Since well before Easter we have been experiencing what we refer to here as an Indian Summer.
Like today the weather has been calm and very warm like a lovely Summers day. Some rain fell a few weeks back and it was much appreciated, however more rain is needed very soon. We need our April showers here.
Over Easter we went down the coast for a few days and of course passed a local reservoir. I have been past it many times and seen it at different levels. As was expected it was seriously low. The hills and pastures are quite brown and I have photos and will post them once I am set up for downloading photos. The loss of my old PC was devastating to say the least as now I will need to set everything up again and as for retrieving photos, well most are in the hard drive and may never surface again. My fingers are crossed though for a happy outcome one day.
I was fortunate to have some photos stored in yahoo photos and have made the photo of little ' Oui Oui ' the lizard from Coober Pedy as a feature theme. Such a little cutie he lived in the underground office at a back packers hostel and motel up there. He was found by a miner in a very grave condition and through the determination of the manager of the motel he was given a second lease on life. He is small for his age but a real little cutie as you can see.
It is very hard for many to understand a drought but even just the other week I was at a closing down plant nursery and I asked why the closure as these people have been in plant businesses for 30 odd years. Well said the owner, "this drought topped it for us." I thought he meant no water for watering the plants but that was not it entirely. You see we consumers don't buy those wonderful pots of coulour for our gardens when water is scarce and the nursery owners had acres of potted colour as they called it sitting there with no buyers.
You guessed it right if you thought they all end up in the scrap heap because they surely did. I am so sad to report his plea here. He had photos of these beautiful petunias and spring flowering annuals up on his wall for display and they were very glorious to see indeed. Now unfortunately they represent to him not hard work well done, but the failure of his family business.
I am sure this is only one example of how drought can lead to the down fall of many businesses and especially to do with farming and agricultural pursuits.
Ofcourse we in this land down below have known it all before and it has been documented very accurately by the Bush Poets as we call these story tellers from Australia.
I am including a poem. Read it aloud for the best result. More Bush Poetry Here.
Photo above of the Breakaways near Coober Pedy another luckily kept in my Yahoo album.
Enjoy! Milli.
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
In accents most forlorn,
Outside the church, ere Mass began,
One frosty Sunday morn.
The congregation stood about,
Coat-collars to the ears,
And talked of stock, and crops, and drought,
As it had done for years.
"It's lookin' crook," said Daniel Croke;
"Bedad, it's cruke, me lad,
For never since the banks went broke
Has seasons been so bad."
"It's dry, all right," said young O'Neil,
With which astute remark
He squatted down upon his heel
And chewed a piece of bark.
And so around the chorus ran
"It's keepin' dry, no doubt."
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out.
"The crops are done; ye'll have your work
To save one bag of grain;
From here way out to Back-o'-Bourke
They're singin' out for rain.
"They're singin' out for rain," he said,
"And all the tanks are dry."
The congregation scratched its head,
And gazed around the sky.
"There won't be grass, in any case,
Enough to feed an ass;
There's not a blade on Casey's place
As I came down to Mass."
"If rain don't come this month," said Dan,
And cleared his throat to speak--
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"If rain don't come this week."
A heavy silence seemed to steal
On all at this remark;
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed a piece of bark.
"We want a inch of rain, we do,"
O'Neil observed at last;
But Croke "maintained" we wanted two
To put the danger past.
"If we don't get three inches, man,
Or four to break this drought,
We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."
In God's good time down came the rain;
And all the afternoon
On iron roof and window-pane
It drummed a homely tune.
And through the night it pattered still,
And lightsome, gladsome elves
On dripping spout and window-sill
Kept talking to themselves.
It pelted, pelted all day long,
A-singing at its work,
Till every heart took up the song
Way out to Back-o'Bourke.
And every creek a banker ran,
And dams filled overtop;
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"If this rain doesn't stop."
And stop it did, in God's good time;
And spring came in to fold
A mantle o'er the hills sublime
Of green and pink and gold.
And days went by on dancing feet,
With harvest-hopes immense,
And laughing eyes beheld the wheat
Nid-nodding o'er the fence.
And, oh, the smiles on every face,
As happy lad and lass
Through grass knee-deep on Casey's place
Went riding down to Mass.
While round the church in clothes genteel
Discoursed the men of mark,
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed his piece of bark.
"There'll be bush-fires for sure, me man,
There will, without a doubt;
We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."
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