Time to be Thankful: A 2020 Wattletales Retrospective

On Reflection

Despite a year of COVID-19 uncertainty, with possibly more to come, Christmas remains the time to give thanks. In Australia, we gather in December to appreciate each other, share gifts, and find joy. It is also when suicide rates peak, family tensions rise, achievements are found wanting, and loss is rendered more poignant. For good or bad, as we move towards a new year, Christmas offers a moment for reflection, a time to look back to relish, reject, assimilate, and prepare for the future. This post then is Wattletales’ 2020 retrospective.

Since July, during one of the most uncomfortable times in our collective history both health-wise and politically, 12 generous and creative people have shared stories with Wattletales as guests. I am grateful to everyone who spent the time and energy and dared to reveal parts of their lives with us, bringing joy to us all. Thank you.

Our contributors have diverse interests, backgrounds and lives but, as a whole, their stories make Wattletales an authentic collection of Australian tales.

Many of our guests are members of Friendly Street Poets, TramsEnd Poets, Gawler Poetry at the Pub, Sand Writers and Fleurieu Poets, both in Goolwa, and Ochre Coast poets at Seaford. Some are people I knew when I was teaching Life Writing in Aldinga Beach a few years ago. All have contributed in special ways to my growth as a poet, writer, and blogger.

2020 Guests July to September

July

In her poignant story, Loving and Losing a Dog, Maria Vouis takes us back to 2013 in the Murray Mallee where her beloved Oonah played joyfully in the wheat with her mate, Duke. Maria’s piece celebrates those memories of Oonah who died this year and commemorates her beloved pet by exploring the wonderful wolf-nature of dogs.

Julie Cahill’s piece, I am a Writer brought us a portrait of her childhood in the UK. She writes of her joy at being a wife, mother and businesswoman on the lovely Fleurieu Peninsula. Julie’s revels in poetry and is writing her life story; Ten Pound Pom. Her words are often playful. We will meet Julie again in 2021 as her creativity turns to art.

August

In More Than a Nutshell, Veronica Cookson explores her satisfaction with retirement. After dipping into her past, she first takes us travelling with her camera and poetry. Then we learn of her contentment, living in Moana with husband, David in their historical cottage by the sea surrounded by books, poetry, art, jigsaws, lorikeets, rosellas and magpies.

Carolyn Gorton introduces us to her Muse, Puss-in-Boots, an august teddy who accompanies her to gigs and meetings. In I Love Words, Carolyn talks about being a writer and tells us that one of her favourite things is being a coordinator of Gawler Poets at the Pub and working with other poets and writers. She produces several blogs on diverse topics which you can find here.

September

In Life is a Journey of Exits and Entrances, Martin Christmas takes us on a wonderful journey through school, where he was told he would never be creative, and from dyslexia to high creativity. Martin is, among other things, an experienced theatre director, photographer and published poet who shares his energy giving workshops and supporting others in their creative endeavours.

September saw two posts from Kerry Rochford whose life was turned upside down by circumstances that saw her mother again after her children had grown. Her first piece, This Unwritten Life, explores her youth and early womanhood filled with words and stories. After studying creative writing, Kerry’s story takes a turn towards art and artistic embroidery as she describes in Art as meditation.

2020 Guests October to December

October

Ivan Rehorek brought October in with a bang, introducing fiery poetry and stories of war in Stories from the Six Directions; part fiction, mostly fact. Avalanche (as he is known) shares aspects of his early life in Poland before migrating to Australia. Poignant and painful memories reside in this piece, alongside music and joy.

November

Luisa Redford brought us a delightful November tale about mindfulness and the way she approaches nature with wonder and awe. In this atmospheric piece, The Words and Worlds of Life Writing Luisa speaks of the joy she feels, writing other people’s stories as a ghost-writer and life-writing coach. You can discover more about Luisa and her work here.

In Trying to Retire visual artist, Liz Hirstle holds back her disappointment in having to postpone her dream of relocating to France during COVID-19. She also brushes past the fact that, as an artist, she now has vision problems. For Wattletales, Liz turns her pen to humour and entertains us with some strange behaviours she encountered among guests at her B&B in the Adelaide Hills.

Our third guest in November, Belinda Broughton, brought a poignant yet jubilant tale of losing her home to the 2019 Cudlee Creek bushfires and the slow process of recovery; for herself, her husband, Ervin, and for nature while waiting for their new house to come into being. Interwoven with poetry, this story also brings poignant moments in Belinda’s imagined letter to her mother.

December

The last guest post for 2020 is, We Were Poor, But I Felt Rich by Jude Aquilina. Jude takes us through a sensual childhood of love, curiosity and inspiration, especially from her father who read poetry, loved antiques, and fixed clocks. She also introduces us to her love of one very adventurous grandmother. It will come as a surprise to learn that Jude did not set out either to be a writer or a poet; it all began with Flim Flam telegrams.

Just For Fun

My Posts 2018-2020

I began my monthly posts in 2018 talking about Realising Dreams Late in Life. After that, I questioned entrenched understandings about writing for a web page before exploring the relationship between poetry and my life which brought my family and me into things.

Since the advent of Guest Posts this year, however, my posts have increasingly become biographical vignettes, albeit with a literary twist. This amuses me because, when I presented the first draft of my introductory blurb for Wattletales at a workshop, it was denounced for being too personal. I was informed that nobody would be interested in me as a person (rather than a profile) and only the famous can get away with writing about themselves.

I disagreed with that proposition then as When Purposes Collide attests, and even more so now. We must put on the page what we need to say and, this year, my guests have shown that talking about your life is OK, and I have found it freeing to be real on the page.

Landscapes of Mind

How Can We Know Our Mother Except in Stories

It’s All In The Title

Roll on 2021

I won’t give away my 2021 secrets except to announce that Wattletales’ Guest Posts will recommence on Wednesday 6 January; at this stage with contributors through till early March.

A Poem to Finish With

This is the only Christmas poem I’ve ever written. It is based on my father’s last Christmas at the Adelaide War Veteran’s Home in Fullarton. It brings this post to an end with mum, dad and a sprinkling of me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and, Remember…

When you write, get real. Someone once told me years ago, to ‘get out of your head’. It took a while for me to understand what that meant. The minute I got it, life surrendered itself to me, and I became myself.

To be authentic on the page is an art and one worth cultivating. Only when we have kernels of truth should we edit and hone our stories using any tool, trick or literary magic we can to give our readers a journey of their own.

See You in 2021