How time flies, my first blog post was 2017 and ideas for blogging still somersault around in my head. On this calm Sunday in May 2025 it is Mother’s Day in Australia.
I am a mother and thoughts of my own dear mother and that of my aunts and women I know flash through my mind. I recall their varied roles in my life, and women who shape the lives of others in millions of families and societies around the world. It is possible to write about the wealth, poverty, injustices and generally low standing of women in most countries including Australia, but what is their true status? What is their role in the history of the universe?
In my opinion, one of the most powerful roles for women, in the world as we know it, is the eternal internal creation. While not ignoring the biodiversity of Mother Nature, without human females, women who give birth, there would be no world. There would be no evolution, there would be nothing ahead. Of course men play a role but generally stand back when events are underway.
Perhaps this creates jealousy? Why bigoted, misogynistic, cruel, political, rule-making men of our current world order put women and mothers at risk by keeping them out of sight, in second place, give them menial tasks, overlook females for promotion, make derogatory comments, portray them on television, in movies and books as the trivial second character, the support, the one answering phones, at home doing the laundry, tidying up or cooking dinner. You can add more diverse roles to the list but usually not a complete reversal although caring sharing life partners do exist.
In 1971 a childless Germaine Greer is quoted as saying: “Bringing up children is not a real occupation, because children come up just the same, brought up or not.” A rather shallow look at the future, I think.
With or without conception, the women of Mother Earth are versatile people. Today there are strong female roles and powerful women in all walks of life who do rise above. When they do, it’s a novelty in the press, on social media, and invariably a TV chat show host asks “How do you cope with a family and work?” A man’s world not an equal world yet.
Today I shout out Thanks Mum, Happy Mothers Day because without mothers there would be no living breathing humans in the world today. Including you and me.
💓 Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025
NOTE: My opinion piece acknowledges birth mothers, first mothers, adoption, surrogacy, LGBTQIA, IVF, child reunification. Parenting is precious. 🌼
Planning an overseas holiday? This looks perfect for book lovers!
A yearly event: The Day of Books and Roses will be celebrated in Catalonia, Spain on Wednesday 23rd April 2025. This day is traditionally known as Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George’s Day) in Catalan. On this special day, love and literature are celebrated throughout Catalonia, and books and roses are exchanged. In Catalonia on 23rd April 2016 more than 1,580,000 copies of 45,267 book titles were sold, and a percentage of those were in the Catalan language.
Always learning: This is a part of the world I have never visited and I had no knowledge of this beautiful celebration. Catalan’s Sant Jordi Day really is commemorated with books, roses and love. Since 1997 the official slogan of the day has been ‘A rose for a love, and a book forever’. Perfect!
Love is in the air: The rest of the world awaits Valentine’s Day to celebrate love, Catalan’s most romantic day of the year is Sant Jordi, which also coincides with World Book Day on 23rd April. A day dedicated to ‘literature and love’, and of course books and roses are the main attraction.
‘Rose and Book’ Public Domain image by George Hodan
Tourism: Visitors and locals can stroll through stalls full of books and red roses. You can visit any Catalan city and soak up the festival’s atmosphere in and around the city’s central streets. Librarians take their books outside and set up stalls with the latest must-reads and some old classics. Flower vendors display thousands of red roses. Both make a brisk trade. Also, there are small tables of illustrators and authors selling and signing their books. I wonder if the patisseries (la pastelería) bake cakes and pastries shaped and decorated like books?
Culture: Although being part of Spain, Catalonia’s culture is quite different. They have their traditions (such as Sant Jordi Day) public holidays, and the language is Catalan. Sant Jordi is celebrated throughout Catalonia, so no doubt where you are, you’ll find a red rose and an excellent book. Some of the older buildings are decorated with red roses, the photos look amazing!
The legend of Sant Jordi: Catalans celebrate Sant Jordi’s Day to commemorate the death of Saint George in the year 303 AD. He became the symbol of Catalonia during the 19th century when the cultural and political movement known as the Renaissance reclaimed the signs of Catalan identity.
Modern-day Geography: Catalonia comprises most of the medieval and early modern Principality of Catalonia (with the remainder northern area now part of France’s Pyrénées-Orientales). It is bordered by France (Occitanie) and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, and the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south.
World Book Day: The book tradition on this day doesn’t come from Saint George himself. It comes from the International World Book Day which started in Spain in 1923. The date coincides with the death of two world-famous writers, Spanish Miguel de Cervantes and English William Shakespeare in 1616. In 1995, UNESCO declared 23rd of April as the UNESCO World Book & Copyright Day. In 2017, a group of Catalan publishers, booksellers, florists, and other professionals presented an application to UNESCO to have the ‘Day of Books and Roses’ recognized as Intangible Heritage. Extremely special things to celebrate!
The Bush Stone-curlew or Bush Thick-knee (Burhinus grallarius) is a large ground-dwelling bird with a life span of up to 20 years. The bush curlew is endemic to Australia and found in Brisbane, usually in parkland. The curlew will adopt a rigid posture when it becomes aware of an observer, as this one did, poised amongst the roses in New Farm Park.
Curlews are terrestrial predators adapted to stalking slowly at night. Their preferred habitat is open landscapes which give them good visibility at ground level where they search for invertebrates such as insects. The grey-brown coloration is distinguished by dark streaks, its eyes are large and legs are long. Both male and female care for two eggs laid on the bare ground, usually sited in a shaded position near a bush, stone wall or fallen branch.
Queensland Bush Stone-curlews are capable of flight but rely on the camouflage of their plumage to evade detection during the day. Domestic animals are their biggest threat. At night their call is an evocative and unforgettable sound, a sort of wailing cry which echoes across open ground.
Thoughts Become Words 