kite flying in the land of rats for breakfast

The thick bread slice I’d left on the bench was gone. I’d been away five minutes, maybe. Through the dawn dark outside the raw, soaring, male voice called men to prayer. But the floor, the benchtops, the table were still.  Empty. Suddenly the darkness embracing me a moment ago outside the wall-less, door-less, window-less roofed kitchen pavilion asked me in distinctly Western terms, “How now brown cow?” I had quick company, and the morning was getting busy already. Where... Read More

Headlights in the dark: “Why I write’ by George Orwell

Words matter.  They can have work to do, or not.   But why write?  What, exactly – if exactness may be found here, is going on when we write?   In his essay, “Why I write”, George Orwell gave four reasons why he writes, and I’ve extracted them below.  I agree with him, particularly his comments afterwards about how they may vary over time, including this one: “Looking back through the last page or two, I see that I have made it appear... Read More

What would the boy say?

The boy, maybe 6, pushed the bike up the steep steps towards where I stood on the road. The girl was next, about 4. But it’s hard to know the age of the poor, they age differently. A heavy bag drooped with weight either side of the bike’s middle bar. Their haul. Maybe sand from the creek running into the beach just a hundred meters off, or mud, or rubbish. Their faces became complete smiles in return for mine. “Salamat sori”, I said. Two soft ‘Sori’s’ came back. With... Read More

Beautiful 3 minute vid of our country’s little creatures

The wonderful eye of photographer Emma Carol and her colleague, Ruth Hessey, is combined with a soundtrack by Steve Kilbey on this 3 minute vid. Enjoy: www.youtube.com…   Thanks, Emma and Ruth – and the Total Environment Centre who put it up there. Go the little critters who need us to act now, M (I’ve written about the disappearing ants of the Perth plain here: www.thefifthestate.com… - hang on little ants, we’re coming down to the ground for... Read More

Free mulch, free spring and other positives

Free mulch – Australia-wide While in Fremantle recently –  a very beautiful place to walk around – I met Tim Lawrence, whose business, MulchNet, provides free mulch across Australia. No catch here, just someone using imagination and wit. It works like this:  most landscaping and other mulch-making businesses have to pay to take the mulch to the tip if they can’t find a way to make it useful.  MulchNet allows anyone in any Australian state to register... Read More

When the streets seem strange

More often now  as I walk the streets the words come to my lips or mind, “These things seem strange to me now.” Funny.  Why’s that? The streets are the same.  The people, cars and other walkers – the same. How can the familiar become strange? James Joyce, self-exhiled to Paris, could describe the streets and names of most of his home town Dublin.  They were in his blood and inhabited his every fibre – his books say so loudly, and fondly, with... Read More

New York Times – record droughts now ‘normal’

New York Times – record breaking droughts ‘normal’ from now on; will seem ‘wet’ compared to droughts  that lie ahead in the next decades. www.nytimes.com… ‘It is increasingly clear that we already live in the era of human-induced climate change, with unprecedented weather and climate extremes . . .  Read More

Planting hazelnut trees at Kangaroo Valley

Broger’s End To Sarah’s farm, Broger’s End, Kangaroo Valley, these last three days:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brogers-End/182845341773967 Seb, Sarah, Barney the dog, and bloke Four of us to plant 18 hazelnut trees and some fruit trees. Testing view from the hammock One of us to test the view from the hammock. Barney And Barney the dog, his genes abrim with the desire to chase cattle. Faith, hope and love I had the gift of staying in the old dairy, now... Read More

Humans being wonderful

With music and passion we humans soar and are wonderful – I dare you to watch this and say, ‘No’: www.youtube.com… Som Sabadell flashmob On the 130th anniversary of the founding of Banco Sabadell we wanted to pay homage to our city by means of the campaign “Som Sabadell” (We are… (With thanks to The Chook Whisperer and her parents.)  Read More

Smaller Aussie bees pollinate more than introduced bees

A friend, Maryanne, has let me know that Aussie native bees are more effective at pollinating than the feral introduced bees used mostly for the commercial honey market, and says:   ‘www.aussiebee.com… The main thing they mention is the smaller size (Presumably can get inside smaller spaces). Some native species , though not the one you have, can also do a different type of pollination called buzz pollination in which they release pollen by effectively shaking... Read More