From where I currently sit, I can see a sign that says, ‘Hinton 3 Km’. And it might sound strange dear reader, but for me, it’s the best feeling knowing I’m here, not far from Hinton, not far from home.
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And there have been days when I was 10,000 kilometres from here, when I was bright and happy on the other side of this wide world. But today, on a gentle Sunday, my bones and blood and brain can want no other place…
And I’ve sat on some corners and seats in my time, sat me in San Francisco and Spain, stopped and idled in Paris by the Seine, Sundayed in Rome and Bath and Sydney town too. And they were grand and worth all the cost to see, but I’m thinking that this corner in old Morpeth, feels just as good to me.
And there’s an earthy, easy, solid feeling that’s part of Morpeth. There’s sandstone and stories and people walking hand in hand. There’s things that are beautiful and nice that aren’t really trying to hard to be beautiful and nice - they just kinda are, and that’s right.
And you know it’s true by the way the April sun feels sweet on your back, or when you glimpse the quiet and shimmering river. You know you’re in a special place when you cross that magnificent white bridge, or when you step up the sandstone gutters - the way you feel something good when you see something like that.
And on this corner, on this street, in this tiny river-town, you know there’s magic happening. You can tell that the soil down there must be rich - the way there’s pumpkins and vines and hay and corn and slow farming and a good life with not a mine in sight - just the world at it’s best, and that’s right.
And out here you can buy such miracles from the back of a cart. And leave your money in the box and take a pumpkin or a grammar, take some carrots and corn - you’re alive and living properly. And the sign on the cart might say $2, $4, or $5, but you know it’s really priceless, since you’re standing right there on the most beautiful soil of the greatest country in all the world.
And in this street you can buy a beer and sit quiet and free on the verandah, you can buy a meal, a dress, a painting, or a broom from Mr John Wright - and the way he knows the river and sky.
And on a corner seat in Morpeth you might meet your old coach or your team-mate. Or you might remember your beautiful aunties and your mum, who all lived here long ago, beside the bridge, beside our river…
How on a Morpeth corner you can fly back through time, to 1940, and see them when they were young and free, growing like Morpeth corn in the sunshine.
You can come and have them all again, feel them in the sandstone, in the soft soil, in the pull of the river.
And the way Morpeth is a gem - and that’s right.
And so it goes. Goodnight.
