.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Continue reading "Of All The Joints In All The World, You Walked Into Mine" »
...It’s certainly not an original observation that we don’t appreciate our parents until they’re not around any more. When we’re young, we’re much too busy with our own affairs to think too much about them as individuals. It’s only as we become the older generation ourselves, that we can begin to understand the lives they led or the difficulties they overcame...
Nick Ogbourne tells of his hard-working father.
Nick writes for Bonzer! magazine, Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Violet Apted recalls one of the saddest days of her life.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...My dad from time to time suffered from unexpected sneezing fits for no apparent reason. Unfortunately, during dinner, he sneezed! Being a big man it was not just a little short sneeze, but a huge resounding sneeze that stopped everyone in their tracks!...
And that was the start of quite a performance, as Anne Mayne reveals.
Anne writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Derek Smith tells of his grandfather who worked on the railways in India - a man presumed by his family to have died.
Derek writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Some of the school staff were caring and interested in helping the boys, but generally we were expected to cope on our own....
Rodney Gascoyne recalls his days at a Kentish boarding school in the 1950s.
Rodney writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson introduces us to Molly Morgan, a lively lass who was twice transported from 18th Century England to Australia.
Paula writes for Bonze! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Peggy Mitchell tells of a visit to an active volano.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
I think that I shall never see
Waste paper lovely as a tree.
But if our current waste don't fall,
We may not see a tree at all.
Valerie Yule suggests a number of simple planet-saving ideas.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
"With all of the knowledge man has acquired it seems we are still at the lower end of the wisdom scale,'' declares Robert Heller.
Robert writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Poppy Fogarty visits St. Remy de Provence, a town of artists.
Poppy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Michael Hart tells the spooky tale of two mugs whcih disappeared, then reappeared.
Michael writes for Bonzer! magazine, Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Andrea Roberts suggests that when two people are planning a holiday serious questions should first be asked or disaster may ensue.
Andrea writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I squirm, pull and tug, trying to get my body encased neck to ankle in rubber. It's worse than a full body corset and I breathe in as I pull the zipper to beneath my chin...
Glenice Whitting dons a wetsuit to see life beneath the waves.
Glenice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Sometimes her hair hung free and loose, flowing over her shoulders, sometimes it was gathered back and held by a comb clip at the back of her head, sometimes two plaited braids swept back from her forehead and held it back from her face. What a face!...
Les Yemm tells of a man obsessed.
Les writes for Bonzer magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...visions of my child limping with pain along that long inhospitable course riddled my dreams the preceding night. I wisely kept my fears to myself...
Lytrice Adams began to suffer when her daughter announced that she was going to run the Montreal marathon.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Colleen McMillan tells a delicious tale of a mistake made by a proud new dad.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson tells of Ausgtralian female nurses who sailed to South Africa to tend the wounded and ill during the Boer War.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please click on www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule give some money and planet-saving tips.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Diamonds are the result of age and pressure. And we learn through our life experiences over the years. We can put the pieces of the puzzle together and see how they worked to land us in whatever pickle we find ourselves today. Or in whatever Shangri-la...
Lytrice Adams delights in the positive side of growing older.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Anna Mancini deplores modern manners - or rather the lack of them.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Wendy Ogbourne mourns the loss of a beautiful lake in Tasmania.
Wendy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Sandi Maroney tells of a life ruled by the phone.
Sandi writes For Bonzer! magazine. Olease visit www.bonzer.org.au
Colleen McMillan tells of a creepy incident experienced by her granddaughter.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...The cicadas of Yokohama were unlike any I had heard in Australia. They seemed to produce definite tunes and sounds ranging from 'keck-keck-keck' to a 'clicka-clicka' sounds.
Peggy Mitchell caused giggles while recording the sounds of cicadas in Japan.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Nothing sits collecting dust and guilt in the too hard basket in this house. I've taken the phrase the 'too hard basket' and made it into a physical reality, but removing the 'too'...
Andrea Roberts tells how she deals with the tasks that are so easily left undone.
Andrea writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson tells of film star Claire Adams, who fell in love at first sight then set up home in Australia.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please click on www.bonzer.org.au
Anna Mancini muses on the nature of faith.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Poppy Fogarty is entranced by the "pigeon houses'' dotted through the Midi-Pyrenees region of France.
Poppy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Police who caught Aborigines spearing cattle put them in chains and sent them to Derby hundreds of kilometres away on foot. The torture of the chains around their necks in searing heat must have been unbearable. Many of these were sent by boat to Rottnest Island near Perth where few survived the cold or saw their country again....
Paul Newbury tells of Aboriginal resistence to European invaders.
Paul writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Sandi Maroney tells of a man who planned his funeral.
Sandi writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
....Harry Jensen's attempt at self-sufficiency began in April. He walked into the forest with a hunting knife and a digging stick and a crossbow set he'd bought at a Hobart gun shop....
But could Harry survive in the bush? This story by Michael Grounds reveals what happened to a man who tried to be at one with nature.
Michael writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Lytrice Adams tells the story of two sisters - and the relentless effects of passing years.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Derek Smith tells of the Significant Sixties.
Derek writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Mary Clemons tells of neighborliness when hurricanes come blasting into Florida.
Mary writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please click on www.bonzer.org.au
...We loved going to the zoo. Joy, my sister liked the monkeys best. I liked the cockatoos because they talked to us. There was one sulphur crested cockatoo, who always said, 'Hello darling, hello darling, give us a kiss. Cocky want a cup of tea? Dance cocky, dance.' If we bobbed up and down he would dance with us. Or if we made kissing noises he would too. He was always there when we visited. I thought he knew us...
But there came a day when Shirley Henwood decided that she did not like monkeys.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson tells of Charlotte Badger and Catherine Hagerty, Australia's first female pirates.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I stopped running when I was 34 and began to meander through my life, one moment at a time, trying to appreciate each step that I take, making each one significant...
Anna Mancini brings sound suggestions on how to lead a happy life.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. www.bonzer.org.au
Paul Newbury visits Boodjamulla National Park, a place of tranquil waters and the land of the Waanyi people in North Queensland.
Paul writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Why would parents name a beautiful baby girl Apple? Does this name age with the child? How does a girl named Bambi or Honey mature with self-respect?...
Sandra Maroney discusses the naming of children.
Sandra writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Now I think that hyperthyroidism was the best gift that life could offer me...
Connie Herawati Lilie tells of horrible days.
Connie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please click on www.bonzer.org.au
...Grief can only follow its own path and take its own time. The paths are many and the time varies considerably...
Grieving is a lesson most of us learn as we journey the pathway of life, says Violet Apted.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Gehan Wijesinha feels the pain as he tries to get fit.
Gehan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Wendy Ogbourne tells of the roller-coaster emotions of those who write to be read.
Wendy's words appear in Bonzer! magazine. Do please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...When we came to New Zealand, I was fourteen. I was always falling in love with somebody. Or I imagined I was. My life existed mostly in my dreams and daydreams, which was a failing of mine, or so I was always told. Most of these dreams were unrealistic I can see now, but at the time I suppose they kept me sane in a strange country where I didn't fit in, and wanted to go home...
Shirley Henwood tells how she took one look - and fell in live.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Violet Apted tells of a nightmare journey.
...She walked towards me, seemingly oblivious to my presence. Her hands were gripped together in front of her. She gave the impression of wringing them together in anguish, but there was no discernible movement...
Shirley Henwood tells of a hauntingly unforgettable encounter.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule suggests that to save the planet's water we really do need to rethink how we wash out clothes.
...We all carry the history of our people within us, as sure as we carry our ancestral DNA...
Alma Iris Ramirez tells of displaced people and a dying river.
Alma writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Anna Mancini considers the mad month which ends today.
The naming of geographic features has a deep, deep significance, as Paul Newbury reveals.
Paul writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Betty Collins finds herself bemused by the world and its ways.
Sandra Maroney recalls an idyllic fishing trip of many years ago.
...'What's it like to be really old like you Poppy?'
'What do mean really old?' He pushed the laughing boy...
Derek Smith tells a touching story of age and youth.
Derek writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
The Northern Lights color this vengeful story by Mary Clemons.
Mary writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please click on www.bonzer.org.au
Unless Colleen McMillan's grown-up daughter reads Open Writing, she will never know what became of her pet bird.
Alma Iris Ramirez honours the Crone as a symbol that women still have a life to lead as they grow older.
Alma writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I understood the concept of transferred affections and how what matters is who actually raises you. There will always be the biological, DNA vibrating connection to one's birth parents, but our hearts, minds and souls seem to be perfectly adaptable to becoming bonded with those who take the time to feed and nurture us...
Anna Mancini writes movingly on the subject of adoption.
Anna writes contributes to Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...An article describing the scene when Thorntown's town lots were auctioned off in 1830, mentions that a rattlesnake bit someone's horse, tied out to a sapling. It wasn't much of a horse, but still a pioneer could hardly afford to lose him....
Jerry Selby delves into local history.
...Women were, and still are, I've noticed, expected to be able to sew by instinct. Ladies were always expected to be able to 'sew a fine seam'; and girls who had nothing whatever to do, and no other talents or accomplishments like singing or playing the harpsichord, were expected to sew 'samplers' at the very least..
Betty Collins muses on the art of sewing.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...It is contemporary Politics that have been the last straw: I cannot make head or tail or of what is going on in the world...
Betty Collins expresses the views of millions of sane, sensible and bemused citizens.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Rosemary Davison recalls the day she set out to buy lamb's fry.
Rosemary writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Women were, and still are, I've noticed, expected to be able to sew by instinct. Ladies were always expected to be able to 'sew a fine seam'; and girls who had nothing whatever to do, and no other talents or accomplishments like singing or playing the harpsichord, were expected to sew 'samplers' at the very least..
Betty Collins muses on the art of sewing.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Connie Herawati Lilie is attached to Indonesia. despite violence against those of her relgion and racial background.
Connie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
There is a disadvantage to using a digital camera, as Lytrice Hood reveals.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Gehan Wijesinha tells of an air drama.
Gehan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Jerry Selby juggles with a few long word.
Jerry wrote for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
There’s a chance of revival when you enrol in a University of the Third Age course, as Maureen Foreman's poem reveals.
... I begin to wonder how I will ever find bus number two seven nine...
Glenice Whitting gets lost on a Jerusalem tour.
Glenice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Wendy Ogbourne tells the wierd tale of an accident foretold.
Wendy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...One could imagine that only good decisions could come from a government working in such beautiful surroundings...
Shirley Henwood visits Canbera.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer,org.au
Rodney Gascoyne tells of life aboard a Union-Castle passenger liner.
Paula Wilson tells of Australia's first film star.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule gives a guide to life's pleasures.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
"The male church hierarchy secluded itself from the lives of ordinary women, but in our community we celebrated motherhood.'' recalls Alma Iris Ramirez.
Alma writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Anna Mancini tells a supernatural tale filled with true love.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Ans Redelaar-Seinen brings a disturbing account of old age.
Ans writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
When Lytrice Adams returned to Grenada for Christmas she did not find what she was expecting.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Rosemary Davison tells how Sebastian and his sister Melpomene changed her life.
Rosemary writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Ros Schulz takes a hard, clear look at Christmas.
Ross writes for Bonzer magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Jerry Selby tells a wonderful, heart-warming tale of Christmas in the Army.
So where is home? Shirley Henwood tells an ex-pats tale.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Rodney Gascoyne recalls joining the crew of the liner Stirling Castle.
Rodney writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule explains how to have a waste-free Christmas.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...One morning as I walked towards a bus stand, a small group of barefoot tribal women snaked their way through the narrow Kathmandu streets, heading in the opposite direction...
Alma Iris Ramirez tells of Nepalese festivals.
Alma writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...What an interesting experience, this volume business. We are designed with two ears to hear and process sound. You would think that we would have evolved into having automatic volume control to go with the ever increasing blasts of sound coming at us from every aspect of life, but especially from young people....
But Anna Mancini cautions that we should not stereotype the young.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Jerry Selby delights in the month of November.
Australian Ken Sillcock, a man in his nineties, suggests economic reform.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Betty Collins tells of ladies who devote their lives to cats.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Musician Faye Harkness and her husband Blair collected a sackful of interesting experiences when they went on tour to find out what Australia was all about.
Faye writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Continue reading "The Exploits And Adventures Of A Travelling Musician" »
Nick Ogbourne belives that dads should take a full share in their children's school days.
Nick writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
There was a surprising reward for Good Samaritan Yvonne Becker.
Yvonne writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Colleen McMillan tells of a talkative cruise "companion''.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Kath Mounsey's story reveals the satisfactory result of a smile during a train journey.
Kath writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
So what was it that brought all those men to a stanstill?
Shirley Henwood tells a tale that ends with a chuckle.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Rodney Gascoyne recalls the days when great passenger liners criss-crossed the oceans.
Rodney writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Betty Collins tells of the cats in her life.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...A most amazing thing greeted me in the backyard. The tall old man was standing in the middle of the garden with bomb craters all around him, each no more than ten feet apart, clearly they were targeting him as a moving object, without success, although the garden shed had disappeared altogether. The old beggar refused to come inside. According to him his day had not yet come to die and he did not fancy to be buried before being dead. Cellars had been hit in the past he said. He was right about that. He did survive the war and died of old age living past his 100th year...
Hennie van Dyk recalls the day during World War Two when he went to visit his grandparents while shells were exploding.
Hennie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Although we were complete opposites, Marcie and I became best friends and were still best friends when we moved on to Kirkton High. That was when I first realised that Marcie was stealing my dreams...
Marion McKeen tells a delicious tale of a dream too far.
Marion writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...We went inside, and our eyes bulged. The stark, modern beauty of the décor overawed us all. While the houses I had always accepted as part of my life had been mostly dull, fawn colours inside, this house almost shouted, ’Look at me, let me blind you with my colours.'...
Shirley Henwood casts her thoughts back more than 50 years to recall her first home in New Zealand.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson tells the sad story of Sydney-born artist Adelaide Ironside.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...The mice ate shoes, popped out of drawers, into pockets, vases, chairs, bicycle seats, lollies and soft toys. They showed utter disdain and contempt for the series of useless cats that we brought in one after another. They were not easy to catch with butterfly nets and dishcloths. They would not be chased out of doors...
Betty Collins is determined to take a stand against the tiny colonisers.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Shirley Henwood recalls the day she rebelled in class.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson tells of Ada Jemima Crossley, an internationally-famed contralto singer.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I think sometimes we forget where we have been and where we are going. We tend to take the negative of our current lifetime and paint it with a wide brush that says, 'We've never been so destructive, lost, mean, ruthless, selfish and arrogant.' Yes we have, we just didn’t have TV and mass media to bring 100% of the entire earth's issues into our personal space. We used to only have to deal with our own small circle of life. Now we are asked to be responsible for 100% of life on a very large planet in a very large universe. That's a lot...
Anna Mancini is determined not to add to the world's problems.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www,bonzer.org.au
...So it was 'sorry' for this, and 'sorry' for that without ever stopping to consider the meaning of the word. And then we continue on our merry way, conning, browbeating, walking over, lying, saving face, all justified and sanitized by that little word 'sorry.' ...
Lytrice Adams is no friend of that oft-used five-letter word.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Ken Sillcock casts a cold eye on our wasteful ways.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
There's a bundle of memories tied up in a coat called The Jilly, as Shirley Henwood reveals.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
There are advantages and disadvantages to living in the Australian bush, as Mal Lewis reports.
Mal writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Ken Silcock thinks we may be educating young children too soon, and too quickly.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
James Cumes tells of the day a pudding bowl went astray while the Prime Minister was chatting to the Ambassador.
James writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/bonzer_words/
Glenice Whitting joins a writing course and finds she has embarked on a voyage of self discovery.
Glenice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Everyone got dressed-up for the funeral. The men wore black suits if they had one, but the women and girls always turned out in their best finery—white, or black, or a mix of black and white, or the occasional mauve dress, with shoes and hats to match...
Lytrice Adams tells of funerals as they used to be in Grenada, and funerals as they are now.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www,bonzer.org.au
Carla Sari tells of the excitement of one young lady on the day that Dino the mattress maker came to call.
Carla writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Was that drumming which disturbed Sarojini Seeneevassen in the middle of the night?
Sarojini, who was born in Mauritius, writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Some good turns can last for years and years, as Colleen McMillan's story indicates.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Goldie Alexander questions the reliability of memories.
Goldie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Peggy Blakeley recalls her teaching days in the city of Nottingham during World War Two.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...During one of these raids we noticed a cyclist going past and one second later seeing him fall flat on his face spread out like an eagle. What had happened was that a sliver of white-hot metal had sliced through the frame of the bike in at least two places severing the bike in several pieces. The man was lucky that it was the bike and not him that copped the shrapnel...
Hennie van Dyk tells of life in war-torn Holland.
Hennie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Alma Iris Ramirez tells of bears' claws and a fallen eagle.
Alma writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw -
For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime - Macavity's not there! - T S Eliot
"No one knows where McCavity hangs out,'' says Betty Collins "but I have an idea it may be down in the City with many Secrets, Adelaide, down at Westbeach.''
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Ken Sillcock, musing on the world he knew ninety years ago, says "The human animal has come a long way since in technical knowledge and skills, but it has lost its former tribal common sense. Those people might have worked long hours when there was need, but if they finished the job early the rest of the day was theirs.''
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...In the dam nearby my home lived a platypus or two. How I loved to watch from the wooden bridge, their antics in the water. I remember the first time I spotted one. I was swimming, or trying to, with the aid of a tyre tube but rushed frantically from the water screaming, 'snake, snake'. My brother laughed saying it was a platypus but I needed Dad to confirm it before I would re-enter the water...
Jan Rodman tells of watery disturbances and delights.
Jan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Yvonne Becker recalls the sights, smells and sounds of a hot-springs holiday in South Africa.
Yvonne writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Although the twins didn't say where they came from, they told Mother they worked in the textile factory and lived in one of their boss's flats. Every evening, they strolled down the main street, tossing their long hair, indifferent to the men's bold stares. 'Here they come,' people whispered...
The twins are secretaries, but informed gossip says they are providing other services.
Carla Sari tells of lingerie and intrigue.
Carla writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Hennie van Dyk, recalling the German occupation of his native Holland during the war years, tells of his father's role as a resistence leader.
Hennie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Peggy Blakeley recalls her wartime college days.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Gehan Wijesinha visits the ruins of a Mayan city in Mexico.
Gehan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Alma Iris Ramirez tells of Buddhist ceremonies.
Alma writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
He's there, in her face. She waves him away, but he cpomes back again. Can he survive?
Colleen McMillan tells of a pesterer.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Do please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Lytrice Adams tells of becoming a "prisoner'' during a holiday in Egypt.
Lytrice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Rely on Gormitt Pottage to tickle - or should that be stun? - the taste buds
Continue reading "Stir-Fry Meatloaf Casserole Stew With Things" »
Paula Wilson tells of of the horrors which women convicts had to endure after being shipped out to Australia in the 19th Century.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule says a garden does not just involve sight, smell and touch. It is also filled with the music of nature.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...For most people, moving house is a traumatic experience. It was, for us, too. But pleasure came afterwards with the waking of the senses to all things new...
Edel Wignell tells of the trauma we all dread - and its happy aftermath.
Edel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Belinda Broughton's poem comes shimmering from the heat of Australia.
Belinda writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...For no valid reason, those born in the latter half of last century formed the habit of breaking the speed limit of eight syllables a second, beyond which words become blurred and merge into one another. In the worst cases, they flow on monotonously in complete disregard of punctuation. Now their children have also copied the habit...
Ken Silcock reminds those fast talkers that the purpose of speech is to make oneself understood.
Ken, who is 97, writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Gehan Wijesinha tells of a visit to a Turkish bath house.
Gehan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...'I haven't told my mother about us,' he said.
'What?' I just stared at him in amazement. We'd been going out at least twice a week for ages, well months anyway, and he hadn't even mentioned me? I could see there was some big problem here, and I wasn't sure I was up to facing it...
Was there something wrong with his mother? Shirley Hendwood begins an intriguing story.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Rodney Gacoyne tells of summer fun on the canals of London.
Rodney writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule tells of the healing and comforting properties of flowers.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I don't think there is any way you can disguise that you have children in the house. Apart from the 'tram-lines' on the once highly-polished coffee table, and the crayon drawings all over the walls, the water pouring under the bathroom door is a sure sign that the boys are playing boats..
Bernard Heller tells pf the "joys'' of bringing up children,
Bernard writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Elaine Lutton takes the family to see a film while grandfather snoozes.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
A country lad has riches beyond gold and silver, as Jan Rodman's poem reveals.
Jan contributes to Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Lytrice Adams writes vividly of being an immigrant in a strange land.
Lyrtice's words appear in Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I hear there was a man who, when he read that smoking causes cancer, gave up reading. I have every sympathy with him, though I could never give up reading, even if it were proven to shorten my life...
Wendy Ogbourne suggests that we should forget our worries and enjoy our lives.
Wendy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Sharyn Munro and her sisters make a very speical place for their father.
Sharyn writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson tells of an Australian nurse who tended severly wounded young men during the First World War.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Wendy Ogbourne tells of moving from suburbia to live in a small country town.
Wendy writes for Bonser! Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I conclude that every constructive and honest belief system has a 'placebo effect'. If you sincerely believe that some superior intelligence can guide you, it will, whether you call it God, Allah, Jehovah, or whatever, in conjunction with the effort of your own powers of thought and known principles of living...
Ken Sillcock brings us the wisdom of his 90 years.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer,org.au
Elaine Lutton and her husband Don have things in their garden which could cause a world-wide shudder....
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Jan Rodman recalls a vist, when still a child, to her grandparents.
Jan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Violet Apted tells of a mysterious healing fog.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Gehan Wijesinha tells of a misfortunate journey down the Nile.
Gehan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
"My mother collected strays, most of them cats, as well as people...'' - and Shirley Henwood reveals that she now takes after her mother.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
This column by Michael Grounds and Elizabeth Sinclair tells of the delight of making music imperfectly with other people. It's more fun and better for the soul than hearing it performed perfectly by someone else.
Michael and Elizabeth write for Bonzer! magazine www.bonzer.org.au
Anna Mancini offers sound advice on how to live a happy life.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Edel Wignell retells a Russian folk tale.
Edel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Ken Sillcock says it is possible for the whole of the human race to become one caring and sharing tribe.
"We have been hindered from achieving this desirable state by our Great Mistake: our failure to distinguish between wealth and money.''
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Elaine Lutton tells of a garden "miracle''.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I can still see John hurrying through the classroom door with uncombed hair, shirt hanging out and a smile that would melt anyone's heart...
Jan Rodman meets one of her former students.
Jan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Peggy Blakeley tells of being compelled to leave the farm where she grew up in a beautiful part of west Lancashire.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Paula Wilson tells of Gustav and Kate Weindorfer, whose hearts were stolen by Cradle Mountain, one of Tasmania's top tourist destinations.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule points out that suburban gardens can harm the natural world.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine, Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Though the first time I flushed my toilet it made me jump. It is a moment I will remember, as it made me realize just how quiet my world had become...
Violet Apted tells how she determined not to be a victim of deafness.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Continue reading "None So Deaf As Those Who Will Not Hear" »
...The cuckoo called and when in season there were mushrooms for the picking. The soaring song of the lark was ever with us and swallows and swifts glided and swooped; Willy Wagtails perched on the barn roof and thrushes and blackbirds nested in the orchard, whilst snowdrops, violets, wild roses and 'conkers' helped to define the seasons....
Peggy Blakeley tells of an idyllic childhood.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Elaine Lutton tells of holiday life on Bribie Island, off Queensland, Australia.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...When will humanity learn that a Caring Society, in which people ask, 'What can I do to help?' can accomplish so much more than one in which the motive is, 'You must compete, and make your economy grow faster than that of your rivals'?...
Ken Silcock presents wise words.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Edel Wignell retells a Japanese folk tale.
Edel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Shirley Henwood finds the charming young gentlemen backward in coming forward.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule tells of "treasures'' to be found in a garden dig.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Anna Mancini has come forward to offer help and instruction to today's harrassed drivers.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Continue reading "Road Construction Driving Correspendence School" »
Jan Rodman tells of a day at the races, and a moment when resolve was lost.
Jan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Peggy Blakeley tells of an unfortunate "addition'' to a school nativity play.
Peggy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Colleen McMillan tells a tale of gratitude in the aftermath of Christmas.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Rodney Gascoyne recalls his days at sea with the Union-Castle line.
Rodney writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Whenever we heard our mother singing, 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' we knew there was trouble...
Shirley Henwood tells of dreams which never came true.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I asked her if anything was the matter. 'Yes,' she whispered. 'My panties are sliding down.'..
Gerda Aaberg tells of one of life's most embarrassing moments.
Gerda writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Glenice Whitting tells a flavourful Christmas tale.
Glenice writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Listen to peaceful music, read poetry, watch birds and wild animals, play the piano or your favorite instrument, write notes to people you love and care about just to say hello, appreciate the sun, moon and stars, wonder at the glory of a flower, watch fish swim, paint a picture, write a song, read a book, talk to your neighbors and loved ones often, volunteer in your community, do chores for the elderly, bring flowers to someone as a surprise—be joyful.
We are magnificent creatures, we human beings, capable of incredible things, deep love, great laughter and high vibrating souls of peace and joy...
Anna Mancini brings encouraging advice for sombre times.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...These were the days when kids made their own fun. I remember riding my horse to school and then organising races against a friend's horse around the football ground next to the school. He had bragged that his was the faster of the two, I not letting on that mine was an ex race-horse, I took little wagers (3d & 6d) on the race and financially came out in front....
Jan Rodman recalls school days in rural Tasmania.
Jan writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Half-truths do not add up. Two half-truths don't make a whole truth. That is their great attraction for the dishonest. You cannot pin them down, as they are much more slippery than lies, damned lies and statistics...
Ken Silcock muses on statements which hide as much as they reveal.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...It was 24th June 1952 and I had just disembarked at Station Pier in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. I took a taxi into Melbourne and as we crossed Princes Bridge, which spans the River Yarra and leads in to the city of Melbourne, the taxi driver retorted 'That's the River Yarra, the only upside-down river in the southern hemisphere—the mud's on top'. I've never forgotten it....
Bob Page recalls his early days.
Bob writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Oh but she was a golden beauty, as Samuel Fleck reveals.
Samuel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Suddenly, in the doorway, an apparition appeared. A shimmering-white, ghostly, naked figure, with long, black hair. My sister and I backed against the door, terrified...
Shirley Henwood tells of the last time she and her sister entered a neighbour's house.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...On turning the corner not only do I get my first view of the ocean but also the first invigorating blast of the wind to blow away any remaining cobwebs. As I quicken my pace to keep warm I can admire the pink and grey galahs breakfasting on seed they find in the grasses growing between the beach and the footpath. The crested pigeons, occasionally being distracted by the need to feed, keep up their continual wooing of each other, the males bowing and spreading their tail feathers to impress the ladies...
There's plenty to see on an early-morning walk in the land of Oz, as Elaine Lutton reveals.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Ken Sillcock is all for living life now, rather than living one's time all over again.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Continue reading "Time Over Again - A 90 Year Perspective" »
...WW2 was at its height. We had moved into our new house after being bombed out of our previous home. I hated it, as it was so much smaller and four of us had to share a bedroom. My bed was placed under a long window and became the 'box seat' for all of us to watch the nightly air raid 'shows'. How could we have known, tonight would be so different!...
Violet Apted recalls the night when she saw a flying bomb - a Doodlebug.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...On the third day I walked all the way to the lighthouse and looked forward to resting on the deck-chair. To my annoyance I found a child digging a trench. I coughed and waited for her to look up.
'What's your name?' she asked, continuing with her work. The breeze played with her hair, rolling and unrolling short black curls. Finally she turned to look. Her eyes were the same colour as the sea...
Carla Sari writes exquisitely of a chance meeting by the Adriaic sea.
Carla writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Wordsman Brian Barratt takes us on a linguistic tour of our local fast food outlets.
For more of Brian’s assuredly entertaining words please click on The Scrivener in the menu on this page.
For hours of stimulating intellectual fun do please visit his Web site The Brain Rummager www.alphalink.com.au/~umbidas/
Shirley Henwood recalls her son's first day at school.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Shirley Henwood tells of an accident - and a teasing grandfather.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Gerda Aaberg muses on why humans are always longing for something else, instead of living in the "now''.
Gerda writes for Bonzer! magazine. Do please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I just love driving around rural America. Where else can you see so many unheralded wonders of the universe, like giant cement dinosaurs (so that's what really happened to them), the heads of rich, white politicians carved into the sacred mountains of stolen Indian land, an entire building made out of corn cobs, and a statue of Paul Bunyon whose head turns and talks to little kids..
Anna Mancini enjoys the freedom of the road.
Anna writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Can any food be more delicious than poached eggs on buttery toast?...
Elaine Lutton reveals the temptations to her taste buds on recovering from a bout of 'flu.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Giancarla Curtis's poems turn the ordinary into something special.
Giancarla writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Violet Apted could see the cottage as she drove along the winding road to the cliff top. "The windows sparkling in the sunlight, gazing out across the sea, as if still keeping a vigilant lookout for my Grandpa, just as Grandma did for her sea captain husband, many years ago. My heart skipped a beat, as I stopped at the little white gate...''
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Do please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Dogs are just like many humans when it comes to taking medicine, as Gerda Aaberg reveals.
Gerda writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I don't believe for a moment that my grandfather had a sadistic streak. He was an incurable tease, and I was just one of his unfortunate victims...
Shirley Henwood tells a story which will arouse many memories of childhood fears.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...The table was set up at the bottom of the yard overlooking the ocean. Our garden bench, also painted in fashionable mission brown, provided seating. It is to this little bit of Heaven that we retreat in the late afternoon. A bottle of Merlot and two glasses and all is right in our world. Here we can catch up on each other's day and relax before dinner. From our vantage point over the Bay we frequently see dolphins chasing baitfish. It is hard to say which is more beautiful, the graceful movements of the dolphins or the silver ripple of the bait fish in their anxiety to escape finishing up as someone else's meal. ..
Elaine Lutton paints a blissful scene.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Quite serendipitously Betty Collins found herself a breeder of goldfish.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...My father-in-law owned an aging blue Pontiac that floated down Sydney roads like a rudderless ship. For six days father-in-law drove me to the hospital and back. On the eve of the seventh day, he informed me that I must drive myself...
Goldie Alexander tells of days of fear on the road.
Goldie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...'Have you checked that the turkeys are all in their yard Colleen?' my ever busy father called as he hurried by.
To make sure the turkeys, all forty-three of them, were safely locked up for the night was my job...
And that job could arouse life-long fears in an imaginative girl, as Colleen McMillan reveals.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Shirley Henwood's poem tells of the wonder of true love.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
John Powell flew an aircraft for the first time when he was 80 years old.
John writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...'Mum was a goldsmith apprentice, and she believed that there was a Creator. He was the Apprentice Master: and everyone was an apprentice—at least during his or her life on earth. "As apprentices," she said, "we are here to learn what works and what doesn't work in the workplace of life...
Patrick Thomas tells of a woman who found a lodestar to guide her through life.
Patrick writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Let's face it—English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat...
Bob Page considers the idiosyncracies of our language.
Bob writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Would you believe this? In an animal park, I once saw a snake yawning! I was fascinated. It nearly transferred to me: a real yawn, just like you and me...
Gerda Aaberg tells tales about the creatures some people don't like to think about.
Gerda writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Edel Wignell retells a trickster tale from West Africa.
Edel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
It's a wise lady who learns not to indulge her toy boy, as Colleen McMillan's poem reveals.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...My husband and I are both what is termed 'frying pan fishermen', meaning if you can't eat it don't bother trying to catch it!..
Elaine Lutton brings a tasty account of her fishing days.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Do please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Just promise me you'll live life as keenly as you eat ice cream. Savour every moment as if it is your last...
Caregiver Kathy Berger-Sewell tells of love, of continuity, of the comforting strength of family life.
Kathy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...The cardinal sin, which was drummed into us well, was 'Never let go of the rope'. It would be better to go swinging up to the ceiling than to let go, as a bell out of control could cause the rope to go snaking around inside the tower in an extremely dangerous fashion...
Nick Ogbourne recalls bell-ringing days.
Nick writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Patrick Thomas declares that his interaction with his body provides unlimited opportunities for him to re-learn his essential God-essence.
Patrick writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...My grandfather was a storyteller. Tall or true, we never knew....
Shirley Henwood demonstrates that the ability to tell a good tale must run in the blood.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Edel Wignell retells a Scottish folk tale.
Edel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Wendy Ogbourne thinks we have a duty to children to warn them that "happy ever after'' does not necessarily follow marriage.
Wendy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Do please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Life is cruel.
Families split apart in different lands...
Shirley Henwood tells of a sad goodbye.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Violet Apted recalls a childhood day when she discovered a mountain of "treasure''.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
....Forcing oneself to lead a spiritual life—and hating the effort—just won't work. It is a matter of priorities—God or materialism—of determining the reason for my existence. Before tackling that question, there is the important question of who I am. I have concluded after much searching that the real me is that invisible aspect of me called Soul, and that I exist because the Force which brought me into existence loved me enough to create me in ITS likeness. And loves me enough to give me an apprenticeship in god-ness with the promise that, when I complete my apprenticeship, I will be taken on as a permanent God-Helper...
Patrick Thomas contemplates the best way to lead a spiritual life.
Patrick writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...When living in Victoria, one day I saw on the lawn a fair-sized spider with a white back. Maybe because the whiteness was unexpected, I recoiled. Then I came to my senses, and I said a prayer 'Dear God, help me not to be so scared of one of your other creatures.' And do you know what? I suddenly saw that the white 'body' was an egg sac. As a mother, that made me ashamed. Here was a different mother, albeit with eight legs, transporting her offspring to a safer spot...
Gerda Aaberg highlights a subject that causes many a shudder to travel down many a back.
Gerda writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
From crumbed lamb cutlets to fillets of wild kagaroo...
Mike Larder tells of a bush tucker chef.
Mike writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Shirley Henwood, who gives ample proof that age does not wither a keen sense of humour, gives advice to certain folk of senior years.
Shirley writes for Bonzer magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Continue reading "Advice For New Residents Of Retirement Villages" »
Marion McKeen writes a poem for the texting age.
Marion writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Betty Collins does a spot of house-sitting.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Our marriage was planned for December 24th at eleven o'clock in the morning. Juul and Freek, two of our friends, promised to have coffee and rolls ready at our place, when we came back from City Hall with our family and friends. The wedding ceremony made me laugh...
Ans Redelaar tells of her wedding day in Amsterdam during the bleak days of World War Two.
Ans writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Kids don't care about the things that bother mothers, and my favourite things that disappeared with those renovations must have been my mother's despair. Like the 'dirty' fuel stove that warmed us as we dressed for school in winter; the 'dirty' open fire in the lounge-room where I would curl up on the couch and dream in the fire's glow; the big glassed-in verandahs, one with boxes of Mum's younger, town-based finery for dress-ups, one with iron beds for sunny winter snoozing over Sunday papers; and the lino floors, so cool to lie on after the Sunday roast and pudding had filled us to immovability in summer heat...
Sharyn Munro tells of her parents who were ever-willing to try life elsewhere.
Sharyn writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
John Powell, who served in the Home Guard in World War Two, was part of a crew manning an anti-aircraft rocket battery in London.
Here he recalls the night of an air raid.
John writes for Bonzer! maazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Pale headed rosellas, turquoise and yellow, scaly breasted lorikeets, green and gold, and rainbow lorikeets, purple, green, gold and scarlet, all taking their turn to feast and joining the honey eaters, butcher birds and magpies...
Elaine Lutton delights in the avian visitors in the yard of her Queensland home.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Colleen McMillan explains why a certain vase could not be given away, even though she didn't like it.
Colleen writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Violet Apted returns to the house in which she once lived to confront a ghost from her past.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Love thy enemy makes good psychological sense and certainly embraces the approach which maintains that spirituality is also practicality. For who is the main victim of hate? He or she who hates. Hate consumes the individual, embitters him and his whole approach to life, poisons his relationships and is the molehill which becomes the mountain...
Patrick Thomas brings words of wisdom.
Patrick writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Jerry Selby wonders whether we are passing on lessons about acceptable norms desirable goals and ideals to our grandchildren.
Jerry writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Valerie Yule tells of feathered friends.
Valerie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I myself had no prejudices. It was with my pure, prejudice-free voice that, as a college freshman, I carefully explained to a black man who'd graduated from my university years before—in fact, the first of his color to do so—that it was important that we as a country avoid interracial marriages.
So ashamed am I now, this is the first I've ever revealed this incident. To anyone...
Frank Kaiser says we seldom recognise our prejudices until we are through with them.
Mike Larder, who writes for Bonzer! magazine www.bonzer.org.au tells of the children's entertainer Mike Jackson.
The ring of a telephone can make a day special when you are a little girl, as Karyn Taylor's story reveals.
Karyn writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Tony Kearney tells an unusual tale to highlight the politeness of the Irish.
Tony writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Simon was forever finding animals to save on our small farm. Little birds; lost, cold hedgehogs; the odd rabbit. Even stray old cats. If there was a sick animal around, Simon would sniff it out. And bring it home...
Erik van Bommel tells of an animal in distress, and a caring boy.
Erik writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
John Powell, a member of the Civilian Home Guard (Dad's Army) manned a rocket anti-aircraft battery in London during World War Two.
John writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Easter Saturday. The church bells, which have been tied up for three days, begin to peal away. The sky is a glorious blue. Mina is pedalling fast down the road to the farm.
"Two dozen eggs, four bunches of asparagus and don't forget to pick up the Easter cake from the baker," Father had told her...
Carla Sari paints a colourful word portrait of Eastertide. Carla writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
..."Tell us about the Titanic, Grampa," we would plead.
He would take his pipe out of his mouth, carefully tap out the spit, and refill it with tobacco, tamp it down until he judged it was ready for lighting. We waited patiently, fascinated by this ritual. Sometimes he would let one of us strike the match. When it was alight to his satisfaction, he would settle back comfortably, ready to begin...
Shirley Henwood recalls a tale her grandad told.
Shirley writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Rule number one in our household is: never open the aviary door, but today I can't resist showing off to my special friend, Cheryl...
Penny White recalls a day of terrible trauma in her childhood.
Penny writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Dermott Ryder gives a good-humoured account of attempts to publicise a Sydney folk music club.
Dermott writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...We have built into our system a number of finely tuned receptors - intuition, which comes in the guise of inner nudges, conscience, observation especially of unusual occurrences, casual comments that make us prick up our ears, sleeping dreams, waking dreams and a mind which is prepared to think broadly. The Creator uses any or some of these to guide us, uses our patience to allow time for a path to appear, uses our calm to enable us to see what we wouldn't see if we allowed ourselves to be stressed...
Patrick Thomas considers the nature of free will.
Patrick writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Cora Miller presents seven poems, each one reflecting a different mood.
Cora writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Edel Wignell re-tells a German folk tale.
Edel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Elaine Lutton extols the joys of home swapping. Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
From personal experience, Tony Kearney dismisses the idea that the Irish are a particularly drunken race. "Indeed, the house and atmosphere in which we were reared,'' he says "was almost entirely teetotal. My mother enjoyed sherry when entertaining her card-playing friends. However, her limit was two glasses and I remember that these brought redness to her face and garrulity to her tongue.''
Tony writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
Ken Silcock says the best way to find peace of mind is to tackle a job.
Ken writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I was high above the beach looking down at a group of horrified onlookers, including my own mother, and screaming as loud as I could...
Violet Apted recalls fearful moments from her childhood.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
....In 1942 most people left their doors unlocked and children, even very small children, freely wandered the quiet suburban streets. Our family lived on the first floor of a cream stuccoed apartment block. The glassed-in balcony was my small bedroom; Mama and Papa slept next door; the sitting room with its shiny mantelpiece clock chiming the quarter hour was on the other side of the corridor...
Goldie Alexander recalls her childhood days in Australia.
Goldie writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...My father was a school dentist in England. His white caravan would be towed from one school to another, for him to do examinations and minor dental procedures. This was intended to catch all the children who otherwise would never see a dentist...
Wendy Ogbourne says that her father was the gentlest of men, but of a rather forbidding appearance, with a grey, bristly moustache and white hair. "It was a great regret to him that, because of his job, he aroused fear in so many children.''
Wendy writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Keith Ford tells of happenings when a jet fighter buzzed a sleeping town.
Keith writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Carla Sari tells a tale about a polite dog called Lila.
Carla writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Edel Wignell re-tells a tall tale from Papua New Guinea.
Edel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Violet Apted dedicates this poem to her daughter, Beverley.
Violet writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...Last Thursday we awoke to find the house had been invaded by millions of tiny black ants. They were everywhere...
Elaine Lutton tells of a need to Spring clean on the grand scale.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Before our marriage, we agreed that while there might well be plenty of children (we finished up with seven which, I must admit, were a few more than we had in mind) there would definitely be NO CATS...
Tony Kearney tells a tale of acute embarrassment.
Tony writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...As I stood up I could see the darned thing coming straight towards us, a Tiger snake about 1.5m long, and hey, was it moving fast!...
Shayne Doyle gets too close for comfort to a snake on the beach.
Shayne writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au
...The shed has dark corners hiding many treasures: harness, polishes, axle grease, rusty tools, bags of grain, kerosene. A sharpening stone waits at the door, ready to rasp out its ancient rhythms before a sheep is led to slaughter...
Jeanne K Meade brings us a vivid account of a visit during her childhood to granda's place.
Jeanne writes for Bonzer! Please visit www.bonzer.org.au/
...Learning anything by rote was never my forte, so for many Latin lessons I would be 'sent out' by an exasperated Sister Juliana, which suited me just fine, because I could sit on the wide verandah which wrapped the stone Convent on the mountainside, and watch the ships' movements in Simonstown, across the Bay...
Betty Collins recalls school days and working in her mother's tea room in Cape Town during World War Two.
Betty writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...We all missed him at parties. His songs, stories and idiosyncratic view of life added much to revels. At any rate, I accepted the invitation....
Then he was back again, there in the Union bar, drinking, philosophising... But it was to be his last visit as Dermott Ryder's story reveals.
Dermott writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...I have a lovely theory that plants flourish from being looked at. They don’t even need to be sung to or talked at. You just sit in the garden and watch them growing. Nobody is allowed to refute this beautiful theory...
Valerie Yule writes with deep affection about her cottage garden.
Valerie contributes to Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
"You are never alone when you are loved,'' says Frank Dawson in one of the truest of all poetic lines.
Frank writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Mothers begin to ask questions when daughters bring boyfriends home. Marion McKeen's delightful poem concerns protective curiosity.
Marion writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Les Yemm's poem tells of illicit meetings in busy cafes.
Les writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Continue reading "Love Is The Art Of Left-Handed Coffee Drinking" »
Tony Kearney's story confirms that one should not assume that a bovine-looking and slow moving person is necessarily stupid.
Tony writers for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
So you think household chores are just routine? Elaine Lutton's deliciously funny account of a domesic day will convince you that you are mistaken.
Elaine writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
Tony Kearney's father was a hypochondriac and always had at least one serious illness with which to contend. "An early ailment (he was in his mid-thirties) was fatty degeneration of the heart, which made it dangerous for him to engage in physical activities, even running up stairs. His response to this disease was to take up hockey, tennis and golf. He became proficient in all three, established his own hockey team and played for Munster in the inter-provincial competition!''
Tony writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
...We watched the Scots and Irish dancing. Girls of all ages, dressed in kilts, long socks and shiny black shoes, danced and tapped. I loved the moment when crossed swords were placed on the floor and they stepped dexterously between the blades, heads erect, arms and fingers still in dainty pose. Dancing was worldly, but it was fun to watch...
Edel Wignell, who was brought up by parents who belonged to a strict fundamenalist sect, recalls the fun of the annual agricultural show.
Edel writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please do visit www.bonzer.org.au