Whibayaganba/ Nobby’s Headland

Lighthouse Arts Artist in Residency

Today I began a week long residency in various studios in the old Lighthouse keeper’s cottages at Whibayaganba/Nobby’s Headland, Newcastle. Weather will be a huge influencer on mood and creativity, as a few of us embark on furthering creative projects, thanks to the Lighthouse Arts residency programme through Hunter Writers Centre, the Port Authority of NSW@portauthoritynsw and the City of Newcastle @CityNewcastle.au.

May my creativity flow as I sit beside the harbour and may inspiration be constant, like the steady movement of the ship trade. Inspired by the bold and brave tugboats I will seek out the big concepts and bring them home to the page. A previous visit to the Lighthouse grounds some years ago found possibly a Sea Eagles nest, the Pingerung (Awabakal name for the white bellied sea eagle). The surprises and joys of our natural world around us, some are known many unknown to me, as I am not a natural in the water, I prefer the solid confirmation of land, but this week will present much in the oceanic world of Mother Nature.

My writing will be wild and varied, like the weather and marine life. I will be using the water as inspiration for at least one of the writing pieces I plan to develop. The sounds of the harbour, Nobby’s beach and the breakwater before us will be a great sensorial backdrop and bound to feature and assist with rhythm and dramatic moments in my writing.

My love of lighthouses, and all they represent as timeless icons of strength and endurance, resounding beauty and monuments of engineering precision and human endeavor in remote landscapes or heavily populated ports, mean it’s going to be a great week for me.

Nobbys Open Day Sally Egan

Nest at Lighthouse Sally Egan

Newcastle’s Tugboats on Open day Sally Egan

Scrap and Lilly

Moree’s heat and cricket staccato at night,began to crescendo in December in the 1990s. My work at the local high school was still thrumming to a steady beat. The sun beat down from early morning each day. I lingered at home, I was running late but I’d wandered out the back onto the concrete slab veranda.
The sight before me was unforgettable.
Our gentle German shepherd dog Lilly was walking extremely slowly across the back yard. She had an object in her mouth. Her pose mimicked that of a mother dog carrying her puppies. Only Lilly had never had puppies. It looked like she had a stick in her mouth or maybe something revolting. I called,
‘Lil what have you got?’
I couldn’t work out what it was. Carefully she padded the remaining few metres till she reached me. Lilly looked up at me, as if to say,
‘Look, look, I’ll show you what I found.’
She lowered her head and released it from her mouth onto the slab.
The tiny creature pushed onto its miniscule paws and stood.
I jumped.
The ‘It’ was a very black, wet, bedraggled kitten, as big as your average banana. Lil nuzzled it with her snout.
‘Lil! Where’d you find it?’
Our backyard had a high colour bond fence round all three sides. It was a small backyard. Tall eucalypt trees lined the fence. Apparently the kitten had slipped under the fence somewhere and Lil had found it? I patted Lil and picked up the kitten. Lilly watched closely. ‘It’ fitted snugly in the palm of my hand.
Excitedly I ran inside to call work. I didn’t think about how odd the call was going to sound to my executive teacher, nor did it occur to me that my boss might say too bad come in anyway. I was in the right here, right now moment.
‘I’m going to be late. Our dog has just walked across the backyard carrying a stray kitten. It’s about three weeks old.’
The executive teacher was compassionate and unflappable. We had worked together for some years by then.
‘Oh. Okay. Do I have to replace you on any classes? When will you be in?’
‘No thanks, I’ll just try to feed it and be in.’
I was able to feed the kitten mouthfuls of my Grandma’s egg flip recipe off a teaspoon. The kitten lapped up the warm milk and flavouring. I settled the kitten into a big box with clean rags. I congratulated Lilly. We named the kitten Scrap. We learnt about broken sleep quickly, as we were feeding him every couple of hours during the night.
His abrupt entry into our lives was unheralded but welcome. We adopted him. He wasn’t the last cat to make their way to us, thankfully I didn’t have to ring into work again on behalf of a kitten. We never learnt why they chose us. Only we did help each stray and they each became part of our family.

Cream is the New Black

cream is the new black & white