Sunday, September 5, 2010

Flood Blessings

74
Since our treechange journey in 2003 we have been very blessed. Early that year, although a very big drought, we were spared living the second half of the bushfire season in our hometown. It was smokey and the clothes smelt awful. Ironically the smoke was coming from where we now live, or rather twelve or so miles up the road. We were living near Melbourne that year. We came here the year after that.

This week our school has been very sparse. The kids are mostly away sick, yes a large number of them. Tomorrow Monday, though some may be well again, lots are unable to come to school because of the flooding. We live in town and our kids will be attending school. Though our eldest stayed home sick on Friday, she was really not too bad.

The little villages three miles apart my parents and grandparents lived in were hit by bushfires a few years ago when I wasn't living there. They also ran out of water in my grandparents town in the drought I mentioned.

Then the bushfires hit the town we lived in for a year, but by that stage we were living here. We seem to be in the right place at the right time.

So though it is a rough week, I am thankful I haven't lived through my third major flood. The last one I was in hospital with a one day old daughter in 93. The first one in 74 we had come over a bridge late at night and the next morning it was washed out. Having a baby girl at home and having the first choppers coming around over our house and having a tragic bus accident and my parents in law's house flooded all at the same time, and lots of other things, it is nice to have a break from the flood situation, however unplanned it was to leave our hometown.

I will be visiting it this week, my hometown, hopefully it will be OK. We have had our own type of drama here. A cattle truck went around a sharp corner and overturned on the other side of the road. I was amazed at how it was handled. All the traffic helped out with things like the cows, the people who worked for the pine plantation helped, and the local publican (the site was half an hour away on our road) who we know, who has only just bought it helped out with food. It was humbling the skills people have to help out. The road was closed for 4 hours on Monday. The other roads around I think would be rather out of the way.

A little bit of a contrast to those splashing water everywhere on the main road into our hometown, aren't they worried?

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Country Memories

...of Old Time Dances.