From the Principal
WINTER THOUGHTS
It is July and Melbourne’s winter is well and truly upon us. It means cold, frosty mornings, rainy, chilly days, walking to school amongst the gloom of a fog, long, dark nights, and freezing southerly winds whipping up into our faces.
People generally are either lovers of hot weather or their preference is for rugging up in winter. Schools have both summer and winter uniforms like we do, and coughs and colds often occur in winter unlike the sneezing and hay fever of December/January summertimes.
Well, it is winter so let us take a look at popular features of June, July and August in Melbourne. Firstly, it is in the clothing choices we must make. Clothing items that are traditional emerge for our wardrobes and we sort them out for the three cold months ahead. So, pull on the beanies (with or without pom poms), woollen or leather gloves depending on preference and bank balance, fluffy slippers for night and boots of varying length for day time wear, long coats might be your first choice whilst others prefer a shorter version reaching just above the knee.
Climatic conditions in winter are all about keeping warm and warding off chills and splutters and runny noses. Household heating is therefore a critical decision (often based on affordability, of course). It might be the air conditioner cranked up to 24 degrees, or a radiant heater, underfloor heating coils, a cosy log fire burning in the fireplace with chimney climbing up through the roof. Naturally, convenience and cost are major factors in choices made for keeping warm and maintaining a warm atmosphere throughout the night until morning.
Winter is woollen blankets and rugs; electric blankets and heavy eiderdowns; doonas and carpet on floors; and windows shut tight to keep out the winter winds.
Some people love winter because they like to cook winter treats for themselves and families. Rich stews and puddings are a delight, creamy porridge for breakfast, a hot bowl of minestrone soup for lunch, and a hearty meal of meat and vegetables at dinner time. Savour a mug of chocolate, steaming and luscious, brought to your armchair, a cup of tea or coffee on a wintry evening, a fresh batch of scones and sausage rolls from the oven, a favorite traditional meal enjoyed in other countries of the world, or scrumptious bits ‘n’ pieces straight off the stove.
Winter is football of all codes, Wimbledon tennis on Australian televisions, cold Saturday mornings at hockey and Little Aths, freezing while watching night football on the local oval, indoor swimming in heated pools, and winter horse racing on heavy tracks.
There are many other paragraphs I could write on such as gardens in winter, floods, illnesses, care of pets, animal hibernation, extra caution on the road, shiny galoshes, colorful umbrellas, raincoats and ear muffs.
BUT……….. Monicans must neither forget nor neglect the many thousands of people in our own cities who face dreadful winters without warmth from fires, clothes or food appropriate for the season. Charity agencies like Vinnie's, Red Shield, and many other local groups do a marvellous job. So too does the Food Bank and Church and community groups who provide sustenance from caravans and deliver food hampers and meals to homes of the needy.
We Monicans should realise that Governments must do more to reduce the suffering of people whose life circumstances are grim at winter. Imagine huddling under a bridge, down a city lane, on a park bench, on an open pavement, on the back seat of a car. Yet there are thousands who are sleeping there nightly in Victoria.
Support agencies, undertake charitable works if you are able, donate time and money, do the authentic Monican act of ‘reaching out and welcoming in’. Remember that Christ said that if you see the poor amidst the cold and suffering then you see Christ. Be practical and live our Kingdom Value of Compassion. That is our communal act of Faith.
Mr Brian Hanley OAM
Principal