Had a great night out having dinner and dancing with buddies from Anglicare. There was a time when I would have been loath to step foot in Rooty Hill RSL, but time and people have changed me. Oh, its terribly crass in its Vegas of the West and huge-room -stuffed-with flatscreens-and-pokies way, but one can sense that there is a place, perhaps, to build community within. (Drawing a bow, aren't we? - ed.)

And the band, who had swallowed the reggae and seventies-standards-as-medley pill, a strong medicine I'm told, were good musicians. Every number was danceable.

It was a very hot day and when I got home around midnight, the house retained the air of its own midday baking. I opened my screenless windows and sat in darkness for the temperature to equalize. The streetlights were strangely out, so the blackness was palpable, though a rogue moon slipped behind rich balls of cloud.

Sleeping in such undiminished heat is more a chore than a joy, though I found my way through to dawn, and then a little beyond.