{"id":15055,"date":"2024-12-06T19:34:13","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T08:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/?p=15055"},"modified":"2024-12-06T19:38:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T08:38:20","slug":"the-jacaranda-bloom-bust-parallels-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/06\/the-jacaranda-bloom-bust-parallels-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jacaranda bloom-bust parallels life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mp_wrapper\">\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-excerpt\">\n    <p>Editor\u2019s note: If you would like to submit a letter for possible publication, please email it to editor@rationalist.com.au. See our\u00a0Publishing Guidelines.\nDear Editor,\nMy Dad is in the twilight of his life now. The once ramrod-tall school teacher is now the stooped and ailing 85-year-old biding his time to meet his beloved, my mother, who died ten years ago.\u00a0 At school, Dad was a no-nonsense disciplinarian. Naughtiness incited mild beltings for the boys. My misbehaving sisters were sternly reprimanded in deference to their girlhood gentleness.\u00a0\nThe harshness of life was not hidden from us. As we chose to look on, chooks designated for the dinner table had their necks swiftly and expertly sliced before our distressed eyes could blink to the act, with spurts of life blood drained to furnish blood pudding.\u00a0\nThe older girls were favoured for the family\u2019s first overseas adventures to a Thai beach resort. The spoilt brat boy in me whined for days, long after the shiny bird had whirred into a dot on the horizon. Dad made up for this searing omission by taking the boys in the magic bird past vast swathes of emerald-green equatorial forest of Borneo across the South China Sea towards bustling Singapore.\u00a0\nOn the plane, Dad had become the guiding \u2018North Star of Fairness\u2019 that restored the gleam in my dispossessed eyes. I was recently reminded of this by the bright meteor tail of the star that threatens to break off from his major heart valve. However, this star-streaking \u201cvegetation\u201d is...<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-message\">\n    <hr style=\"width: 100%;max-width: 1000px !important;height: 5px;border-width: 0;color: red;background-color: red\" \/>\n<div style=\"text-align: center\">\n<h3><em>You're part way through this article. Want to keep reading?<\/em><\/h3>\n<h4><em>Only members of the Rationalist Society of Australia can read our Premium articles.\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n<h3 style=\"height: 20px\"><span style=\"color: #c83200\"><em><a style=\"color: #c83200\" href=\"https:\/\/rationalist.com.au\/membership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Become a member today.<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><em>Already a member? Log in below.<\/em><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-login-form-wrap\">\n            \n<div class=\"mp_wrapper mp_login_form\">\n                  <!-- mp-login-form-start -->     <form name=\"mepr_loginform\" id=\"mepr_loginform\" class=\"mepr-form\" action=\"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/login\/\" method=\"post\">\n            <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_username\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n                              <label for=\"user_login\">Username<\/label>\n        <\/div>\n        <input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" value=\"\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_password\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n          <label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n          <div class=\"mp-hide-pw\">\n            <input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" value=\"\" \/>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"button mp-hide-pw hide-if-no-js\" data-toggle=\"0\" aria-label=\"Show password\">\n              <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-visibility\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n            <\/button>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n            <div>\n        <label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n      <div class=\"submit\">\n        <input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button-primary mepr-share-button \" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15055\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_process_login_form\" value=\"true\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_is_login_page\" value=\"false\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/form>\n    <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n    <div class=\"mepr-login-actions\">\n        <a\n          href=\"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/login\/?action=forgot_password\"\n          title=\"Click here to reset your password\"\n        >\n          Forgot Password        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n      \n    <!-- mp-login-form-end --> \n  <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor\u2019s note: If you would like to submit a letter for possible publication, please email it to editor@rationalist.com.au. 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