Summer’s lazy days usher in a welcome breather

Boxing Day customarily marks the effective commencement of the languid Australian summer holiday period, though many people, of course, must work to keep us safe or to provide essential services. Australian families normally wake later on this day after sleeping off the effects of Christmas celebrations with loved ones. They look forward with relish to summer. The gentle cicada hum of Test cricket on the radio, or television, with the sound of ocean waves in the background. All are emblematic of the way many of us love to relax at this time of year. Many use the lunch break in the cricket to grab a cold beer and flip over to another channel to watch the big cruising yachts carve their majestic passage out of Sydney Heads before turning sharply south to race to Hobart. That iconic event has been cancelled this year, as borders around the nation slammed shut to those living in NSW. Like the Melbourne Cup, the Sydney-Hobart yacht race is a reference point for the whole country, even those with no interest in ocean racing. That starting gun echoes around the country to tell us it is time to relax and indulge ourselves.

The Boxing Day Test match, likewise, has assumed a significance beyond Melbourne and beyond cricket fans. It is a national ritual that reminds us of the joys of our Australian summer. Longer twilights. Beautiful beaches. Sunsets over red earth in the outback. This is time for gathering with those who mean most to us and enjoying some respite from the demands of work or study, although this year is markedly different.

Last Boxing Day, the nation was grappling with multiple large bushfires. Acrid smoke hung ominously in the air. Who would have dared predict that, as we mark another Boxing Day, our nation would still be in the grip of anxiety, rather than relaxation? For far too many, traditional gatherings and escapes to the beach or the bush have been cancelled. Others are suffering an acute sense of isolation as the spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic lurks in the background and in our minds.

Pundits have grappled with interpreting these strange times. They are not unprecedented. Nor should this become the “new normal”. And describing this year as “like no other” is absurd. No two years are identical. History does not repeat itself but we ignore its lessons at our peril.

Human beings need social connection. Whether we possess religious faith or not, we crave rituals and transcendental experiences. These have been denied to us this year. Near-empty football grounds and churches remind us of the voids this virus has created. Yet we must trust that the ingenuity and resilience of Australians will guide us through this challenge, just as our forebears endured the Spanish flu outbreak, the Great Depression and two global wars last century. Despite the disruption, we remain a very lucky country.

In this season of giving and good cheer, there are many silver linings to the ominous clouds. Our health professionals have performed with courage and calm dedication. Our political and legal systems have held. While there have been bitter exchanges in the sewer of social media, our civil society has remained robust, decent and generous. For every keyboard warrior, a brave nurse or firefighter has risked their own safety for all of us. And, despite restrictions, many have been able to gather with small groups of loved ones and friends. Those who are so fortunate, would do well to be vigilant about the wellbeing of neighbours who may be alone. That is the Australian way.

And, of course, despite many restrictions, the cricket gets under way at the MCG on Saturday. That represents an Australian triumph before the coin is even tossed. Cancellation of both the yacht race and the cricket would have deflated the spirits of millions of us. The Test will inject a welcome dose of normality into living rooms. As Catherine McGregor wrote on the first morning of the series, the rivalry between Australia and India honours our history and provides an indicator to our future well beyond sport. While barracking for our blokes, we hope the visitors can force the rest of the series down to the wire.

So, while we are all disoriented by the erosion of landmark rituals, the cricket and tennis will entertain us, providing the distinctive background sounds of the Australian summer. We have lost much since those terrible bushfires. But we have gained some things as well. Not least an appreciation that there are gifts that do not come in shiny wrapping paper. They have no price tag. They are intangible. Friendships. Family. And the joy of summer in a very lucky country.