George Street was decked out with brightly colored banners and the sidewalks looked at though they had been spit shined. A flock of penguins waddled down Bathurst towards Hyde Park. (I saw them on the news later – turns out they are from Tennessee.) A crowd of students wearing painfully orange hats with matching backpacks clustered in front of St Patricks. An entourage marched up the street behind a large French flag. In front of Central Station, an assembly snuggled beneath blue fleece ponchos with matching binis, ‘Italia’ stitched across the back in bold white letters. The out of town visitors are easily identified by the bulky plastic ‘pilgrim passports’ dangling from their necks, but you can pick them out from their carefree beatific smiles. Not even the dark and threatening skies could dampen their spirits.
Just after lunch, a campus-wide e-mail informed us that the University had approved a last minute route change that would bring the Cross and Iron Walk processional right through the middle of the University, culminating just behind my building (thus cutting off my usual exit). I grabbed my camera and stepped out into a brilliantly warm and sunny afternoon. Evidently, someone had called in some favors in the weather department. A faint smell of frankincense wafted across the cricket ovals as fire alarms suspisciously erupted simultaneously from several buildings.
But there was not a pilgrim in sight. I did, however find a wretched little possum on the brink of death. How fortuitous that a pathologist from the school of veterinary medicine was passing by at just that moment. With a quick diagnosis of late stage something-or-other dermatitis, he grabbed the poor beast by the tail and whisked him away to be euthanized.
Returning home, the traffic on Parramatta Road was noticeably lighter than usual, and the buses were shockingly empty. I made it to Town Hall Station in record time. The platforms for the North Shore were nearly deserted. Evidently, a lot of people heeded the government warnings and decided to stay away from the city.
What am I doing here? Oh yeah – keeping an eye out for important graffiti messages:
Just after lunch, a campus-wide e-mail informed us that the University had approved a last minute route change that would bring the Cross and Iron Walk processional right through the middle of the University, culminating just behind my building (thus cutting off my usual exit). I grabbed my camera and stepped out into a brilliantly warm and sunny afternoon. Evidently, someone had called in some favors in the weather department. A faint smell of frankincense wafted across the cricket ovals as fire alarms suspisciously erupted simultaneously from several buildings.
But there was not a pilgrim in sight. I did, however find a wretched little possum on the brink of death. How fortuitous that a pathologist from the school of veterinary medicine was passing by at just that moment. With a quick diagnosis of late stage something-or-other dermatitis, he grabbed the poor beast by the tail and whisked him away to be euthanized.
Returning home, the traffic on Parramatta Road was noticeably lighter than usual, and the buses were shockingly empty. I made it to Town Hall Station in record time. The platforms for the North Shore were nearly deserted. Evidently, a lot of people heeded the government warnings and decided to stay away from the city.
What am I doing here? Oh yeah – keeping an eye out for important graffiti messages:
Me too.
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