September feels like a pause that sweats. School holidays shrink the town, the river pulls like a remedy, and nights smell of dust, gum leaves and popcorn from the drive-in. The month’s textures are heat, water, carpeted quiet, and small, exact mercies.
Where we are
River bend, Wagga. The Murrumbidgee runs slow under red gums. Kids avoid the busy bridge and take the side track to a shallow bend where the current holds rather than drags. Mud at the edge, reeds at the knees, dragonflies stitching the light.
Houses in spring.
Single-glazed windows sweat by noon. Ceiling fans turn lazily. Linen clings. A morning run peels off the cold, an afternoon swim peels off the heat.
Baylis Street.
Holidays thin the foot traffic. The bakery sells out early. The library becomes a second house: fans ticking, sunlight pooling, a back room that smells like paper and patience.
Drive-in, ute tray, speaker crackle.
A tartan blanket in the back, speakers that work if you wiggle the cord, chips that go cold too fast, and Bruce Lee holding the screen like certainty.
School and sport
PE culture. Bibs tossed from a wire basket, Ridge’s whistle cutting the air, laps as penance, touch footy that is not gentle.
Being chosen. Captains call names. Christian is picked because he fits the play, not as a dare. That one change re-tunes the whole lesson.
Running. Early starts, steady breath, feeling your body belong to you again.
Speech and register
Wag: skip school.
Ute: utility pickup used like a family room on wheels.
Servo: service station.
Bib: the coloured training vest for teams at PE.
You right?: Are you okay or do you need help.
Small Australian mercies
A teacher who enters your story without fuss. A librarian who keeps the back room free. A mate who waits at the gate. A mother who says go and means it. Warm toast, a clean towel, a drive after dark where no one asks the wrong question.
A mini glossary from the chapter
Drive-in: outdoor cinema watched from cars or the back of a ute.
Touch footy: non-tackle rugby league variant used in PE.
The Domain: central Sydney parklands that host rallies and festivals.
Pride Week: a week of visibility events and teach-ins in the cities.
Oval: the grass field for PE and lunch.
Then and now
Drive-ins have mostly faded, then reappeared as pop-ups, but the ritual is the same: dust, blankets, the shared hush when the screen glows. Pride marches moved from small flyers to city-wide parades. Library archives shift to digital, yet a folded page can still feel like a hand on your shoulder. The river keeps its temperature, the oval still bakes at the edges, and getting picked on purpose remains its own kind of rescue.
Questions welcome
If anything still felt unfamiliar, say where you stumbled in the comments, and I will expand this guide so the next reader can ride the current more easily.