‘Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better’
Albert Einstein
Not long back from a big walk in the ‘forest’. A beautiful Spring day, cool breeze from the south-west keeps the temperature down, cloudless Big Aussie Sky, stunning blue backdrops a valley of green, the rain has been. Flowers are blooming, colour fills the garden. In between two full weekends, needing to take it easy, rest and rejuvenate; the jobs can wait till next week. The garden is strewn with debris, drying leaves and branches in piles everywhere, some left where they were cut from the bush or tree. A big white winter left heaps of pruning days, I’ve spent a week so far. Then there’s the shed, constructed by the last owners, it’s been up for nearly twenty years. The country is home to white ants, that’s where they live and eat; the shed has obviously been visited over the years, so time to start pulling it apart. As well as piles of leaves and branches drying brown in the sun, there’s piles of wood, blackened by stump oil and sheets of grey tin scattered on the newly green grass… my normally tidy garden has disappeared. I’m preparing Mahalia for the next caretaker, I feel energised and positive… and looking forward to the next chapter.
It’s been very quiet on the forestry front, no cars or trucks… wondered if they’d finished and gone. I’ve only walked up there once before, not a pretty site, acres and acres of dead leaves and branches, with thousands of tree stumps smeared with Glyphosate, the only remaining evidence of a forest. It’s a horrible sight. As I walk through the debris I take my focus to Mt Lindesay, I have no desire to feel bad. He stands with such majestic presence, towering over the land, our local Guardian. He’s one of many peaks in the McPherson Range, the ancient remains of the Focal Peak Volcano, that erupted about 24 million years ago. I keep focused on the sky, the distant mountains and valleys, the trees that remain, but I can’t help thinking ‘why’, why do they have to do things this way? Oh yes, I know we’re at the end of a very long cycle, one that’s lost its way, a time where common sense has disappeared from the stage.
Now, I’m not a farmer, I grew up in the city, but it’s not difficult to understand how nature works… not much differently than us. We’re all made from the same Life. These trees were all part of a Forestry Plan, well actually it was a financial plan, an alternative to paying tax. They bought up local farms, they had plenty of money to spend. They leased even more land, they planted many thousands of trees. Of course they all went bust, so farmers were left with these thousands of trees, ones unsuitable for the area and planted far too closely together. After twenty years some are still very spindly.
What happens to the soil? Some local guys reckon it does it good, opens up the soil…. they have their story. How can it be good? Mono planting over thousands of acres, with rumored genetically modified seeds, then cut them all down and poison the ground, hundreds of acres of sloping land, run off, erosion etc… well, as I said I’m not a farmer, but I can see what happens, you don’t need to be a genius. But they all reckon it’s good. My god.
But I’m feeling good, and intend to keep it that way. I’ll continue to focus on what I can do, what I can support to create the change we so badly need. I continue to send my love and support to all life around me, I continue to keep alight the flame of love that burns inside me. I believe we can turn it around, yes it’s a big job, but I’m up to it… are you?
It’s time to get behind what you believe in, what is real for you… it’s time for the solution.
My recent birthday card from my friends in a village near by….
A dragonfly came to visit a moment ago; I remember the incredible magick of those days and early evenings in the dam, welcomed by families of dragonflies, flying over and over and over my head as I swam along… it’s certainly been a magickal time here at Mahalia, one I will always treasure.
lotsa luv to you
marilynxxx
