Looping-the-loop around the Archibald Fountain

A friend queried an image I included in a post last week, wanting to know why the gent was facing AWAY from the cathedral rather than facing TOWARD it.

Here are the competing views. In the bird's-eye-view of the fountain, the first image in today's post was taken from the College Street steps of the cathedral. The photo of the gent last week was taken from the garden bench I have labelled 1. Today's view of the cathedral was taken from the garden bench I have labelled 2. The two smaller photos (taken from Sydney Tower in Sept 2013) will both enlarge and are labelled.

Sitting in blissful neutral

He was sitting in the warmth of the day, facing the Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park (North). The glorious sandstone of St Mary's Cathedral was at his back. There were dozens of folk milling, as is invariably the case with this walkway through the park.

Sydney from on high (1)

On the left, surrounded by red pebbles, Hyde Park Barracks, commissioned by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, 1818. Top centre: St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, foundation stone laid 1868. Middle centre: Archibald Fountain, erected 1932. In and around Hyde Park North, set aside for public recreation by Governor Macquarie in 1810. Taken from the observation level of Sydney Tower, Pitt Street, Sydney Australia.

34C, stifling humidity

Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park North

The Archibald Fountain completed in March 1932, was a gift to the people of Sydney by the founder and publisher of "The Bulletin", Jules Francois Archibald. It commemorates the friendship between Australia and France. The sculptor was Francois Sicard. When the wind picks up, nothing is unblessed.

Drawing a long bow

Brains work in mysterious ways, their insights to achieve.

Two images of water: one restrained, the other chaotic. In neither is the water acting freely, doing what it wants. Even when chaotic, the water pours out of the fountain and is buffeted by the wind. Water is inanimate, non-sentient. It follows rules and boundaries set up by mankind or by the landscape. It is not a free agent.

Now draw the bow with me: what if, instead of water, we are talking about raising children? Some children will thrive in the restrained environment, others in the chaotic. I have been reading about mind-sets: fixed, and growth. How do you encourage a child to continue, to persevere: do you tell them that they will achieve because they are smart; or, do you tell them they will achieve because they are working hard? All this is round pegs and square holes territory. And where does this fit with the various parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, indulgent, and negligent?

Maybe I should just go back to reading popular fiction.

Fulcrum

He balanced there with his coffee and his fag. Was he listening to Rachmaninov or Lady Gaga through his headphones? Frequently, he flicked his phone out of his pocket, his thumbs dancing over the keys, as he exhaled his noxious fumes into the crisp, moist Sunday morning air. No one paid him much heed, save I.

A soaring dark intensity

This chap, who sounded very Australian, put on a wonderful show at the Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park yesterday afternoon, as I wandered home after having lunch in the town with my son.

He fair drew a crowd with his showmanship and superb playing of pieces as diverse as The Eagles to Django Rhinehardt. Bravo!