On Saturday last I journeyed to Dee Why to visit my mum, who has been laid low with a nasty cough. She was well enough to walk the 300 metres or so to the promenade fronting Dee Why Beach, a strip which is now bursting with trendy brasseries and cafes. Across the road on the grassy reserve, people picnicked and strolled and played in the winter sunshine. The swell was large and grey and seemingly angry but surfers were chancing it and near the rock pools, tourists stood rather perilously close to the dashing sea-sprayed edges. It amazes me how often humans become complacent near cliff and sea edges, as if our general taming of the natural world were a fait accompli.

After lunch we repaired to the nearby Bacino Bar, a genuine Italian espresso hole in the wall establishment, which boasts excellent coffee and delightful petit fours. We have often ended up here for the aforementioned reasons but also because the feature wall is covered by a huge photograph of the Piazza San Marco in Venice, somewhere in the late fifties or early sixties. It is one of those shots that it is hard to take your eyes off, for even though it is likely a promotion for Fiat cars, the reactions of people, their poses and faces and momentary actions, is fascinating. At least, that is what mum and I thought, for no-one else seemed much bothered by it, their hands holding too much interest.

Later I found a copy of the photo, though I am none the wiser about the date it was taken. I reproduce it below, together with a shot of mum on a seat near the rock pools at the southern end.