Blog No. 345 - The Night Watch – Part 2: Never Give UP - Saturday 6 December 2025

 The Night Watch – Part 2: Never Give UP

- 22 October 2025 - 

1980s

My wife continuously ran up debts,

Debts that always got so much harder to pay.

I was the Night Watch.

I had to find a solution.

My solution was startlingly simple.

I would finish the law degree I started in 1967.

I would become a lawyer.

I would get paid more money.

With more money in the pay packet,

I would easily be able to pay her debts.

I deluded myself.

Over time she would curtail her spending.

If she reigned in her spending,

While I earned ever greater wages,

I could fulfill my duty as Night Watch.

I would match her spending by increased income.

I would increase my income by getting a job that was currently out of my reach.

Although my public service career had reached its peak,

I was the Night Watch.

As Night Watch, I could do anything.

As Night Watch, I could solve the insoluble

Could still make the impossible marriage work.

I deluded myself.

I thought I had found a road out of the Shadows Lands.

I was wrong of course.

The Shadow Lands are perfect at deception.

I had yet to learn the only lesson ever taught by the Shadow Lands.

When you wander the Shadow Lands,

All roads only lead you deeper into the Shadows.

Because the Shadow Lands contain nothing but shadows.

I learned the truth about the Shadow Lands the hard way;

It was so brutal.

In 1983 I resumed studying law.

I achieved 2 Distinctions, 1 Credit and 1 Pass,

I did this while working full time.

The screaming from my wife steadily grew,

The screaming from my wife steadily grew in intensity.

She made her demands brutally clear.

She hated me;

She wanted me out of her life;

She wanted nothing to do with me.

****

Morgan Avenue Daw Park, as seen looking east from Winston Avenue.  On the morning before my daughter was born, my then wife insisted that I accompany her for a walk along Morgan Avenue.  As we slowly walked towards Winston Avenue, my wife repeatedly told me how much she detested and hated me.

****

For her, I had only one use.

I was a Money Machine.

If I was no more than a Money Machine,

Why was I still living in her home?

Why did I not leave her home?

I refused to depart.

I refused to walk out the door.

I was the Night Watch,

I could not leave.

Nothing but evil would result if I left.

I did even more magic in 1984.

I studied full time,

I worked several part time jobs.

I received an Honours Degree in Law.

I went alone to the graduation ceremony.

She refused to come.

****

University of Adelaide from above. To the left is the Elder Hall, and to the right is Bonython Hall. It is thought that the Bonython Hall was built purposely opposite Pulteny street in order to prevent any roads cutting across the University and splitting it in half. In addition to this, as the building was donated in 1933 by the Bonython Family, their conservative values led them to decide the hall would not be used for dancing, and so the floor was sloped rather than flat.  I worked full time in 1983 and I also did ¾ of a full time study load.  I did various part time jobs in 1984 while also doing 1 ½ times a full time study load.  I graduated with an Honours Degree in law at the end of 1984.

****

My daughter was born in July 1985.

She was conceived in love,

But she was born into a home filled with motherly hate.

****

Later in that July day – shortly after my wife had repeatedly told me how much she hated me - my daughter was born in Blackwood Community Hospital.  My wife knew how much I wanted to be present when our child was born.  She insisted that the staff tell me only after the birth had already happened.

Blackwood Hospital was then located in an old fashioned house which no longer exists.  This is Blackwood Hospital as of 28 November 2025

****

I continued my duty as Night Watch

I continued wandering the Shadow Lands.

Although I looked for light

I found only Darkness.

I was completely lost in the Shadow Lands.

Unless I could find a way out,

I would be lost forever in the Shadow Lands.