Family Photos by Jo

Hi. OK, here are two different views of the same images.

Not bad, eh? OK, now use your mouse to see each photo in this mosaic in full. Pretty cool, isn't it?! Photos by Joanne Baxter. Happy, lazy holidays! WLC.

The Gladesville Bridge

For a few years now I've been working on a song. Not obsessing over it, just toying with it.

Every time I get to the top of the Gladesville Bridge (pictured), I feel compelled to capture the feeling somehow. As you reach the top of the bridge, headed east, towards the city, you see the most beautiful view. The water curls like ribbon away from you toward the city. You can see the magnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge. My dad is the one who told me that the Harbour Bridge is called the "Coathanger." Funny that it was an American who pointed out the nickname to me. I didn't really believe him. Had to look it up. He was right, of course.

Anyway, the feelings I get up there on the top are pretty deep. I feel pride and amazement for the beautiful city spread out in front of me. I feel lonely, because I'm usually alone in the car. I feel foreign because I always think of where I came from when I'm at the top. I feel lazy because I haven't written this damn song yet even though, I think about it every time I'm up there. I feel nervous, because I prefer to look at the view than the road. Sometimes I even slow down to make it last longer.

When I look at the view going westward, I have strong feelings, too. Different ones. You can see the Olympic Stadium, and that reminds me of 2000 when I left the comfort (did I really just say comfort about a job) of ICG and when Alan and I sold everything that plugged in to come here. I think of my convertible and how nice it would be to have it here on a sunny day. I also can usually see the Blue Mountains in the distance. They aren't mountains to me. But I think of my Rocky Mountains when I see the Blue Mountains in the distance. And those Rocky Mountains always make me smile. Sometimes they make me cry.

In 1990, Alan and I lived in Hunters Hill with Ben, Ange, Mick, and Pierre. One day, I decided to walk from Hunters Hill to the city. I don't think I made it; I recall getting to Balmain and then getting a bus back. But on that walk, I ventured to the top of the Gladesville Bridge. I took lots of pictures. They're printed and are probably in a drawer in this very room. I won't look now. But it sure would be nice to see the view and to share it with you.

In 2006, Alan and I ate fish and chips from George's (Ocean Foods) under the Gladesville Bridge on the Drummoyne side. I'd never been to the underside of it before. Alan told me that the concrete they used to make the bridge is constantly moistened; or maybe he said it has never set - I don't really remember the technical details, but it's a special construction method that they used and I'm sure he read about it in The Glebe - our local rag.

So you see, there's lots of emotion and lots of story and lots of personal context to work with and weave into this song. It is inevitable. It will happen. I just want it to capture as much emotion as I feel when I get to the top of the Gladesville Bridge.

It's a work in progress. Perhaps this blog helped. Hmmmm....