I can see the future

I’m sitting at the dinner table. It’s 2035. Maybe 2038. My baby girls are now teenagers.

They no longer think their Dad is the centre of their universe, but he’s still alright, I suppose. We’re playing with Noogle’s new TimeMapAR, projecting a map of the Hunter Valley on the table, and scrolling through time.

Miss 14 spots the distinctive open cut pits of Bulga Mine back in 2024. I spot the opportunity to regale them of stories of my proud years working on electrical safety and efficiency initiatives at some of those mines, which created wealth and prosperity for the whole valley, as well as the nation.

I spot the glazing over of my daughters’ eyes, and segue to another proud story, of how in 2026 the Hunter pulled together and capitalised on their strengths around that time, becoming a renewable energy powerhouse. That’s why we still get to live and work in the beautiful Hunter Valley, and that mine pit doesn’t look like that now, I say.

“Dad”, they interject, “did you really burn coal for electricity instead of getting it for free from the sun?”. “Yes darling” I say. “That sounds so old fashioned” she says.