Ken Arnold of Leura can back up Rhoda Silber’s remark about the incongruous snow situation in Johannesburg (C8). “I can recall what was probably the same occurrence, around September 1981. A colleague in Johannesburg decided that, being the dry season, it was the ideal time renovate their roof. The day after removing the roof, it didn’t rain – it snowed.”

**Going by the experience of David Fletcher of Pymble, it had happened before: “My first sighting of snow was in Joburg in August 1962 as a 4-year-old. My first snowman didn’t last too long as the snow melted by lunchtime!” **

Paul Jameson of Suffolk Park writes: “My first sight of snow was when I was 8 (70 years ago) and living in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. That magnificent mountain always had its snow cap but unfortunately, it was not fashionable to climb it. I was back there last year and saw very little snow left, another effect of climate change. I’m now too old to climb Kilimanjaro.”

**“While staying in Dirranbandi, Queensland, we were approached with a question from other travellers from Brisbane about the ‘white stuff’ on the side of the road,” recalls Janice Creenaune of Austinmer. “‘Cotton’ we replied. They’d thought it might be snow but were in too big of a ‘rig’ to stop and investigate on the one-lane roads.” **

“Silent Movie (C8), Mel Brooks at his best (C8),” remarks Brett Jack of Bonnyrigg Heights. “An all-star movie with only one word of dialogue in the entire film - ‘Non!’, and that word uttered by none other than mime maestro Marcel Marceau. Brilliant!” Serge Nemaz of Illawong agrees and hopes Herman Beyersdorf forked out for the headphones: “Definitely worth the $2, I would think!”

On the census (C8) trail, Lindsay Somerville of Lindfield points out that Natasha Lee needn’t worry as all councils have details of pets, but has another issue: “Why do we have to wait 10 months for the results? In this age of computers that seems an extraordinarily long time.”

“Given the acronym often applied to President Trump I’m surprised I haven’t seen a headline of ′Türkiye TACO’, applied to his latest escapade,” says John Perry of Newtown. Maryan Heffernan of Mona Vale wonders “if they had to throw a Big Mac and fries into the food truck to get the orange man into it to change his flight plans.”

Column8@smh.com.au

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