FRESH SIGNS OF MANGO MADNESS

Mango Madness  has  been  rediscovered  in  Darwin . The  mad  publication, the Northern Territory  News,  recently  ran  a report quoting a  Charles Darwin University  study  about  that  time of  the   year  when  people  go  bonkers   due  to the   sweaty   build   up  to  the  Wet.  The  paper    backed  it  up with an editorial headed  Going Troppo is  part of the  NT .  Many  full   moons  ago ,  this  writer  conducted  a  visiting  Canadian journalist  about Darwin  and , at his request,  took him  to meet a  psychiatrist   at   Darwin  Hospital to  discuss  Mango  Madness , about  which  he  had   heard .  The  journo  was  interested  in  the  subject because in his country   people  who   become  snowbound  for   months, unable to go outside ,   suffer  Cabin  Fever  and  do  really weird   things . 

 

The   psychiatrist  eagerly told the   reporter  that  once  conditions start  heating  up  in  Darwin  many  people   go  bananas  and the hospital  is  run  off its collective feet.   Right  now  there  are  evident   signs of  the  build up... ants our  coming out of my computer , a small  lizard  popped  up  in  a slipper  in  the  bathroom and  I  had  to  chase , catch  and   place it  outside .  Another   kind  of   lizard , bigger , has appeared on  the  back  verandah . The kitchen is  also being  overrun by ants .     And   last  night , doctor,   I  had a  dream  that  I  was  back  in  Sydney asking for information  about people ,  now almost certainly   dead ,  I  knew  in  the  newspaper  world  nearly  60 years ago.  A  woman I asked after, I was   informed,  was married , had  two children and  is  now a  magistrate  at  Katoomba , NSW???.     One  of   the  people  I  was   conversing  with   was   a  man   holding   printer’s  galley  proofs   who   said  he  could  get   them   stamped  by  a  lawyer ,  for   what  purpose  I  have  no  idea.

 

Then  a  possum danced  on the roof,  woke  me   up.  The  odd  dream  may have  been  caused  by   the  dainty   cheese  on   biscuits  I  made and   ate   with   a  visitor  who  had   worked   on  a  buffalo station   in  the  Top  End  and  is  now   living  way  up  Cape  York  Peninsula  in  splendid   isolation ,  away  from  the   increasingly  mad , mad  world .  During  our  wide ranging  talk,   mad  episodes like  the  Humpty  Doo  Pub   shooting  and  the   goings on  at  the  Daly  Waters  Pub surfaced.

 

 Composing this  post  was interrupted by the need  to  dong  a  possum  with  a  broom . Did not bark or make a noise like a feral cat  to scare the possum  as  the  neighbours are  already  looking   at me strangely. 

Almost forgot to mention that I think  there is a poltergeist loose  in the house as a   rare collectable, a clothes brush in the shape  of  a  celluloid   duck , fell from its perch next  to two Indonesian  carved   figures in  my  bedroom and in the process bowled over a pair of  carved Kiwis and smashed  a  mirror  .  Other things have  been  heard  go  thump  inside the house at night, frig magnets have tumbled  to the floor  .  May  have  to  change  medication.