The Afterword

Category: Daily Prompt

  • Honouring The Land That Feeds Us

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    Peter
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    What are your feelings about eating meat? I’ve eaten meat all my life.Not because I made a decision about it —simply because it was there,on the plate, part of the rhythm of childhood. Food was uncomplicated then.It appeared. I ate it.No ethical considerations. No questions.Just the comfort of routine and a full stomach. At some…

  • Two Items, Two Stories

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    Peter
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    What are your two favourite things to wear? If you asked me for my two favourite things to wear, the answer doesn’t come from my current wardrobe. It comes instead from two garments that hold stories — one formal and academic, the other casual and sun-faded — each stitched with memory. 1. The Graduation Gown…

  • Independence as Headspace

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    Peter
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    What technology would you be better off without, why? When we talk about technology we could live without, many people think of screens or apps. But the technology I would be better off without is much more familiar. A car. I didn’t always think this way. Like most people, I inherited the assumption that a…

  • A Decision That Wasn’t Really a Decision

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    Peter
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    What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why? Hard decisions come in all shapes. Some are true crossroads. Others pull good commitments in opposite directions. And some don’t feel like decisions at all—they’re simply heavy because of love. Eight years ago we rehomed a border collie named Dakota. Gentle, chocolate tri-colour, quiet as…

  • A Light Australian Dessert

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    Peter
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    Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays? Christmas in Australia arrives in the middle of summer—long, hot days when the beaches are crowded, cicadas are loud, and markets overflow with seasonal fruit. While much of the world is roasting chestnuts, we’re trying not to roast ourselves. At times like this,…

  • A City That Never Sleeps

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    Peter
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    If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time? If none of us needed sleep, the whole world would tilt on its axis.Cities would become genuinely twenty-four-hour places—not because of the nightlife, but because people simply had more life to live. We’d grab a coffee at midnight without thinking twice.We’d…

  • Pet Peeves That Reveal What I Value

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    Peter
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    Name your top three pet peeves. I don’t get particularly irritated by these things, but I notice them—mainly because they hint at something larger. They remind us of how our shared life works, and how easily it frays when we forget that we live together, not alone. 1. Abandoned Shopping TrolleysI understand why people wheel…

  • Postcards to the People Shaping My Life

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    Peter
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    Who are your current most favourite people? Sometimes the people influencing you most aren’t the ones you see every day, but the ones whose words you carry quietly in your pocket. If I could send postcards to the thinkers and voices grounding me right now, they might look like this. Postcard to Kate Bowler Dear…

  • My Favourite Animals

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    Peter
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    What are your favourite animals? There are so many animals I love that it’s hard to know where to begin. But when I think about it, my favourites aren’t just species—they’re moments. Each animal carries a memory of a place, a glimpse of beauty. Dogs are the obvious starting point. They’re uncomplicated creatures—give them food,…

  • Beach or mountains?

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    Peter
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    Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why? On the surface, my answer should be simple. I’m Australian, and for over 30 years I’ve lived in beachside suburbs. The ocean has been the backdrop to my days—warm, lively, full of movement. There’s a sense of community at the beach that’s hard to replicate anywhere else.…

  • Three Dishes for Three Moods

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    Peter
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    What are your family’s top 3 favourite meals? 1. Garlic Sesame Crumbed Chicken with Mango SaladYou always know summer is on its way when the roadside stalls start shouting the news before anyone else can: “Mangoes.  $10 per tray”. In our family, that’s the signal. The starting gun. My wife will inevitably call out, “Mangoes…

  • If I Could Meet a Historical Figure

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    Peter
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    If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why? If I had the chance to meet a historical figure—even for only a couple of minutes—I would choose Henry Lawson. Not because he is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers, though he is. Not because his poetry captures the hard, unvarnished truth…

  • Do You Trust Your Instincts?

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    Peter
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    Do you trust your instincts? Yes, but I can’t fully explain how they work. I don’t always understand where they come from. But again and again, they show up—especially in the places where I seem to be wired to see clearly. When it comes to ideas or new ventures, something in me recognises them before…

  • A Soft Beginning

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    Peter
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    What’s your favourite month of the year? Why? November arrives in colour.Jacarandas burst into violet clouds, and lawns disappear beneath a soft, uneven carpet of purple. Every footstep becomes a whisper through petals. The air shifts too—not yet heavy with summer, but warm enough to loosen the shoulders, warm enough to invite the day in.…

  • My Favourite Place in Sydney

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    Peter
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    What is your favourite place to go in your city? When people ask about my favourite place in Sydney, it’s easy to list the obvious ones. The Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Botanical Garden—everything the postcards promise—are all within a short walk of each other. Add The Rocks, with its historic laneways…

  • You Matter

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    Peter
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    What’s the first impression you want to give people? I still remember the summer of the 2019 bushfires. The smoke had settled over Sydney like a heavy blanket, and news kept coming in about towns under threat. As I followed the fire maps each day, I found myself thinking about where our college students lived,…

  • Unsettled

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    Peter
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    What book are you reading right now? I’m reading Kate Grenville’s Unsettled: A Journey Through Time and Space at a moment when its questions feel especially close. It’s an honest, steady book — the kind that doesn’t offer comfort, but clarity. Grenville looks at the challenges of the present and then turns to the past…

  • A Sliding Doors Reflection

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    Peter
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    If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? To be honest, I’m happy where I am.Sydney has been home for most of my life—its light, its seasons, its familiar rhythms.But every now and then, the imagination wanders.I find myself thinking in parallel lines, picturing the other lives that might have unfolded…

  • Treasure on the Footpath

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    Peter
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    What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found (and kept)? We were walking to school one morning when my friend Robert and I spotted a single banknote sitting on the footpath. No one else was around. To two eight-year-olds, it looked like a fortune — about fifty dollars in today’s money. We hesitated. We could have…

  • Hydration

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    Peter
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    What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can? My wife calls me a camel. She’s right — I can go long stretches without drinking. There’s always something else to do first: an email to write, a meeting to get to, a thought to finish before it fades. She sometimes…