Bill Day

When we lived in Perth 40 years ago, Bill Day was our next-door neighbour. He was retired, and probably a bit younger than I am now. I thought of him as an elderly man! He was fit and active, and spent a lot of time maintaining an area of bushland nearby. We helped with occasional weeding.

Bill died 30 years ago, and the bushland now has formal 'reserve' status. With an active Friends support group. It's nice to see Bill's name commemorated in the naming of this walking path through the reserve.

Sadly, a bushfire burned through the reserve last summer. The extra shows a kangaroo paw that has survived, its flower contrasting with a burned gum tree behind. 

Also sadly, Bill's and our houses have not withstood the march of 'progress'. Both were comfortable and aesthetically-pleasing 1930s bungalows ('Neddy' houses in the local vernacular, after the name of the suburb, Nedlands). Both have been demolished and replaced by architecturally undistinguished structures, possibly modelled on grey cardboard boxes.

RIP Bill.