I put the ducks, turkeys and chickens away tonight, locking them into their houses which are awash with slimy, freezing mud. As I trudged through the mud, I could picture myself at the Somme, a WW1 Battlefield with cold, miserable mud and wonder that its so awful you might prefer an enemy bullet to end the misery of it all. We’ve had so much rain the last weekend 7,8,9th of August, 2020, there’s flooding on the coast, towns evacuated and road closures everywhere. Today there were two closed in Bowral alone from trees down and water over the road.
When I got home from work, there was one poor black and white male duck down in the mud, others stepping on top of him as if he were no more consequence than a piece of dirt. I picked him up and put him on the lawn, fed all the others double rations to help them get through the night. I put the young duck in the shed under a heat lamp, towelled him off and fed him a mixture of warm water, brandy, salt and sugar. He really didn’t look too good with his neck revolving around as birds do close to death- death throws if you like. Went inside and fed myself after not too much time for lunch and made a cup of tea. I checked him again later expecting him to be dead but he was eating and looking a bit better. So would have many a poor soldier on the battlefields of World War One have revived with a brandy, warm liquids and warm bedding, a bit of tender loving care. We expect a lot of young men, especially in war. We expect them to deal with horrendous environments- no wonder some might prefer to be shot.
It’s been a difficult year. Victoria is grappling with a full -blown outbreak of coronavirus, everyone is in lock-down, businesses closed , only a few reasons to venture outside available, masks compulsory. I, myself wore a mask to school today ( though in NSW) and in the classroom, wherever I couldn’t socially distance. I’m in my 60’s, my mother is in her 90’s, I can’t see or visit her if I catch something. It’s not worth the risk when maybe, maybe, a vaccine is only a few months away.
Still, I am thinking more of the bush fire ravaged communities who still don’t have permanent homes in this pandemic and now floods. How much can people take? They are relying on themselves to get things moving, to institute regimes of charity, channels of help and practical assistance. They crowd fund to do this. This is kind of disgraceful seeing how much money was raised when the bush fires were on to help. Where has that money gone? Why haven’t governments helped them back on their feet faster?
Anyway, I’m glad we had trees cut down close to the house so we could sleep easy in our beds through the violent storms and that they weren’t about to fall on the house and I’m grateful for a house with a waterproof roof and electricity for heating when the wood fire is doing badly. There’s a lot to be thankful for, not the least we are getting close to the end of Winter, not cold weather, but at least the prospect of Spring. We will all be happy when 2020 is over, I just hope that more of the same is not lying in wait.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
amundr 