We once read a memoir titled The Moon's A Balloon. And now, every time we see the moon, we think of a balloon. Then we think of Neil Armstrong.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Anyhow, if you want to float off in space and be light and airy like a balloon, you might want to try a full-moon meditation at Bar Beach.
The free event, which obviously happens once a month, will be held on Friday at 5.45pm.
"We're encouraging people to tune into the cyclic nature of themselves and, in doing so, reconnect with the nature around them," co-organiser Renee Wilkinson said.
"One of the easiest cycles to follow is the full moon because it is right up there in the sky. It is also a symbolic time of 'letting go'."
Renee used to attend full-moon experiences at Bondi beach.
"When I moved back to Newcastle in 2017, I started one up with four friends. We held a meditation every full moon."
The idea has taken off, with hundreds of people attending the last three events.
"We nearly take over the beach," she said.
Chasing Rainbows
Our colleague Jim tweeted this: "So I'm taking a photo of a rainbow and a gruff voice in a four-wheel drive says, 'Hey, come here'.
"I ignore him, but he yells again. I take off. He gets out, still yelling, and catches up to me. Eye to eye, he says 'Where'd you get that hat?'."
We can relate. Not to having a hat admirer, but to photographing a rainbow.
We came across a rainbow a fortnight or so ago at Umina Beach. It formed and disappeared before our eyes within the space of about 15 minutes. Hadn't seen that before.
Rainbows are quite a sight, which is probably why they're common in culture. We're thinking of Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz and that song by the Hawaiian Israel Kamakawiwoole. It's one of those heartbreakingly beautiful songs.
And how could we forget the Thomas Pynchon novel Gravity's Rainbow. It's about Hitler's V-2 rockets in World War II.
The rainbow in the title partly refers to the "rainbow-shaped" trajectory of the rockets as they hurtled through gravity.
And what about the Richard Dawkins book, Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder.
The poet Keats believed that Newton had destroyed the poetry of the rainbow by reducing it to the science of prismatic colours.
Dawkins disagreed. Science, he reckons, should be the inspiration for great poetry.
"The feeling of awed wonder that science can give us is one of the highest experiences of which the human psyche is capable," he wrote.
Double Demerit Points
The world's not all rainbows and unicorns.
Just ask those who get fined this Easter for using a mobile phone while driving.
They'll be losing 10 demerit points and copping a $337 fine. Ouch.
