My sporting career was hampered by this dreaded rise in temperature that interrupted weekends and often resulted in a migraine.
There are mildly mannered Australians; hard-working tradespeople and teachers and surgeons and librarians who spend their working week making a difference and their weekends making mischief.
Read MoreThe backyard spin bowling bonanza always begins with a pause to psych out the young charge and build tension, then it's four or five strides at walking pace, two quicker steps and a leap into the delivery stride attempting to rip the perfect leg spinner that drifts into the right hander's legs and then spins viciously away off a dry spot where pesky paspalum was recently poisoned with glyphosate.
Read MoreThere is something very special about our young people.
Living on an island where close knit communities remain the norm, more commonly asserted as everyone knows each other, they share a bond that makes them proudly Tasmanian and fiercely loyal.
They are strong-minded and resolute and clear about democracy and injustice. Gone are the days where compliance is the most admirable quality. Questioning, expressing views, and thinking differently about challenges and issues are admired and highly sought after by employers.
Read MoreNow, New York City does not sleep because of the fear of what is to come to finalise the election result.
The tension underpinned by lies and caused by a failure to accept democracy including unconscionable comments that have been called out by major television networks, and the potential for civil unrest fortified by a reprehensible set of gun laws underpinned by a missing comma in the Second Amendment, has created a cocktail of conflict and concern for the future.
For the centre of the world: "If I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere, It's up to you, New York, New York".
Read MoreIt must be more than 30 years since I was a customer on Launceston's Cataract Gorge Scenic Chairlift. In fact, we simply referred to the attraction as the Basin chairlift in the late 1980s.
On that occasion my brother and I witnessed a young reveller, who would perhaps now feature on the Facebook page Chit Chat Launceston, attempting to impress his girlfriend by leaping form the chair into the tree rhododendrons close to the arrival point on the Trevallyn side.
The consequence of this stunt was violently swinging chairs for those who followed with a quick exit required to regain composure once the platform was clear.
Read MoreThe dancers, who attend several different primary and high schools around Launceston, come together as the tightest of friends to practise, rehearse, and perform at the highest level possible.
They form a formidable dancing clan: committed, dedicated, tightknit, and full to the brim with kindness and support for one another. And as much as Pearl MacDonald works hard at her own performance, it is her clan that she cares for most.
"Our dance community is encouraging and caring. We support each other to do our best and we make sure no one is left out," she said.
A clan is steeped in Scottish tradition.
Read MoreHis name was not Jacob, but he felt at home on a ladder.
A Jacob's Ladder can be found in several forms across the world. From a pedestrian staircase in Brisbane and a bridge in New Zealand to a scenic path in Scotland and a section of Route 20 in the US.
It is also the name of a 1990 horror film, a three-part pocketknife, and a spiritual song of African American slaves.
The origin of Jacob's Ladder comes from a passage in the King James Version of the Holy Bible from The Book of Genesis: Chapter 28 Verse 12 which states: "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it."
Read MoreShe craves the unpretentiousness of the people and the way they care for each other in good times and bad.
"There's a certain sense of humility. No one cares where you went to school, the car you drive, or how much you earn (probably because they already know...)," she said.
"Nevertheless, it really doesn't matter."
But even though the district remains her calling, Ms Joyce has her reasons to keep distant.
Read MoreMr Ariti is privileged - he can work from his new home. An executive and sought-after corporate emcee and raconteur, his golden tonsils and turn of phrase remain in high demand.
Nonetheless an enforced break with a less hectic lifestyle will "do him good".
Just 18-months ago they took the plunge and invested in the state's booming real estate market finding their diamond far away from the hustle and bustle of the "inner ring of suburbs and big city life".
Read MoreIda eventually realised that there was a limit to feelings of simplistic comfort, particularly as the body aged and joints become less forgiving. Ida's 20-year tour of duty on the naturally hardened floor of a tent was a significant achievement, but it couldn't last.
Read MoreWith thanks to Master 11 Photography - https://master11photography.blogspot.com/
Hugh Finlay* had always loved winter. But as he aged the love lessened. Aching joints and low light and a substantial disagreement with physical activity added to the strains of life.
Endless cups of tea, reverse-cycle air conditioners set to 21 degrees, and whisky, in that order, warmed the portion of his soul that lived on the surface.
In Hugh's mind there was no need for regular exercise.
Read MoreChief Justice Mason, an elderly gentleman who rarely speaks on the record, wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald about the events leading up to the November 1975 dismissal soon after I met him. In 2012 he stated:
"I played no part at all in the preparation of Sir John's statement of decision, nor was I asked to do so, though I prepared, at his request a draft letter terminating Mr Whitlam's commission [which Sir John did not adopt]."
We can catalogue photos and delete hard drives, but we can't rewrite history.
What we can do is acknowledge wrongdoings and learn from the past to ensure our future is fairer and more just.
We can also hold those responsible to account, try to forgive, and recognise that history is written by those "in the arena".
Read MoreMy earliest music memories are of mum singing a lullaby to soothe my fear of the dark and my father humming tunes from a life past.
Goodbye Dolly Gray, a song that Orange Order marching bands play when they parade in Northern Ireland on 12 July to signify the Battle of the Boyne (1690) where William III of Orange defeated his uncle and father-in-law King James II, is a tune that I remember from my childhood.
Read MoreAt our entrance trees have been planted covering Launceston's original mountain bike pump track. When I witnessed the new growth, my disappointment was all heart on sleeve. The Dolly Parton's America podcast overwhelming my ears was immediately paused but our West Highland Terrier was far more interested in chasing scent than stopping to feel sentimental.
Read MoreIt is important to reassure substitute teachers that you are not going to harm your children's life chances. This crisis is like nothing most of us have ever seen. It has interrupted every aspect of our being with many critically ill and thousands of people dying across the world. Therefore, simply spending time with your children, whenever you can, is non-negotiable.
Read MoreThe chairs were assembled long before the meeting was scheduled to begin. The Chairperson, the son of a dour no-nonsense Scotsman and a gentle English lady, sat waiting for other members to arrive. It was a Sunday in March and he felt unaccustomed being in a school setting even though he astutely guides the Scotch Oakburn College Board.
Read MoreThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a common theme in the way we go about our business - the inbuilt desire we all have for relationships with one another. BRIAN WIGHTMAN tells the stories of three Tasmanians adapting their styles.
Read MoreThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a common theme in the way we go about our business - the inbuilt desire we all have for relationships with one another. BRIAN WIGHTMAN tells the stories of three Tasmanians adapting their styles.
Read MoreThere's a basketball court at a typical Tasmanian primary school where children dream of making it big.
The court has a significant slope in a suburb where going fast downhill on a bike is set against the torment of inevitable hills on the way home.
Read MoreWandering through the Basin Café, I am trying to look relaxed, searching in vain for the event director of the 2018 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.
The café is far from unfamiliar, although dramatically renovated since the days we used to pause for a lemonade icy pole after a session of swimming and half-taped tennis ball cricket.
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