Report on Cloudcatchers’ Ginko No 21 (autumn)
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Previously Cloudcatchers have gathrered at Bangalow Weir in Summer (2007) and Spring (2008 & 2009). But this time it was Autumn. We did not expect to feel a seasonal change, but it was indeed cooler, the light softer, the pace slower. No insects worried us. Turtles were fewer and more languid, and there were no water dragons. But the tessellated trunks of the old pines, patterned by lichen on the shady side, remained as we remembered them.
Bangalow Weir was fabricated in 1924 by the construction of a wall across the Wilson Creek to create a swimming pool. This not only provided a sporting area for local youth, but also attracted visits from such celebrities as Arne Borg, the Swedish Olympic medalist in the 1920s, and Boy Charlton, our own Australian freestyle Gold Medalist, who beat Borg in the Summer Olympics in Paris 1924.
Twelve haiku poets spent the morning here, generating haiku after haiku that reflected the essence of this place. After an hour in silence, scribbling in each others’ company, we shared our written images around the picnic table. Lunch followed, and then we talked and talked.
Our winter ginko will be on 30 June at Brunswick Heads. Please contact Quendryth Young ([email protected]) nearer the time, for more details.
Quendryth Young