The March-April edition of The Southern Yarn is once again available for your enjoyment. 

To get you started, here is Charlie’s editorial:

A couple of bits came my way for this issue that triggered some nostalgia.

Regular Yarn readers will already know that I have a soft spot for Australian bird life, and I’ve been known to eagerly play a YouTube video of a kookaburra laughing or a lyrebird doing imitations for Canuck friends who had a more deprived upbringing. However, in addition to Vegemite, there are many other enjoyable reminders of “home”, such as hearing the ABC Radio News theme music – fair dinkum! Growing up in the ’50s the radio was it for news, entertainment and serials.

Along with many of the serials’ themes, that music was subliminally imbedded in our subconscious. One of those serials was “Dad and Dave” (based on Steele Rudd’s “On Our Selection”). So I immediately recognized it in a poem shared by (Canadian) friends Terry and Nancy titled “The Dunny” (p. 3). I suspect that its poet, David Gilchrist, must have been influenced by the Aussie original.

Thanks also to Judy for finding the background to the “Majestic Fanfare” (Oz News p. 4) and you can click on the link and hear it played by the WA Symphony Orchestra. And then there is also a little ‘Did you Know’ about the Violet Crumble Bar (p. 5).

On a less frivolous note, with ANZAC Day approaching, there’s a nod to some unusual heroes (p. 4).

Wild turkeys have been introduced downunder, but they are native to North America, and while the bird books show their range as not quite crossing the Canadian border, they have introduced themselves here and are often quite visible – Birds I view, p. 8.

23-Yarn_0304-MarApr As always, thank you to Jenny, Peter, Ken, Judy, and Brian for assistance with this newsletter.