Mullumbimby Now and Then
Summer Holidays by Sarah Browne
The facts as I know them: Mt Chincogan from intersection of Main Arm Road, Mullumbimby, North Coast NSW. House on right belonged to Mick O’Sullivan. Date unknown.
The story I imagine: ‘Summer Holidays’
We were so glad that church was over for Sunday. It was such a hot sunny day and we were on holidays at Gran and Pop’s place. We’d just changed out of our starched Sunday dresses and into shorts, t-shirts and thongs and set out to walk into town to buy some ice cream and go to the bookstore. Kate said she needed a new book. The sun burnt my head and I had to squint with the glare. The country air smelled so clean and sweet and a breeze got up every now and then wafting farm smells; country smells of grass and manure. I was wishing I’d brought a hat. My feet were filthy and it felt like the heat from the bitumen was melting my thongs. Yesterday’s sunburn started to burn under the sharp stinging rays of the summer sun. A faint waft of smoke hit my nostrils and I feared a fire had started somewhere. Mullumbimby had been in drought for five years and the dry grass edged the road in clumps of crisp brown spindly sharp needles. I remember how our imaginations used to go crazy at night making up stories about who used to live on the ‘magic’ mountain.
By Sarah Browne
This Now and Then photo and story was created in an ABC Open NSW North Coast workshop (abc.net.au/open) in partnership with the Brunswick Valley Historical Society and the Northern Rivers Writers' Centre (NRWC). Courtesy of the NRWC workshop participants were guided through the writing task by author Alan Close who invited the group to imagine themselves into their Then photos. The result is this creative collection of Now and Then "the story as I imagine...."
Summer Holidays by Sarah Browne
The facts as I know them: Mt Chincogan from intersection of Main Arm Road, Mullumbimby, North Coast NSW. House on right belonged to Mick O’Sullivan. Date unknown.
The story I imagine: ‘Summer Holidays’
We were so glad that church was over for Sunday. It was such a hot sunny day and we were on holidays at Gran and Pop’s place. We’d just changed out of our starched Sunday dresses and into shorts, t-shirts and thongs and set out to walk into town to buy some ice cream and go to the bookstore. Kate said she needed a new book. The sun burnt my head and I had to squint with the glare. The country air smelled so clean and sweet and a breeze got up every now and then wafting farm smells; country smells of grass and manure. I was wishing I’d brought a hat. My feet were filthy and it felt like the heat from the bitumen was melting my thongs. Yesterday’s sunburn started to burn under the sharp stinging rays of the summer sun. A faint waft of smoke hit my nostrils and I feared a fire had started somewhere. Mullumbimby had been in drought for five years and the dry grass edged the road in clumps of crisp brown spindly sharp needles. I remember how our imaginations used to go crazy at night making up stories about who used to live on the ‘magic’ mountain.
By Sarah Browne
This Now and Then photo and story was created in an ABC Open NSW North Coast workshop (abc.net.au/open) in partnership with the Brunswick Valley Historical Society and the Northern Rivers Writers' Centre (NRWC). Courtesy of the NRWC workshop participants were guided through the writing task by author Alan Close who invited the group to imagine themselves into their Then photos. The result is this creative collection of Now and Then "the story as I imagine...."