Down in the River to Pray
We’ve just returned from a short but very pleasant stay in Daylesford, Victoria.
Daylesford is currently being promoted heavily on television at the moment through a commercial which links images of young people having a very good time and a soundtrack of the song “Down in the river to pray” which was featured in the movie “Brother, Where Art Thou?”. It’s a beautiful song, but I have no idea how this religious lyric (inviting everyone to go down and pray in the river) relates to the luxurious and sybaritic lifestyle depicted in the visuals…
Despite this saturation advertising, we weren’t particularly influenced by it to chose Daylesford for a weekend away – it’s close to Woodend, and Castlemaine, where we’ve been many times, and it had been on our list to visit for some time.
Anyway, I took the above photograph while we were ambling around the lake in Daylesford, a comfortable 2 km walk. On the day we had arrived, it was raining heavily (much to be desired in our current drought conditions, but not so good for tourism), but on the next day it was absolutely perfect, not a cloud in the sky, and a mild temperature ideal for walking about.
That night after dinner, we went back down to the edge of the lake and stared up at the night sky. The spread of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds were very easy to see, and an absolute wealth of stars which are just lost to us in the city. It makes you yearn for the chance to escape the city and see such glory far more often.
