I've been pondering the "certainty myth" lately and one thing seems clear if you follow it closely enough - uncertainty.
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Evidence is everywhere.
One minute there's beer at Soccer World Cup stadiums, next thing the Qatari royal family bans beer.
It was only Budweiser, though, so maybe fans should rejoice.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino certainly seemed uncertain on the eve of kick-off - not sure if he was Qatari, African, gay and/or disabled, all at the same time.
Such non-binary talk can attract trouble in Doha.
Global uncertainty was the theme at the recent 'Nice to Xi You' diplomatic summits, with world leaders warned to take nothing for granted, except maybe a lairy shirt.
Catching a train during industrial disputes highlights the precariousness of, if not existence, then certainly getting somewhere on time.
Meanwhile, don't even think about Christmas without COVID disruptions or a BOM from above.
Uncertainty rules everything according to the certainty myth.
The NSW Department of Education seems to be adhering to that up in my home town in the Tweed Valley.
Plans are well advanced to close my old primary and high schools, as well as another local primary and high school in order to build one amalgamated Kindy to Year 12 mega school.
Talk about a Mount Warning for public education in regional NSW.
It certainly felt like a blow to the old childhood memories.
But progress tends to have that impact, because sometimes it's hard to make out the actual progress.
Indeed, change is not a four letter word, but reaction to it often is.
The initial announcement came some two ago from former deputy state premier John Barilaro with little fanfare and even less consultation. And why would he consult?
Closing four established schools with proud histories was never going to be popular, as Voldemort discovered at Hogwarts.
Now, as the dozers get ready to roll, the name Barilaro is even less popular than he who's name can't be mentioned.
Apparently the ageing facilities needed upkeep - they possibly needed it when I was at school - and the decision to detonate then amalgamate was considered, if not the most palatable, or logistically feasible, or educationally conducive, then probably the most economic.
That much might be certain, in the context of uncertainty.
"A flexible learning community on a shared education campus," is how the department is promoting the project.
A place where locals learn to not get too attached to the past while being flexible about sharing demountables into the future, might be another way of looking at it.
Einstein liked to say the measure of intelligence is the ability to change but I don't think he would have rolled that one out to alumni, past and present, at yesterday's final gathering in the quadrangle to farewell Murwillumbah High.
But for the final word on the certainty of uncertainty, there's always next state election.
A Labor government has vowed to reverse the decision if elected.
