When Parade sat down to read a book about seabirds with one of his nephews this week, he assumed it would all be fit for an eight-year-old’s consumption.

And the initial pages certainly were: there was lots of information about gannets and pelicans and albatross and how they fly, raise their young and feed.

And then Parade’s nephew turned a page and his eyes alighted on one word: booby.

In the context of this book, “booby” referred to the bird that feeds on fish at sea and lives on the coast or islands.

The context was of no interest to Parade’s nephew, however, who just saw a funny word and immediately descended into a giggling fit that threatened to leave him incapacitated. 

“Come on, keep reading,” Parade told him.

“I can’t,” he managed to squeeze out in between laughter, his sides shuddering and tears forming in his eyes.

Parade and his nephew did eventually manage to move on from that page – but only after the nephew’s older brother was invited to come over and behold the funny word as well.

The next time, Parade might have to flick through the entire book first to make sure there aren’t going to be any surprises.

Who would have thought a book about birds would be so difficult to navigate?

HOW nice was it to hear the rain coming down on Thursday night and Friday morning?

Parade knows it’s been a dry year, but he has a good feeling about this summer on the Central Tablelands.

Parade is boldly predicting a December, January and February of mild maximums and regular rain – based on no science or evidence, of course, but just a general hopeful feeling and an irrepressible sense of optimism. 

After the extended run of scorching (for around here, anyway) days Bathurst endured at the start of 2017, Parade reckons the city is due for a better summer this time around.

Now the weather gods have just got to play their   part.