So it’s 07:00 on a Thursday morning and sadly I am up and at work- have been for just under an hour.
The good thing is that it’s still really quiet so I can enjoy the quiet humming in the background of the air conditioning, with my podcast playing on my iPad and the gentle patter of the rain falling gentle, then harder before going back to gentle on the tram tracks out the front of the window.
It’s this early morning cadence that I can enjoy- for as much as I’m not a morning person, it is enjoyable to see the bustling metropolis (well normally bustling, COVID not withstanding!) come alive, with the beams of sunlight touching building by building before beaming down onto the footpaths and whatever greenery can be found.
Speaking of which, there isn’t too much of greenery in the Melbourne CBD really is there? I mean, sure there’s places such as Federation Square just down the road in one direction (well technically that should be Birrarung Marr!), and the attempt at greenery under the rail viaduct in the other, but as a whole our CBD is really a concrete monstrosity if you ask me. Compare that with one of my favourite places London- i mean while “the city” itself is only 2.9 square kilometres, if you expand that slightly to take in a slightly bigger area, you have the wonderful Hyde Park which is 142 hectares which is massive- I mean my friends awesome pupperina Bonnie would go absolutely bonkers exploring it (side note she’s not actually a puppy, but to me all doggos are puppers or pupperinas!)
But despite the lack of greenery, just expanding our search we also have the Alexandra Gardens, which while “only” 5.2 hectares, is nothing to be laughed at. I mean it’s soo beautiful and very conducive to engaging in outdoor activities- and don’t forget that just down the road are the botanical gardens.
It’s now 07:15 and the cit5y is slowly becoming more awake; there’s the usual early morning workers passing through now, along with the usual vegabonds that you see in in major city so you can tell Melbourne is becoming alive another day.
As it does, it’s worth thinking of how lucky I am to get to watch this; for while not a morning person there is something magical about watching a city awaken. I remember when I was in the UK and having to wake up about 05:00 to catch a a Tube from Paddington to King’s Cross before transferring onto a LNER service and the process is universal- the awakening from the slumber of a city is universal be it London or Melbourne- it’s magical and that’s why I enjoy these morning shifts- the morning cadence is something that we all can enjoy.