Ahoy - Mac's Web Log

I was wandering around the kitchen this morning, singing to myself, "Keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole."

Many years ago, as far back as 1960, Chadstone Shopping Centre was opened in that October. It was developed on extensive paddocks of the Convent of the Good Shepherd, that a few years earlier had cattle grazing upon it.

Chadstone became the first self contained regional shopping centre in Melbourne, and the largest in Australia.

Amongt its early tenants was the DOWNYFLAKE DONUT SHOP.

It had a shiny donut machine in the window, I would stand watching it, quite fascinated by the birth of raw donut rings, bobbing about in sizzling oil, watch them grow and grow, and then finish up like beached whales at the end of the cooking cycle.

Here they waited to be grabbed by tongs, dusted in a sugar/cinnamon mix, and then stuffed into a bag, one waited impatiently to grab your bag, seize a hot donut, and contentedly bite the very first chunk out of it.

Close to the machine I recall a mural of a Jester, and this message:

As you wander on through life, brother,
Whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the donut,
And not upon the hole.

For years and years, the Jester and his Philospher's Creed graced the walls of the Downyflake Donut Shop, then time overtook him and his message, and sadly they were gone.

By sheer chance, today's Australian Weekend Magazine ( Saturday the 27th. of September 2008 ) Phillip Adams chose the Philospher's Creed as the heading for his article.

It also happens to be Grand Final day, and the top Victorian Football League teams, Geelong and Hawthorn will battle it out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground ( that can hold a crowd of about 90,000 ) for the Premiership, starting at 2. 30 PM.

That Phillip Adams should pick today to use the donut quatrain's wise words was an absolsolute coincidence, they ring true today as the world wide credit crunch takes its toll across the financial world, and spreads its dreaded tentacles.