Anonymous Tradie May

HELLO dry season

Unfurling like a rolled up beach towel that was packed away for summer, the hibernating wet season bears stumble wearily out of their damp mould-speckled air-conditioned caves and into the Dry.

Rubbing the stormy rainclouds from their foggy eyes and staring blinkingly into the big blue canvas. Growling at that strange bright yellow ball in the sky that hasn’t been seen for months and scratching gruff furry heads in anticipation. The dragonflies buzz by their ears and nose and they swing and swat at them with clumsy paws. Wakey wakey, you Wet Season sleepy head, it’s all about to happen.

The sailing boats appear, moored on the harbour horizon, heralding the activity alarm for the season and filling us with the urge to get amongst it. Tents are pitched and aired. BBQS are scrubbed down and oiled up. Personal trainers hit the park with eager students flipping tractor tyres end over end, (I often wonder if it would just be easier to roll them?) and everything bursts into life. Darwin switches into high gear and the high life. The backpackers will hit the lawns at the Waterfront and the concerts will be smashing it out loud and live at every venue imaginable, while the kids run riot and the parents thank the lord they are finally out of the house.

We must prepare for the myriad of events that will flood our calendar so the outfits need to be dry-cleaned, purchased, booked in advance and matched to shoes and handbag. Speaking of handbags, I saw two female crocs walking toward each other along Cavenagh St yesterday, one had a handbag across the shoulder. As they passed, the one croc called out to the other, “Nice Handbag”. The accessorised croc says, “Thanks, it’s my ex-husband!”

After being shrouded in darkness in the cave, watching our 14” portable black and white TV with the incessant droning from the A/C in our ear since November, we are finally free to watch a movie the way it is supposed to be watched; Outdoors. Under the stars at Deckchair Cinema with a couple of hundred of our closest friends, favourite bevvy in hand. Something to do every day and every night, it’s a wonder any of us have time to work.

We slip and slide into swimming strides and the girls break out the bikinis. I have a friend who has a teenage daughter. Recently, when the daughter tried on her new tiny bikini and asked Mum what she thought? Mum replied, “If I’d worn something that small at your age, you’d be five years older!”
So don’t wait until you’re older to get outside. Do it now. Don your loudest fishing shirt. Fuel up the tinny, pull out the map and throw a dart at it. Get to the shows, the festivals, the expos, and the BBQs. With so much to do in Darwin there is a lot to pack in before we pack it all up again in during the Build-up.

– Anonymous Tradie