May 28. Day 148. Marooned

Everywhere I went today there was a sea of maroon. It's a colour I have hated since the early years of primary school when it was the colour of a singularly unfashionable and uncomfortable school uniform. But for so many in Queensland today there was an obsessive need to wear the (ugly) state colour because of THAT football match. In schools, government offices, and supermarkets people were decked out showing their true colours. Even the bees at South Bank this morning were showing a preference for the blooms somewhere on the maroon end of the spectrum.
There are many who assume that I hate State of Origin, a misguided perception which almost certainly came from words from my own mouth. I think I misquoted myself. I don't hate State of Origin. That would require so much more energy and passion than I have for the subject. Frankly I just don't care. I was born in the Sunshine State and have never lived south of Coolangatta so I am a QUEENSLANDER through and through. It's a great state, a top state. Our footballers are, arguably, quite good too but my care factor about that is zero. I know I sound like I have a bee in my bonnet over this one. Perhaps I do but really when only two States on earth really see this game as the sport of choice and one happens to be better than the other right now it's hardly a matter of life and death. But Origin Indifference is not a popular sport at this time of year. In fact it's so lonely I might as well be on a desert island, marooned as it were.