The television doesn’t work. I went to switch it on tonight and not a flicker or a lonesome LED, dead as a maggot. Which is an oxymoron of a phrase, as when anything is dead, the maggots certainly aren’t. however the television dead with no sign of maggots. Which has driven me to my computer, and having absorbed enough of a dose of dismal news, gives me leisure to compose a post. Not that I have a lot to report as I have been in hibernation due to persistent rain, mist, mud, leeches and sheets of drizzle driven by gale force winds. The sauna reconstruction is at a standstill though I did take advantage of 3 whole days without rain to get half a ton of materials down the precarious slippy track. Even the ducks have had enough and loiter in my patio area undercover in a semi-catatonic state.
I must say that my guests have been taking the dismal conditions with a cheerfulness that defies reality and an optimism that is a credit to the Aussie ‘can do’ spirit. I am reminded of a Giles cartoon that I grew up on that caricatured the grim British determination to have a good time.
Happy holidays by Giles
Just departed today is an extended family who have been coming for decades. They said they a great time and saw plenty of wildlife, which of course doesn’t have the option to go on strike. I think a large part of the ‘great time’ was the opportunity for 3 generations to get together without piling into one house and creating ‘hosts’ and ‘guests’. They could come to neutral territory and just muck in together. Muck the operative word.
Other recent guests have been forgiving for other reasons. Despite the atrocious weather for the last …… well … forever, guests have seen the golden bower bird in the last couple of days. I had a couple of wildlife enthusiasts from WA and they were thrilled to see platypus out the window and the tree roos, possums and for them the highlight was the golden bower bird. They forgive and forget the mud if they get to see the special creatures they certainly wont see elsewhere.
The few fleeting days when I managed to get some materials down to the sauna was due to a blast of cold air from Antarctica I think. On a day where the max temp was 12C, my grandson Henry, 5, gets all his gear off and goes round naked. I had resorted to long trousers while he resorted to just skin. I didn’t make a point of it as I was sure he would soon realise the error of his ways, but an hour later where he showed no signs of discomfort, I persuaded him to to put on a few clothes. Philip, 3, didn’t show as much resilience to the cold, but then he had fallen over in the creek and was drenched from head to toe. I tried to get him to walk up from Blackbean Cottage to my house as I was carrying piles of linen and bags of garbage, but he shuddered to a stop crying miserably and I dimly remembered similar incidents from my own childhood and abandoned my load in the paddock to whisk him to warmth, safety and dry clothes.
To say I was disappointed by the result of the federal election would be an understatement. I couldn’t believe that a coal brandishing reactionary twit could possibly be elected. I don’t think there has been a more idiotic result since the praetorian guard in Rome after several assassinations and much wine elected a horse as emperor. Actually, I think I’d rather have a horse. Winx for PM!! Yeah! At least Winx has a track record, so to speak. Now our esteemed premier in Queensland has seen the political writing on the wall and is grovelling at full speed to provide Adani with the permits it requires. We have to leave coal in the ground where it has been for the last 250 million years,isn’t doing and harm and isn’t going to poison the planet. Digging it up, setting fire to it and choking on the fumes isn’t a rational future policy. So now my federal representative is Bob Katter and has been since the dynasty was founded sometime around when the pyramids were built I think. So, what now? Nothing I think. It is the business of government to look into the future and make sure it doesn’t happen. Because they represent the interests of old money and old generations. The Morrison government didn’t even try to put up policies because they thought it could be a target and anyway a waste of time as they didn’t expect to get back in. Now haven’t a clue what to do.
I think I am like many old people who realise we have lived through a charmed period of peace and prosperity but now realise our profligate ways threaten the future of our children and grandchildren. The worst effects wont impact us as our use-by date is fast approaching, the calamitous results are yet to come. I am thinking of my grandkids and want to make some real changes to our economy of consumption and resource exploitation. Little adjustments wont be enough. More radical changes, even uncomfortable changes are required.
The grim British determination to have a good time. Well yes, wherever possible. But even where a “good” time was hard to find by way of respite from the daily grind, a “different” time was next best, and was a sub text in many a Giles cartoon. A spirit that perhaps buoys your own guests.
Hi Paul
still enjoy your blogs and have very happy memories of Possum Valley. We left Australia (Papillon Bed and Breakfast in Mossman) for Spain in 2016 to be with our daughters and grandchildren but think of FNQ a lot. Very best wishes to you