Author Description

It was always my intent, on waking daily, an hour before dawn to re-member my connection to nature, community and ultimately myself. It had been a tumultuous year preceding my move from inner city Sydney, where I had comfortably spent the last 12 years, to the south coast of NSW where the ocean had been calling me more loudly in recent times. Having spent my formative years growing up in Cronulla, at a time when the sleepy beachside suburb still had unsealed roads and barefoot, sun bleached surfers made up the majority of the population, it was time to return 'home' to the ocean... COVID19 (C19) exploded into the world the same month I returned 'home'. From November 2019 onwards, having settled into my beachside enclave, the pandemic blazed through China, Italy, then across Europe and emerged in the US, while the first signs of infection reached Australian shores in early 2020. It speedily and unexpectedly transformed our social and professional worlds over the following months to both physically disconnect us from each other, while at the same time socially reconnecting our communities out of sheer necessity and for many, the fear of the unknown. New apps, social platforms and ingenious, if not hilarious ways of connecting with each other emerged, this included of course 'dressing-up-for-bin-night', craftazooms, cocktail and evening drinks shared in driveways and front porches, appropriately distanced of course, across the country. This time we have experienced together has in many cases connected communities that had not been connected before. From times of crisis innovation emerges - and there is no lack of innovation in how communities, households and individuals have connected with each other. In response to my own unexpected isolation, I began waking before first light and silently walked barefoot to the ocean to capture the dawn each day. This as I mentioned, was an attempt to re-member my connection to nature - the ocean and just as importantly became a way