tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42552759418344230362024-02-20T19:10:14.663-08:00 DIFFERENT STROKESAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13043602175205401417noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4255275941834423036.post-14251458421887258122013-11-03T03:53:00.000-08:002013-11-08T19:19:37.216-08:00<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">"Living is the next
best thing to dying, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">should be</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Swimming is the
next best thing to flying, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">could be"</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<i> </i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">The Dead Salesmen</span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13043602175205401417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4255275941834423036.post-33100857116714078732013-11-02T03:56:00.000-07:002014-09-19T03:13:27.476-07:00KINGS BEACH OCEAN POOL, CALOUNDRA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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</style><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Who knows what
sets it off? There was a slight resentment that this years high-school student Nativity Play was
perfunctorily executed with the same script and cast as the year before. Lazy.
Although I noticed that Joseph had by now acquired a chin-full of fresh bum-fluff
and a couple of the Magi had put on weight so that their purple vests strained
around the armpits. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Following this the
priest gave the exact same sermon from last year too, and I imagined him with
a filing cabinet <span style="font-family: inherit;">of</span> manila folders for every day of the year and their corresponding Gospel. Standing
at the back of the hot crowded church I could’ve forgiven even this, except
a while earlier Mum had motioned for me to read the photocopied sheet we'd all
been handed upon entrance that I just accepted subconsciously as dry parish news, but now upon reading turned out to be in fact an anti-gay marriage petition. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Appalled and
unbelieving, I ripped it in half and put it in the box that came round for
collection and felt uncomfortable and wanted to just get out of there. On
Christmas Eve no less! We had gay friends in the congregation that night and I
wondered how they felt about the situation? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The heart quickens
as the bile rises and it was on one long intake of breath I felt the ghost of a
sharp pain and I knew I was getting sick again.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">At the window of the same unit-block my Grandparents
used to rent year after year, staring out at the same craggy sheet of rock
exposed by a low-tide ocean, I am miserable. I won't taking these dreadful
pills this time, even if I end up back in hospital. I’ll just take painkillers
and hope to ride it out. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Just as it was when visiting
with Nana and Papa all those years ago I choose to drag a mattress to the front
windows and sleep there with the ocean roaring me into deep repose: there is no
sleep that’s better!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most dawns I wake and
squint for a few seconds at the red glow fanning out along the line between
water and sky and fall easily back to sleep until later when the footsteps and the stuttering
of tea cups on the sink rouse me <span style="font-family: inherit;">properly</span>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">This morning
crowds of strolling vacationers are stopping just in front of our unit at a
point along the fence, gaping into the scrub that sweeps down the hill to the
water, shrieking and <span style="font-family: inherit;">pointing</span> with their digital cameras abeep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get dressed and walk over to solve the mystery: a massive python
coiled and sunbathing on a patch of flattened foliage where it must come
daily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A kid throws a loll<span style="font-family: inherit;">y</span> at it and
his Mum hauls him off by the arm. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Jane comes across
the road with a towel over her shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She and her husband Matt, <span style="font-family: inherit;">longtime</span> British friends of mine now living in
Australia, have spent Christmas with us the past four years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jane will swim at any opportunity, as if she
making up for the lost <span style="font-family: inherit;">years<span style="font-family: inherit;"> of</span></span> brisk UK temperatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s had her sights on the tidal pool at the
bottom of the hill since spotting it as we drove into town. I might as well follow her down
there. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The pool ha<span style="font-size: large;">s</span>
been
renovated from what I remembered. It </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">was </span></span>once a standard blue rectangle.
As kids we’d walked past many times but never went in<span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">W</span>hy would you
choose a creepy rust-stained hole like that when glorious people-filled Kings Beach
is but a few paces away? But now it<span style="font-family: inherit;">s been transformed to</span> some kind of tropical cocktail
bar, with palm trees<span style="font-size: large;">, sand and shade cloths<span style="font-size: large;">, <span style="font-family: inherit;">and shaped like a capital D</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">At a murky 20 meters
long I can barely manage six laps of erratic freestyle. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seven years at the mercy of this mysterious
illness has left my muscles wanting and my lungs compromised. Jane gracefully
breaststrokes back and forth, grinning at me panting for breath down the end,
clinging to the tiles. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other family
members arrive. Dad, having grown up on a farm and deprived of swimming
lessons, comes down with one of my t-shirts stretched over him and wades in
the shallow end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get out defeated
after eight laps <span style="font-size: large;">and</span> lie on a deck chair with a towel over my head. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I’m reading a
Phantom Comic on my floor bed and wonder how he an<span style="font-size: large;">d Diane manage th<span style="font-size: large;">eir<span style="font-size: large;"> long distance relationship without Skype, or a phone</span></span>; e</span>ven I miss her when I read a bunch of stories and there's no mention. The others have gone off for afternoon naps in the
rooms with the fans on. Jane comes out of the back bedroom and kicks me. “Come on Hanlon. Let’s go for a swim.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Today I manage
twelve laps, with slightly more composure and self-respect. The next day it’s
twenty. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">It seems that the
anti-gay marriage thing has gained traction in the Gympie press.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The comments page on the website is
overflowing and I read some of them out to the family. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">“It was a rotten
thing to do,” I say, “but at least it’s gotten people talking about the issue.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">“And in Gympie
too!” Matt said, “Who’d have thought? <span style="font-size: large;">You don't think <span style="font-size: large;">of it as</span></span> the cutting edge of left-wing debate.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Dad had talked to
his mate who’d been there with his gay son and partner, “He just ripped the
thing up and walked out.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">“Still, I don’t
think I could ever go to a mass if that priest is involved.”<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>(A few weeks later,
said priest would offer mass for my Nan’s funeral and I was furious. Especially
as he wanted to dictate how the service would run. “It’s not for him to say!” I
told my Mum, “I’m gonna go up to him and tell him I’ve got many gay friends!”<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>“Please not
today,” she<span style="font-family: inherit;"> ask</span>ed me.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">We close the
laptop and head down to the pool as a group. The snake has <span style="font-size: large;">gone to his secret afternoon<span style="font-size: large;"> haven but will return again with the mo<span style="font-size: large;">rni<span style="font-size: large;">ng sun. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">At the end of the week, swimming every day
and enduring the knife in my chest each night as I lie down, I wake to a peculiar thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time since I first felt it all
those years ago, the pain, without the pills, has started to go away.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJV3sd6ebgMlpN49GU1jJ_JFYSuNewm87KMnVoX3XDBkQ5enXVmFpevnfclck0evLtUOPBRPi3GwWjcoLvv6f94CWEfpWltP1Yk3ffud4CfMLgAf0BX_zgFu46NzoArZBNs9iI2lwyuyMZ/s1600/Caloundra+New+Pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJV3sd6ebgMlpN49GU1jJ_JFYSuNewm87KMnVoX3XDBkQ5enXVmFpevnfclck0evLtUOPBRPi3GwWjcoLvv6f94CWEfpWltP1Yk3ffud4CfMLgAf0BX_zgFu46NzoArZBNs9iI2lwyuyMZ/s320/Caloundra+New+Pool.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9yi8uYVGAr6hgunaYUxle9JD5iRI6DF9REQUSV03UEeWrmo2_m_qrJYp-230O1NDYAfPKTvTDvM9BPui7QJlVXyn4AONHdIX-N9jDGQPVIX5rIu2djp4OIL-VZgnDB0yYWpfofdhOO2r/s1600/Caloundra+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9yi8uYVGAr6hgunaYUxle9JD5iRI6DF9REQUSV03UEeWrmo2_m_qrJYp-230O1NDYAfPKTvTDvM9BPui7QJlVXyn4AONHdIX-N9jDGQPVIX5rIu2djp4OIL-VZgnDB0yYWpfofdhOO2r/s320/Caloundra+2.png" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Name: Kings Beach Ocean Pool, Caloundra (or Sir Francis Nicklin Memorial)
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></span><style>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Entry: Free</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Specs: 25mt, Salt Water <span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">History:<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">H</span>aving previously only<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> a crude rectangle <span style="font-size: x-small;">dynamited into the rocks, C<span style="font-size: x-small;">aloundra saw its first offic<span style="font-size: x-small;">ial pool open in 1977 a<span style="font-size: x-small;">fter<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">the<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>rigo<span style="font-size: x-small;">r<span style="font-size: x-small;">ous</span></span></span> campai<span style="font-size: x-small;">gning of a local <span style="font-size: x-small;">councilor</span> who suffered from <span style="font-size: x-small;">P</span>olio<span style="font-size: x-small;">, which he found swimming to ease. It was also though<span style="font-size: x-small;">t to be a place the Surf Life <span style="font-size: x-small;">Saving nippers could train. <span style="font-size: x-small;">Fall<span style="font-size: x-small;">e<span style="font-size: x-small;">n into d<span style="font-size: x-small;">isrepa<span style="font-size: x-small;">ir over the years<span style="font-size: x-small;"> the pool was given a 4 million dollar upgrade in 2000</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13043602175205401417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4255275941834423036.post-62453328375816998712013-05-31T23:27:00.002-07:002014-09-19T03:24:44.908-07:00FANNY DURACK, PETERSHAM<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Straight after
Christmas I linger in Sydney a while and set up temporary lodgings in Matt and
Jane’s spare room at their flat near the Stanmore Station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The closest pool is the Fanny Durack on the
edge of Petersham Park <span style="font-family: inherit;">-</span>The very oval where, at 18 years of age, Don Bradman struck 110 runs, </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">his first triple figure in an
official game<span style="font-family: inherit;">-</span></span></span> and the walk there becomes our afternoon suburban pilgrimage. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Along Trafalgar St
which parallels the snaking train tracks, up over the wooden bridge at
Petersham station and past the bowling club that somehow yearly survives the
creeping re-developmental fate of having brick flats plonked onto its green<span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Turn</span> right onto Station St where we pass an unusual tree I look at every time; a
smooth milky ghost gum whose branches have gracefully yielded to the dipping arc
of power lines in a perpendicular gesture of, “be my guest,” like they were
there first and have first dibs on the air-space. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A left and the atmosphere darkens slightly as
you turn into the park and<span style="font-family: inherit;"> paths lined with</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> Camphor Laurel trees <span style="font-family: inherit;">that </span>provide voluminous umbrage to <span style="font-family: inherit;">the picnicers</span>.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The flat-roofed
dark brown-bricked entrance, of the same architectural vision as the public
toilet block beside, is at odds with the turn of the century wooden bandstand across the way. Often,
whichever teenager is in charge of taking our money at the kiosk is off hosing
down something or other so I let myself through the turnstile and pay on the way
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">We pick out a patch of ground and mark it with our unfurled towels. <span style="font-family: inherit;">M</span>any mums of the Inner West favor
the soft lawns too, and the undercover child wading pool is sometimes fuller than the
main one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mural of a giant middle-aged
baby coveting a beach ball adorns the wall of the pump-shed with a reminder to
use sunscreen: Use 30+, Live 30+. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
message being if we protect ourselves from the sun we should hopefully live past age 30. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">My holiday in
Caloundra has set me on a path; a combination of swimming and painkillers has
got me through a bout of the mystery illness I’ve been plagued with for years.
My training starts here at the Fanny Durack and Jane is my unofficial
motivator. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">As our afternoons
pile up my strength and endurance grows. 20 laps, 25, 30. The main problem I’m
having now is keeping count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
boredom. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">At the awkward length
of 33 meters I find myself doing mental arithmetic up and down the lanes. 3
laps equals almost 100 meters, therefore 30 is close to a kilometer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually after about 3 laps my mind starts to
wander and it’s hard to control: 4, 5, 6, 7…<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">do</span> tomatoes count as part of my daily fruit or vegetable intake?</i>...7<span style="font-family: inherit;">...</span> <i>hang on, didn’t I do 7
already!<span style="font-family: inherit;">?</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I start making up
rhymes to help:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">One, One, I’ve
just begun</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Two, two, there’s
more to do</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Etc, until it gets
complicated</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Twenty one, twenty
one, this is not plenty fun</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">When that no
longer works I start a new game, <span style="font-family: inherit;">A</span>rtistic <span style="font-family: inherit;">W</span>orks <span style="font-family: inherit;">C</span>ontaining <span style="font-family: inherit;">N</span>umbers.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">One flew over the
cuckoo’s nest</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Two Mules for
sister Sara</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The three Amigos</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Four Weddings and
a Funeral</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Slaughterhouse- 5</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The Sixth Sense</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The Magnificent
Seven</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Dinner at 8</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Nine ½ Weeks</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Ten Canoes </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Oceans 11</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">and then it gets
hard…</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Oceans 12</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Oceans 13</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">and then it’s near
impossible…</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Jane and I get
competitive at our daily lap count. She moves through the water with a lot more ease than I do, and usually when she gets out she's ahead by about 6 laps. My power is determination; I lumber on.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">At night I can’t sleep for black line fever </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">and in the morning the sheets smell faintly of
chlorine</span></span>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">By the time the
summer temperatures are waning my mind has somehow melded with the lane lengths
and I’ve started to <i>feel</i> what number I’m on, even if my mind wanders off.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Specs: As of the time of writing the Fanny Durack is closed pending renovation, controversially being downgraded to a 25mt length. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">History<span style="font-size: x-small;">: the pool was on<span style="font-size: x-small;">e of <span style="font-size: x-small;">three 33mt</span> pools commissioned in th<span style="font-size: x-small;">e early 1960s in the Marr<span style="font-size: x-small;">i</span>kvill<span style="font-size: x-small;">e area after unresolved squabble<span style="font-size: x-small;">s as to where a sing<span style="font-size: x-small;">le 50<span style="font-size: x-small;">mt might <span style="font-size: x-small;">go, and opened as the Petersham Park Public Swimming Pool. It was re-named in 19<span style="font-size: x-small;">99 </span>after Fanny Durack<span style="font-size: x-small;">, <span style="font-size: x-small;">Austral<span style="font-size: x-small;">ian</span> swimming legend, </span></span>who lived her twilight years in nearby Douglas St. Durack overcame local puritanical <span style="font-size: x-small;">banning of women from compet<span style="font-size: x-small;">ing with men due to <span style="font-size: x-small;">immodesty, </span></span></span>to travel to the 1912 Stockholm Olympic<span style="font-size: x-small;">s <span style="font-size: x-small;">and win Gold</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>.<br />
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