Spring is around the corner

Spring is around the corner

We are probably all feeling the fatigue from what seems a very long and very cold winter.

And while usually Melburnians don’t like to admit it actually gets cold here, this winter we’ve seen many don the winter jacket and scarf to escape the icy wind ripping up from the back of Flinders Street Station.

  • This is why we are all feeling relieved that spring is only just around the corner.  So, with probably the best “health and wellbeing” month of the year coming up, I thought I’d pen some ideas about how to make the most of this coming September:
  • Find a daffodil. If it belongs to you, then pick it and put it in a vase on your kitchen bench. If it doesn’t, smell it, admire it and see it as a symbol of the spring time to come.
  • Do something active the first time you make it home from work in the light. Go for a walk, get a jog in, or just water your plants in anticipation of all the spring growth to come.
  • Soak in the Vitamin D. When the sunshine finally peeks through (as it has thought about a couple of times this week) get your arms, head and neck exposed and soak it up for both the medicinal and emotional benefits.
  • When that sunshine first peeks through, open up all the windows and doors in your house. Even if just for 10 minutes, let the early spring breeze “blow the cobwebs away”.
  • Get to the country side to see the new blooms forming. Even if it’s just a quick train trip to Macedon, Woodend or Lilydale.
  • Make a trip to your local nursery and plant a new plant. Planting in September will give you instant gratification!
  • Spring clean your house and de-clutter your life by donating anything that hasn’t been used since last spring to charity.

So make the most of this glorious season. Stop cursing our city for being so bone-chillingly cold and start rejoicing in the beautiful contrast that Melbourne gives us when September begins to creep in. Go car free We would have to think back to interviewing our grandmothers (or even older!) to find out what life was like before cars came along. And with society now contemplating problems such as obesity and climate change, the world is rapidly (!) moving back to the Slow Way of Living. A timely event then that this September 22 sees the world-wide movement to be free of your car, if only for a day. The World Carfree Network encourage us to jump on board and return back to “normal” life by remembering that the existence of cars is really only a recent phenomenon. Take a moment to enjoy:

  • An enormously increased level of incidental exercise;
  • An increased sense of community where people gather within walking distance of their houses; and
  • A world without road rage!

So when you leave the car at home on September 22, think not only about what you’re contributing on that particular day, imagine how your life can change without using the car (or at least using it a little less!) See www.worldcarfree.net

Since Labor has been in power …

Since Labor has been in power …

March 20th, 2024 - Evan Mulholland
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