This short story is based on true events. There's a 'little surprise' at the end...
open.substack.com/pub/mindflex...
#shortstory #autofiction #essay #writers #substack #story #goodreads #booksky

A little scene I painted to illustrate this month's essay. It's of a pod of Orcas that came in close to us while on a beach in the north of New Zealand.
Story here: www.mindflexing.com.au/p/orcas-in-t...
#whales #ocas #pod #newzealand #wildlife #nature #art #painting

Spring blooms move in procession through my yard. Today, it's the turn of the pink dogwood, cornus florida. Always one of my favourites.

#spring #flowers #inbloom #dogwood #gardening #inspiration

Thursday 23 Oct is AusArt Day, a new initiative by Creative Australia that encourages us to make tax-deductible donations to participating creative organisations, like @asauthors.bsky.social (ASA).
You can donate to ASA here:
www.asauthors.org.au/news/back-bo...
#ausartday #creativeaustralia

Hugely impressed with the new barista’s coffee art! If there’s one thing I suck at, it’s this. I specialise in big white blobs. Nice cup colour selection, too. Some of you might remember my post on how that can change the taste of your coffee… www.mindflexing.com.au/p/turns-out-...
#coffeeart

A major city is about to run out of water. An island has begun to depopulate. Are we living in the Anthropocene?
Read this month's thought expedition here: www.mindflexing.com.au/p/is-this-re...

#climatechange #watercrisis #anthropocene #environment #naturelovers #worldnews

Swung by one of my favourite lookouts, the Three Sisters in Katoomba. Wild fact: there were once seven rock formations that jutted out above the Jamison Valley, and the story of these Seven Sisters, part of an ancient songline, was linked to the Pleiades star cluster (AKA the Seven Sisters).

Anyone else get this feeling?
open.substack.com/pub/mindflex...
#essay #substack #time

Anyone swooped yet?

Full story here: www.mindflexing.com.au/p/love-and-s...

#magpies #australianbirds #magpiealert #writer #essay

It's wattle season and among the brilliant yellow is this rare red wattle that steals my heart each spring. Acacia leprosa (cinnamon wattle). It's the only known red wattle in the acacia family, propagated from a single specimen discovered in Victoria’s Black Range in 1995. And it smells divine.

Do you know that not all magpies in Australia are the same? Here's a little drawing of a black-backed magpie I did to illustrate this week's essay, in which I recount an old Bangarang story about how the magpies came to be different. www.mindflexing.com.au/p/love-and-s...
#art #drawing #shortstory

Here's a distraction to make your morning glorious; a short story about an exceptional tree. Enjoy! www.mindflexing.com.au/p/the-ghost-...

#shortstory #australiantrees #literature #goodreads

What interesting magpie behaviour have you witnessed?

Here's a little reflection on some of the things the magpies in my yard have been up to...
www.mindflexing.com.au/p/love-and-s...

#magpie #australia #podcast #essay

Out now, this fortnight’s thought expedition about some loved and loathed Australian birds, available as an essay or on the Mind Flexing Sound Bites podcast: www.mindflexing.com.au/p/love-and-s...

#magpies #australia #podcast #essay

I paint or draw a little illustration for each essay I write. It's a little creative ritual I began when I started writing Mind Flexing (no AI generated images here!). This one is from a story about how the colour of your coffee cup can change the taste of your coffee. #art #essay #writer #coffee

Woah! If fungi aren't already fascinating enough, I just read that there are teeny tiny ones (and other microbes) that live in clouds and influence the weather! This world never ceases to amaze me.
#clouds #weatherwisdom #sky #facts #fungi
Photo by Taylor Van Riper on Unsplash.

A little atmosphere for your Friday... www.mindflexing.com.au/p/when-cloud...
#clouds #writer #nature #naturewriting #phenomena

Me and Max Dupain.

Living regionally, I always make the most of a trip into town. It's always inspiring to drop into the Murray Art Museum Albury.

#artsky #art #australia #maxdupain #writer

Hello everyone! This is me... Alia. A writer and journalist from Australia dipping my toes into Bluesky. Keen to connect with other readers/writers/creatives in a similar time zone. Please show me around. Who should I be following? Perhaps you? Look forward to meeting you all 🙂
#writers #booksky