I took a photo of a fabulous white magnolia petals so extended, so righteous And a great yellow jug of lily offering its nectar unconditionally. I walked by tremulous honeysuckle such shy profusion - those tiny eyelashes agape. And that flock of tiny birds who dart in arrow's head until formation flips and disappears in … Continue reading It Takes Nerve…
Recently, my parents acquired a book put together by their community about the fires and then the floods which swept through the area last summer. People contributed photos and stories of their experiences. The book shows humans doing their best in a world turned totally crazy. On their faces are fear, sadness, determination, and hope. … Continue reading An Instant Library
Fandango’s Flashback Friday (only I’m late because we were away for the weekend) suggests posting a blog from this date on a previous year. I don’t have Friday’s exact date but this is only one day out. I hope you enjoy…
I
hate this wind and the brown sky and the pluming brown dust and the
brown, brown oval… except where the sprinkler has leaked and there
is a patch of rich green – a puddle reflecting what used to be.
The
scraping leaves exfoliate my heart like an acid. On days like to
today (today, when it was supposed to rain) I find it so hard to
believe that everything will be okay.
As
I walked this morning, a few spats of rain found their way to the
ground, like salt on a meal. When I got home I looked at the radar.
Down south, there is rain. So that is something.
Yesterday
at the fruit shop, the cashier lady, just returned from 6 weeks “at
home” in Bhutan commented that “compared to home, Australia is a
desert”. She landed, on Friday, in Sydney, thinking it an overcast
day, expecting…
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What is this "human spirit" this mysterious, awesome thing? It's basically an iron stake to which the injured cling. We're proud of our "resilience" (our giant brains love words) but frankly our self obsession is verging on absurd. Our spirit is definitely human: that's obvious to me but the spirit part is not unique! It's … Continue reading Spirit
He says: "We need to be honest with the Australian people about the costs of committing to net zero carbon by 2050." The vapour rises from his words, the steaming stink of them. Even honesty has two sides. Just one little "not" and the statement is even more relevant: "We need to be honest with … Continue reading Full Steam A… Which Way?
In one of the summer holidays when I was at University, my aunt and uncle got me a job at a peach orchard not far from their home and said I could stay with them. I started off down in the orchard - those long surprisingly dark aisles of burgeoning foliage. I always found them … Continue reading #FOWC Hail
This was my first ever blog post. I read it again today and thought it was worth reviving.
It’s
a spectacular Friday in early autumn. The leaves haven’t started
changing yet but the weather has softened after a very tough summer.
With
my parents and their dog, I wander through the walking streets, past
the shut merry-go-round and the funny metal sheep statues that buck
and run in Garema Place. We can hear the sound of the crowd ahead of
us. Somebody is tapping a microphone and making testing noises.
I expect to feel pretty at home here. My husband and I have been “doing things” about climate change for a long time. We have 7.5kw of solar panels shared the between the roofs of our house and garage. Our house is well insulated, north-facing and pretty small (by Australian standards) for a family of four. We have one fully electric car and one plug in hybrid electric. We like that a visit to a petrol station means…
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I cannot forget your steely-white glare; the too-hot press of you against my skin. My body contracted until cracks appeared. Plants wilted, waterholes sucked in and my body fissured abandoned to exuberant wind and the angry roar of carbon-crazed dragons. The smoke rolled over us all like hell's too-slow envoy. Before it, a syndicate of … Continue reading Australia’s Summer
Have you heard of Lawrence Lessig? He's articulate and brainy. He embraces big ideas in tiny shells like pistachios and his audiences clap and cheer. Have you heard of Greta Thunberg? She's small and shy-looking but with anger like a burning stick and surprisingly fearless. Her audiences are often in trouble. Have you heard of … Continue reading Comparing Steps
mixed feelings. i get them a lot. like headaches or an itchy ear. mixed feelings are a cloud and i know that cloud is a popular word these days, especially in IT, but I don't like it. cloud is a weather word. it's two shades of a rain drop. it's grey in there. for example, … Continue reading Two Shades of a Raindrop
