IT'S been a good few days for the city we call home.
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Our sporting appeal and our agricultural roots were on display simultaneously on the weekend as the NRL spotlight fell on Carrington Park and the Royal Bathurst Show made its return after a COVID-enforced absence in 2020.
The weather on Saturday - dry, sunny and with a top in the early 20s - was about as good as it gets in Bathurst in late autumn and the final scoreline in the Panthers and Sea-Eagles game, 28-16, was worthy of our one match of the year.
The biopic Rocketman, on free-to-air television on the weekend, would have brought back happy memories for some of the 20,000 people who packed into Carrington Park early last year to see one of the biggest names in music, Elton John, settle down at the piano for a night of his greatest hits.
And the news late last week that Bathurst's Evan Stroeve had been named the best bartender in Australia was another cause for pride for the city.
Evan has long since left Bathurst, but he hasn't forgotten his roots, saying his time pulling beers at the Bathurst RSL and Elephant and Castle had given him a good grounding.
Amid all this, the Bathurst Writers' and Readers' Festival was held over the weekend, Heritage Week is continuing and the first Festival of Bells, celebrating our unique War Memorial Carillon, will begin this Friday.
It's quite normal to nominate the various ways in which our city could be improved - a less challenging climate would be a start - and it's fashionable to don a cloak of cynicism when talking about any of our three layers of government.
But it's worth having a look at the bright side every now and then as well and cataloguing some of the ways in which we're lucky to live where we live.
The array of events and entertainment is one of those reasons to be cheerful - from big-time sport in our backyard to the acts that take to the stage at BMEC to the Bathurst Winter Festival.
The sense of community is another reason - on display most prominently with an enormous undertaking such as the Royal Bathurst Show.
We've got four distinct seasons, a good mix of city facilities and country friendliness and an economy that isn't reliant on one major sector.
In summary, we're doing all right. The last few days are a reminder of that.