A Silk Purse Out of a Sows Ear
October 3, 2011
A condensed amalgam of a number of conversations on Saturday afternoon…
“Let’s pitch here.”
“Ah, let’s not, if it rains we will get flooded out. Actually, when it rains…”
The Stark Reality
August 4, 2011
Twenty years ago this year we moved our family back to Queensland, this time just creeping over the border to Ipswich rather than living in the far north which was almost like moving to another country altogether. A highlight for me was to be working with the F-111 bomber aircraft at 6 SQN. But an even more enduring highlight over the last twenty years was the friendship offered to us by the Stark family. We arrived in a new parish on the Sunday morning having dusted off the kids from a few days in a motel and landed unannounced with Jocelyn. After the service a number of folk wheeled in on us and we were quickly invited to lunch by folk I had never met in my life. I recall being somewhat startled to be not only invited back to lunch with the Starks but to walk up the stairs to see Jocelyn with her head in Ken’s lap and her feet up on the couch. They were watching TV and looked like lifelong friends. Read more
Stay Insane – All of You
July 30, 2011
Sunday
How disappointing it is to be doing this final run home. We are all reflective about how we feel about that, resigned to the work and study that has to be done but still riding on the magic of the last week and the intimate camaraderie that we have enjoyed. The run was straightforward until we got to Bathurst at which point Rod decided a gluteus maximus cramp necessitated another walk around – and a ride on a small horse-like toy in a playground. The cramp must have been serious as the horse threw him. Read more
Penultimate Day
July 20, 2011
SaturdayOur departure day last year was marked by a lashing southerly wet wind blowing out of the Antarctic fridge, forcing us to huddle our farewells to Joy before hitting the road and sliding up the greasy track out of here. No such day to day. A gorgeous sunny, mild morning greets us. Rod has sorted most of the kitchen last evening so we have a head start this morning. Everyone is packed surprisingly quickly, Frank arrives when he said he would and we start rushing about to be finished by nine. The promise is a “shoot” if we are done by then. Read more
Flat Out Like a Lizard Drinking
July 17, 2011
Friday
The sun creeps up the wall through the pattern of the window frame shadow and I watch it for twenty minutes before getting up. Andrew has been awake the whole time but remained in his sleeping bag until my feet touched the floor at which point he launched into his new day. Last night the “idiot talk” went long into the early hours so there will be some slower starts this morning. Myself included actually.
Things That Go Bump in the Night
July 17, 2011
Thursday.
Damn. Thursday already. The place is slowly, oh so slowly stirring into life with the soft rumble of the kettle, the scratching whisk as Rod makes up the powdered milk for the day, the vacant slurp of cereal as the first half asleep (actually mostly asleep) crew ease down at the table and start to refuel and the stir of spoons in coffee cups. We have the most gorgeous winter morning. The sky is clear, there is no frost and no wind. Hard to believe it is winter actually. Last year we were treated to three or four degrees of frost each morning which then yielded to fine, clear days. This year the wind has been cutting us up. But this morning we are being thoroughly spoilt. A fine day means we will start with cactus killing. And its all the sweeter for starting with porridge drowned in cream and christened with brown sugar.
It’s Only the Depth that Varies
July 16, 2011
Wednesday
The grey cloud and still morning suggested rain but nothing of the sort. Instead the wind sprung up and whipped its cold arms around us from breakfast time on. Joy had rounded up a merino the night before and it was waiting for us after breakfast – a lesson in butchery which most were able to handle. It’s an instructional session that includes a revelation in anatomy that is far more enlightening than any text book. We poked around in the offal and opened things up and explained this and that much to the intrigue and horror of some. We cut it up more quickly than we should but it still cooked okay at the end of the day.
Jim’s Invitation
July 14, 2011
(A piece written earlier this year).
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had not written to Jim, that I could recall, for him to ever send me anything in return. More to the point he passed away in 1980 so I thought the spidery scrawl on the expensive, semi translucent wedding paper envelope was some sort of prank. I had gone to bed, not at my usual late hour but at a respectable time. As I drifted off I realized I had not collected the mail for the day so I swung myself out of bed and walked outside. It was the only piece of correspondence in the box.
Click here for the complete short story. Jim’s-Invitation.pdf
Farm Orientation
July 11, 2011
Sunday Morning
It’s dark and the sound of light snoring drifts through the old stone house. Every now and then a sleeping bag rustles as a body shifts. The rain has eased but the wind is up and the percussion on the tin roof continues. I guess its about 5 o’clock and get up and go for a walk. It’s a fresh breeze blowing out of the north east for which I am thankful – from the south and it would be a much cooler story. Rod has set up some LED lights in the outhouses so my visit there is less an adventure in the dark than some in the past.
On the Road Again
July 10, 2011
Saturday Evening
The thrumming flames wrest heat from damp wood and start to get serious about radiating. Bedding lies scattered around the floor in front of it, owners all in the kitchen area taking note of the brief on arrival which went something like “If Bruce is happy, you are all happy”. And the quickest way to ensure Bruce is happy is to pull your finger out, which in this case is best understood to be “don’t stand around watching us unpack”. So there is a happy chatter coming from the kitchen as food is sorted and placed in appropriate storage for the week. Rain has set in and tats away on the tin roof, rain which had made the inbound track slick and slightly interesting to slide around on as we came in from the highway. The kitchen has been sorted and everyone has drifted in and are standing around talking nonsense. The girls are all in pajamas already, much to the perplexed boys who probably wonder what PJs actually are.
