Stranded in the roof with the lift out – being lateral, not literal

Last week I found myself stranded up in the roof, with the lift out. Mostly lift outages last a few hours at most, but this was several days, including a weekend. Luckily I have broadband connectivity and a coffee machine, so I can potentially hardly ever leave my apartment. Up here in the hanging gardens of babble on, I keep peering at our strange world and its goings on – wondering when, if ever, it will come to its senses. To survive the century I’m focusing on being lateral, not literal, in my thinking – unlike most of our esteemed leaders. I’m sure that will help.

The level I live on is called the attic. It’s ironic because nowadays the top floors of an apartment building are usually called somewhat more grandly the ‘penthouse’. I like the fact it’s called the attic because in the past the attics were the tiny poky rooms at the very top of the stairs where the servants crammed in – it’s all in the name.

Birds eye view of balloon.

I see that one of the risk factors for dementia (only one, there are five of them, who knew?) is spending too much time in bed. I suppose it’s a bit like those Victorian women who took to their bed – though I’d have to say if I was a woman stuck in the Victorian era I’d definitely take to my bed.

Fine dining in the clouds
One of our neighbours, a new friend we made when we moved several years ago, has moved out, driven away by the fact that Canberra is the hay fever capital of the universe. Luckily in her retirement she can turn her hand to what she does best – being a children’s author, which she can do anywhere. She came to dinner the other night to say goodbye and messaged us as she headed away across the border.

Rainbow at the end of…the rainbow.

Thanks so very much for the gourmet dinner and all the laughs. Such a lovely night! I’m thinking of writing a restaurant review to add to your website...How’s this?

Fine dining at its best: Canberra’s well kept secret ‘Top of the Parks’ family owned hatted restaurant. Dine in candle-lit elegance amidst beautifully curated artwork and eclectic museum pieces, or admire uninterrupted views from the terrace garden... Enjoy the finest French wines from the owners’ private cellar, and after the sumptuous three course meal recline back on the softest of reindeer pelts and enjoy the delightful company of your welcoming hosts…A truly moving experience - five stars!
Walk a mile (or two) in someone else’s shoes

A friend of mine in the UK has been discovering ancient pilgrimage routes across Britain. It’s fascinating how a medieval religious practice like pilgrimages – made up of so many, so different journeys – has become part of secular popular culture as well. There must be something elemental about it – like the knight’s quest. I can imagine even in a very secular culture like modern China something like the Long March has that legendary semi-mythical quality of overcoming odds and challenges to reach a goal.

‘I can imagine even in a very secular culture like modern China something like the Long March has that legendary semi-mythical quality of overcoming odds and challenges to reach a goal.’

The routes of pilgrimage never really vanish. In contrast churches were massive things that required massive upkeep. As the beliefs they represented shrank it wasn’t as if what remained was useful for anything else – as a small garden shed might have been. I saw enough magnificent churches and abbeys in France that no-one can afford to restore or maintain, abandoned to the pigeons and the rain.
The end of the American century

Big news this week is that the war between America and Iran seems to have stalled (being over is perhaps too optimistic a description) and we can all travel again. It must be a peculiarity of our crazy age that a major power can ‘win’ a war and find itself in a worse position than when it started it. Having lost, the repressive Iranian regime is now even more entrenched than before.

‘It must be a peculiarity of our crazy age that a major power can win a war and find itself in a worse position than when it started it.’

Luckily this wasn’t World War 2 or Europe would still be occupied by the Nazis. It seems an empire of pirates might be coming to an end. The rich are still getting richer, but the poor are getting unhappy – where it will lead, who knows? These global developments are being reflected locally in the death stare of the Liberal Party, so it’s happening closer to home as well.

I have a new emoji. Opportunities to use it on social media - the new mass media of our era - are endless.

It’s telling that The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reopened their Beijing bureau in February after a six-year absence. This move aims to strengthen their coverage of China, and reflects the global recognition that China is a significant global superpower with major economic, military, and technological influence – and most importantly a rising Great Power that is jostling aside the US as the American century winds down to become, for both better and worse, the pre-eminent global power.

'To keep things in perspective it’s worth remembering that cake-making is even more Australian than Gallipoli.'

This is particularly important because in the West we have serious shortcomings in our coverage of worlds other than our own – reflecting the myopic focus of the mainstream monopoly media. Yet these new versions of ancient worlds largely are mapping the global future.

Cake-making is even more Australian than Gallipoli.

Where civilization comes from
An age of petty wars makes me think about civilization. We are surrounded by fearsome leaders who like to think that civilization was built on hunting by big strong men like them, but the truth is that it was really built on gathering roots, berries – and finally cereal – by the people who really counted, but were overlooked by history. To keep things in perspective it’s worth remembering that cake-making is even more Australian than Gallipoli.

© Stephen Cassidy 2026

See also

Sunny one day – with a dark history the next: the wildest state of Australia

‘Everyone keeps hearing about the risks of visiting Australia. A taxi driver in Tahiti told me she had always dreamed of visiting, but was terrified of the snakes. So she should be, I’m terrified of the snakes, too. One of my earliest memories is of stepping on a tiger snake in Tasmania. Luckily it slid off one way while I went the other. If it’s not snakes there are multiple things that will sting you, bite you or eat you. I don’t know why we worry about buying expensive submarines to defend our island home. No-one will dare invade us - our wildlife will take care of them, if the floods and bushfires don’t first’, Sunny one day – with a dark history the next.

Two seconds of fame – walking the talk for wellness

‘Even though I doubt I could live in Sydney again, I always become excited when I visit. We’ve just come back from a quick trip there – on the train this time. There was a tiny flurry of media excitement as we left because some upgrades had been promised for the train and the Chief Minister was visiting. The ABC interviewer asked me for my comments, so I waxed lyrical about train travel – my two seconds of fame’, Two seconds of fame – walking the talk for wellness.

Horror stories for children – but wait there’s more

‘Horror stories for children– once there was a group of religious extremists that couldn’t fit in anywhere. They travelled to another continent and started to kill all the native inhabitants. To celebrate stealing their land the newcomers threw a feast called. Then they burned some witches and discovered slavery. It all went downhill from there. But wait there’s more. It’s hasn’t been all bad’, Horror stories for children – but wait there’s more.

Thinking twice – about everything
‘Any sensible person might think twice about travelling overseas at the moment, given that the US has been bombing Iran. However, I realised that there has never been a moment in living memory since the 1953 coup in Iran where the US hasn’t been bombing or invading someone, hasn’t recently bombed or invaded someone or isn’t planning to bomb or invade someone. Though, as one commentator pointed out, the last war they won was World War 2, and that was with the help of others. Maybe it’s best to treat it as situation normal, simply ignore it and get on with your life’, Thinking twice – about everything.

Cooling seasons and war in the air

‘The cool of the changing seasons is in the air and apples are on the table. For me the months of stone fruit are like Christmas – well they are Christmas, along with fruit mince tarts of course – but nothing lasts for ever. Luckily, though, it comes back again a year later. Right now what’s come back are apples. All the apples at the Farmers Market early this morning were new season. That’s good because war is in the air and we seem to be surrounded by things falling apart, so ongoing certainties are reassuring’, Cooling seasons and war in the air.

Stumbling over ghosts in an art gallery 

‘We seem to be creeping towards the colder weather. Still with the daily news full of America revisiting its 1953 coup in Iran who has time to think about the weather? In between catching up with old friends, we’d just driven back from one of my favourite spots in Australia – the Thredbo Valley – and now it was time to return to furnishing our home. Someone once commented that inhabiting a modernist house would be like living in an art gallery and I thought I’d like to live in an art gallery. For many decades I carted around some old silk screen prints from my time in Adelaide. We finally decided to get one of them framed after all those decades and cities’, Stumbling over ghosts in an art gallery.

I'm never leaving home again – well, except to travel
‘I’ve made a couple of big decisions. I’ve decided that it’s better to be a Chardonnay socialist than a Riesling reactionary. I’ve also decided that given the state of the world – despite all the good things going on that we never hear about, it seems to be balancing between mediocrity, incompetence and plain greed and lust for power – I’m never leaving home again…well, except to travel’, I'm never leaving home again – well, except to travel.

Guides to a fiery future – it was only a matter of time

'It was only a matter of time. It seems such a long time ago that we moved from bushfires to pandemic and watched as a wave of disease and stupidity swept the world and the country. Now the bushfires are back – the stupidity as well. Did we ever think they wouldn’t be?', Guides to a fiery future – it was only a matter of time. 

Sheep graziers warning replaced by heat wave alert – reading books, drinking tea and reading tea leaves

‘Today I popped out to get coffee and to visit the library, which just reopened after the break. They are the only things that would tempt me out of the apartment in this weather. Instead of the normal sheep graziers alert we get in Canberra, today we have a heat wave alert. Today is 33 degrees, then tomorrow is 35, the next day 37 and then Friday will be 39. Originally there were going to be three days in a row where the temperatures reached 39, so I’m thankful that’s changed. I feel as though I am living in Adelaide again, but it’s probably even hotter there’, Sheep graziers warning replaced by heat wave alert.

Lurching to a halt at the end of the year
‘For some reason Christmas reminds me of a play by Jean-Paul Sartre called ‘Huis Clos’, named after the French equivalent of an in camera trial or closed courtroom. It’s about three people who have died, locked together awaiting judgement in a crowded room for eternity. It’s the origin of Sartre’s famous line ‘hell is other people’. But it’s not the idea of hell that Christmas reminds me of, but the fact that at Christmas, especially on Boxing Day, the world suddenly lurches to a halt’, Lurching to a halt at the end of the year.

A different universe lapped by waves
‘The little city that serves Australia as a capital is tucked up in the mountains far from any coastline, even though in a strange historical quirk it actually has a coastline at Jervis Bay. Yet to reach the South Coast of New South Wales, below the swollen city where Australia’s official European history began, takes hardly any time at all. It’s much more drawn out heading down the coast from Sydney, through the great Sydney sprawl past Wollongong and beyond. The South Coast is an entirely different universe to the capital’, A different universe lapped by waves.

Walking with ghosts
‘Increasingly people I have known for a long time seem to be dying. In fact my generation is steadily starting to disappear. Who is replacing them? We shuffle along in a world that is unravelling, a world – that for both good and bad – our generation gave birth to. We are teetering in a strange balance between building on the achievements of the past and desperately trying to dismantle them. In many countries, the current generation is poorer than the previous one, upending generations of dreams by working class parents and migrants for a better life for their children. In this time of upheaval – both welcome and unwelcome – creativity is needed like never before’, Walking with ghosts.

On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future
I'm on the road again – well, on the rails again. On Monday I caught the slow train from Canberra to Sydney, and today I’ve woken up to a third morning in Surry Hills. I’m enjoying the days in Sydney – after all, I did live here for twelve and a half years. I’m mainly here to see the Yolngu Power exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, which finishes next week, but I’m also using the trip to see to other business’, On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future.

Looking down on dire predictions
‘I see the latest report on looming climate change has some pretty dire predictions – like a future of four times the length of heatwaves, up to five times as many deaths due to extreme heat, a massive drag on productivity, 1.5 million Australians at risk of coastal flooding and a potential half trillion dollar hit to property values by 20250 – and that’s just the good news’, Looking down on dire predictions.

Marching with the Nazis – as un-Australian as it gets

'I’m still shocked by the marches and rallies around the country opposing immigration. Everyone involved says mass immigration, but it’s clear in practice they mean most immigration – and definitely all immigration by people who aren’t white, or as I like to say, ‘pink’. Here I am travelling through my own homeland once again and, at times, it seems like a foreign country – not because of immigrants but because of those who have grown up here. Those taking part in these marches probably have genuine grievances, but they have picked the wrong target to blame and, in the process, have been steered into becoming in effect neo-Nazi fellow travellers. We are (almost) all immigrants here, only just starting to genuinely come to grips with this country', Marching with the Nazis – as un-Australian as it gets.

Self-imposed lockdown – hanging around home

'For all their faults and disadvantages there were some positive sides to the pandemic lockdowns. As I often say, ‘good times’ – maybe my memory isn’t what it was. I realise that I planned and prepared for so long to move to an apartment and now I am here I keep discovering more and more things I like about it. I could stay home and read and write and never leave it, just popping down to the shops when I need supplies – perhaps it’s a case of self-imposed lockdown', Self-imposed lockdown.

Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen
‘From time to time my posts on ‘travelling light’ include references to restaurants we have eaten at or enjoyable places we have stayed. However, most of my regular writing about food, produce, restaurants and places we have stayed is on one of my blogs, tableland, which I describe as: ‘Food and cooking land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko’, Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen.

Cooking minestrone in an art gallery – pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day
‘In winter my mind turns to food, but since it is never turned away from art, cooking and looking manage to fill in the cooler months – or maybe that’s all months. I haven’t made hand-made pasta for a while but I have made sushi and sashimi – though only once in recent memory – as I resurrect all my food traditions. Cooking, eating and cruising around art exhibitions – that’s winter for me’, Cooking minestrone in an art gallery - pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day

Winter markets in a creative city

'The winter we had to have (and could have hoped for) finally arrived on the Southern Tablelands. We have gone back to going to the Farmers Market every week. To add to the winter sun good news arrived. For over ten years we worked to have Canberra listed as a UNESCO Creative City of Design, part of a global network of creative cities. Finally the ACT Government announced that it intended to take the bid forward – and that it had allocated funding for it, the true sign of a government being serious. It’s always a pleasure to help initiate a worthwhile endeavour, but even more of a pleasure to look back ten years later and see that it has been a roaring success in more ways than one', Winter markets in a creative city.

Speaking in tongues

‘Where I live a statue of French maritime hero, La Pérouse, looks out over the suburb as though to say: this, too, could have been France. For a period it seemed everyone who went to school in Australia studied French. Perhaps it was a belated attempt to acknowledge how much better everything would have been if the French had got here first. As I like to say whenever I’m in France, ‘j’ai étudié le Français pendant six ans à l’école’ and I would like to have had more opportunity to use that knowledge', Speaking in tongues.

Looking down on birds

'While the world unravels and some gleefully repeat the mistakes of the past, life goes on in gardens everywhere. I remember that in the Roman Empire, if a change of regime occurred, soldiers, recognising that they were also farmers, would often retire for a time to their farm - until circumstances and duty called them back. Some wit commented that what is happening now is like the fall of the Roman Empire, but with wi-fi', Looking down on birds.

Back in the days when we travelled

'Back in the days when we travelled, I used to post news of my trips to Facebook, so my friends could follow my exploits overseas. For a long time it has been apparent that Facebook has issues, so back in 2019 I set up this blog 'Travelling light' to replace my Facebook posts. However, in the end I decided to stay with Facebook, so this blog was never used', Back in the days when we travelled.

Travelling light by being still

'As I've said repeatedly, I don't have any problem with flying, it's landing and taking off I don't like – and all the logistics in-between. I have few problems with lounging around for hours and on a flight, you get to sit still while people bring you food and drink. How much better does it get?', Travelling light by being still.

Abandoning the world of work

'When I left full-time work over ten years ago, I was asked what I intended to do. Once I no longer had distractions, like work – fun though it was at the time – it was clear that I would definitely have some time on my hands. I replied that I planned to keep up with my friends and to travel – when I wasn't gardening, cooking, reading or writing. It sounded like a fine plan at the time and as things panned out, it was a fine plan', Abandoning the world of work.