the camaldulensis

I come from Melbourne ... my favourite city in Australia to live in as far as I know of.

the music is rife, the people laid back, the weather is ... well is isn't boring ......, and there are trams.

I love trams ... except when you're late for work or class or a date ...

I used to catch the tram to school from the stop outside the old Camberwell town hall. The clock is always wrong and the timetable is also always wrong. I used to be somewhat amused when the tram coincided with the right time according to the town hall clock. At the stop there was a huge ancient old tree. A gum tree with thick arms with a shower of leaves just waiting to fly off. It had obviously been there a century or two. I don't know about before white people came ... it seemed to be a bit far from any other friends ... but what do I know.

it had a little plaque on it with its common name and latin name.

River Red Gum
Eucalyptus Camaldulensis

waiting for trams can sometimes be an eternity, one sometimes holds up another ... and then another. When they arrive, they might as well be a train. The first two pass right by you with the driver focusing on the road ahead as if he may have to swerve out of the way of a wayward pedestrian, leaving the third tram to stop for you as you wave your arm pathetically from the side of the wet road.

Even when it was miserable weather I stared up at the giant old man looking over his plaque hammered into his shins by some miniscule council gardner.

eucalyptus camaldulensis ...

... I've never forgotten it