Sweet Wayfaring

You know you are in the country when the post box is big and the front gate is discouragingly difficult to open ... locals visit through the driveway or back gate. The unusually grand design of this front gate belies the state of the house and yard. There is always at least one residence ruining a town's tidy image.

You know you are in the country when cement objects and garden gnomes decorate the lawn. Actually this is more particularly assocated with older people so not restricted to the country. However, country towns seem to have a disproportionate number of non-trendy older folk. Cement swans are actually surpassed by swans made out of old tyres but I didn't see one on this walk.

You know you are in the country when tyres feature in the garden and the chook shed (chicken coop) has been repurposed at least two or three times.

You know you are in a the country when the dunny is still in situ, even though it fell into disuse 30 or more years ago. Musing: Lyrics from the well known Australian country music song by Slim Newton ( listen ) "There was a redback on the toilet seat, When I was there last night. I didn't see him in the dark, But boy I felt his bite. I jumped up high into the air, And when I hit the ground. That crafty redback spider, Wasn't nowhere to be found."

You know you are in a country when there are hollyhocks in the garden. Yesterday's post made me think of the hallmarks of a country town. I thought it would be amusing to spend the next week recording some of them as discovered on a morning walk around Molong. Musing: From the lyrics of the folksong An English Country Garden "How many kinds of sweet flowers grow In an English country garden? We’ll tell you now of some that we know, Those we miss you’ll surely pardon. Daffodils, Heart’s Ease and Flox, Meadowsweet and Lady Smocks, Gentain, Lupine and tall Hollihocks. Roses, Foxgloves,Snowdrops, blue forget-me-nots, In an English country garden."

Today is Anzac day, the day we honour those who died fighting wars for our country. Monuments to the fallen are a centrepiece in nearly every country town. Erected after World War 1 these are especially poignant because of the the huge number of young men listed. The memorial in Cudal is unusual with it's plaque for the South African War as it is most often referred to as the Boer War and pre-dates World War 1 when the Anzac tradition emerged.

Like many inland towns the arrival of the railway spurred on the progress of Molong. The railway didn't arrive until 1886 but the decision made 1881 was sufficient to immediately boost its development. Today the track seems to be used for freight but not passengers and the old station houses the local library so the building is well maintained.