Sea Lake circa 1946

So. Today. First day of 2021. Friday the first of January. At the fire at five, mum shows me this photo:

It’s tiny – 6 x 8 centimetres – and on the back dad has written:

And also, if you turn the photo around you can read the cast list, also written by dad, presumably at another time, certainly in another pen:

So here they are, these siblings and this one cousin, out in the dusty back yard of ‘Caleo’s Up-To-Date Cafe’ in Best Street Sea Lake in the Mallee circa 1946, not long before the big move to the big smoke, which occurs in 1947. Our dad, he’s circa 9 years old in this photo. Here he is:

What a lovely looking kid.

“You have a big life ahead of you, young man,” I say to him.

“You’re going to make a lot of people very happy.”