The Progress of Winter
Although it is worrisome that there is not very much rain, it's hard to feel gloomy when the sun is out and the afternoons are warm and the pelicans are sailing up and down the Parramatta river. Last year, walking through Centennial Park, I was surprised to see white swans in the ornamental ponds, as I had by then learned that black is the native colour of those birds here. We did see black swans in Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, or I did anyway, which was gratifying. Black or white, however, swans don't for me exhibit the same quality afloat as pelicans. Their pouched bills may make them figures for caricature, but as they proceed along, trolling for fishes (or eels, perhaps) to consume, they remind me of stately sailing vessels. Maybe it's Hans Christian Anderson's fault, but swans are more yachtish, the kind piloted by snobs too effete to hoist canvas themselves.