It was not only the right time of the year, but it was the right place to be. To Phil Danté’s delight, Halloween had taken off in Australia.
He’d been fascinated by the American holiday since childhood after seeing Meet Me in St. Louis.
Whenever Australia imitated something, it eventually became unique. Instead of North American autumnal colourful leaves in October, springtime jacarandas blossomed in purple and lavender. They were brilliantly set off by bright red Illawarra flame trees, pink trumpet trees, boronias, white crabapple blossoms and fragrant jasmine. Another Australian accessory were jack o’lanterns carved out of Queensland Blue pumpkins that fit in with the jacarandas, though traditional North American orange pumpkins also appeared.
H.E. Bates wrote in The Jacaranda Tree set in Burma that the British planted them wherever they went. There were several stories of how Kirribilli acquired so many jacarandas with some streets totally covered with them. One tale said they were brought by South African nuns who taught at Loreto Convent, the local version of St. Trinian’s up the street from his old flat. Fortunately, the Australian jacarandas didn’t have the pungent smell resembling cat urine Rhodesian jacarandas did.
The purple blossoms attracted tourist swarms from the Orient in a literal riot of colour. Many dressed in their most colourful clothing; several younger women posed in similar positions to 1940’s pin-ups for servicemen. Despite the traffic, some of them lay down in the McDougall Street to photograph the blossoms. The infuriated motorists couldn’t stay angry when they saw the tourists’ facial expressions resembling children on Christmas morning. A Japanese visitor said the colour of the jacarandas was unknown in the Land of the Rising Sun.
The Oriental invasion was no doubt payback for the Occidental invasion of Japan to see their cherry blossoms. Sydney’s Auburn Gardens had its own Cherry Blossom Festival at August’s end, bringing the races together in enjoyment. The Sub-Continental women in their colourful saris rivalled the Orientals in their furisodes and cheongsams, giving the blossoms and colourful rainbow lorikeets, rosellas and fairy wrens a run for their money.
Phil’s Italian South African wife Fran asked him where all the traditional Anglo-Celtic and Aboriginal Australians were. Phil replied that they were either playing or watching sport or chattering and getting intoxicated; or the latter three simultaneously.
Upon Phil’s return to Australia, he bought a house at his father’s advice with his wages from Project INFERNO. As he waited for the Immigration Department to approve the migration of Fran and her mother, he rented his house out and acquired a one-bedroom flat in Kirribilli.
Phil fell in love with the neighbourhood and its highly intelligent and often eccentric residents of professionals, public servants, executives, yachtsmen, retirees, transients and backpackers. It was a place where you heard music from people practicing their musical instruments rather than loud blaring radios.
He rode a ferry across the harbour every weekday morning to his suitable employment with the Commonwealth Public Service. Kirribilli also had the nearby Milson’s Point North Shore Railway station and a weekday bus service stopping outside his flat. He didn’t need a car.
His flat had a fine view of Neutral Bay named after the 'neutral' (non-British), vessels ordered to anchor there as a security precaution in 1792. Further up Neutral Bay were the upmarket Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, the downmarket Sydney Flying Squadron that he joined, though he hadn’t any interest in sailing, and HMAS Platypus, the Royal Australian Navy’s East Coast submarine base. He often viewed the subs sailing to sea over his breakfast and sometimes prior to leaving for his ferry he’s sight a broken-down sub being towed back; the submariners on deck trying to keep a straight face as they planned their weekend shore leave.
At the end of his Carabella Street were Admiralty and Kirribilli Houses, the homes of the Governor-General and Prime Minister respectively. Between those buildings and his flat was the supposedly secret headquarters of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation that was exactly like CONTROL’s spy school on Get Smart; the locals personally directed lost spooks to their Tippy-Top-Secret destination.
Though he was ecstatic when Fran and ‘Grandmama’ came to stay, he felt sad leaving Kirribilli. After they moved down to the South Coast, he visited from time to time with his family. As their daughter Mish was away in the RAAF, their poodles Franco and Ciccia joined them on his neighbourhood walk where he eagerly met his old neighbours.
‘Come up for a cuppa!’, Amanda shouted from her balcony.
She was on the top floor of Phil’s old building facing Carabella Street and its lingering jacarandas.
When Phil was on his own, his former neighbours chatted to him on the street or sitting on a bus stop bench. When he was with his wife and poodles, they were invited inside.
‘Now don’t forget to properly behave yourselves when we’re invited into someone’s home.’
Yeah, yeah, sure sure.
His former neighbour Amanda gave the poodles a love-up and the Dantés tea. Franco and Ciccia slept as the humans played catch-up, discussed the local news and admired Amanda’s paintings.
‘I see you’re still the artist.’
‘It won’t be too long until you see the greatest artwork in my flat.’
She refused to divulge her secret.
‘We rarely meet a modest artist, Amanda.’
‘I’ve a lot to be modest about, Phil.’
‘Don’t sell yourself short’, smiled Fran.
The room gradually filled with a lavender evening aura reflecting the blossoms.
An impressed Phil pronounced,
‘You’re the keeper of the purple twilight!’
FIN
Author Notes: I am the author of three Extra Dimensional/Ultraterrestial military science fiction novels MERCENARY EXOTIQUE, OPERATION CHUPACABRA and WORK IN OTHER WORLDS FROM YOUR OWN HOME! as well as two travel books THE MAN FROM WAUKEGAN and TWO AUSTRALIANS IN SCOTLAND (all from Lulu.com). I live happily ever after with my wonderful wife in paradise (coastal Kiama, NSW Australia).
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Australia • 68 years old