Bushfires

We are in the middle of the bushfire season here in Western Australia. They are a seasonal hazard when your forests are largely eucalyptus and summers are long, hot and dry. Add in nearly a week of violent electrical storms - this is not quite so normal. Storms do occur at this time of the year but for there to be so many and for such a long period is unusual - and you have lightning strikes igniting fires as well, unfortunately, as others started by arsonists. There's always a flurry of the latter towards the end of the summer school holidays when bored kids - mostly boys between 9 and 17, according to the police, with a fascination with fire and no comprehension of how destructive it can be - get into mischief. 

There have already been several serious fires on the outskirts of the city itself over the past three weeks but they are now out. Friends who were evacuated when their homes were under threat said they were quite terrifying but, with no fuel left, those areas, at least, should be safe for a while. It brought back memories of when I was a child and a night when my parents gathered my brother and me up out of bed as a fire bore down on where we lived. It stopped before it reached our place but I can still feel the heat ahead of it and see the flames racing towards us as if they were some giant monster devouring everything in front of them.

While those fires are done with, other parts of the state are not so lucky and are now under threat. There is a major fire burning in the heavily forested southern part of the state approximately 400 kilometres from us - towns have been evacuated and there has been stock and property loss - and another is threatening several towns in the farming areas around 170 kilometres south of here. 

With fires comes smoke and the prevailing winds are driving masses of it from both fires north to the city and beyond.

This is the view from just outside my back door across the large park in the valley around 8:00 AM. You can see blue sky and greenery but on the horizon an ominous pall of smoke is moving in. Even then the air reeked of smoke.

The two photos below were taken from slightly different angles around 11:50 AM. The blue sky has completely disappeared, blocked out by the smoke, which is hazing the neighbouring buildings and even the plants in the garden. 

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I would have taken more photos but the smoke was overwhelming and my eyes are still stinging nearly an hour later. But this is merely an inconvenience for most people here in the city and my heart goes out to those whose homes and livelihoods are under threat and to the animals caught up in the inferno.

Living and Writing With Chronic Illness

I recently came across this post, "On Chronic Illness as a Beast " by Stephanie Gunn, where she talks about her own experience with chronic illness and links to posts by Terri Windling and Michelle Goldsmith on the same topic. I know many others in similar situations and, while I can understand why they may not want to talk about it - I have a chronic back injury and one thing I've learned is that very few people really want to know about it and the physical limitations it puts on me - maybe we should be more prepared to discuss such things.

The thing about invisible chronic illness is just that - it's invisible and so it doesn't register on others how much it affects us. A personal example: when I travel by air I get a wheelchair to move around the airport because it's very difficult for me to walk any distance if I'm also lugging bags. I can do it - slowly and with considerable difficulty - but there's a price in pain and mobility to be paid later. I feel embarrassed being wheeled around. After all, I can walk albeit slowly and it's not pleasant being dependent on others however kind they are but, if I don't use the wheelchair, I'm storing up a huge pain deficit to be dealt with later, one that I can't really afford especially if I'm travelling somewhere that I need to be able function well.

Have a read of these posts. I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Been a Bit Quiet, Haven't I.

That's because Christmas, New Year and big birthday celebrations and hot - very, very hot. Well, I live in the south western Australia so of course summer is hot. Even so 44 degrees C is pretty hard to take. I've just been outside watering the vegetable garden and even before 9:00 AM it was baking. Amazingly even those plants I haven't put shade cloth over are doing well. Whether they'll be so full of life after another day close to 40 degrees C is something w'll just have to wait and see.

I like growing at least some of my own food so the vegie patch is an important part of my life. This year I was late putting the summer crops in because the dividing fence between us and one of our neighbours was in danger of falling down and the earthworks required to put a new one in involved digging up much of where I usually put my vegetables. As soon as it was finished I planted but everything is now behind. Usually by now at the least we'd be harvesting enough beans, tomatoes, spring onions, cucumbers, zucchinis and lots of herbs to feed us and freeze for later. Never mind, though, because there will be at least another four months of warm weather and the current crop will be in full production soon. When I went out this morning the still small zucchini and butternut squash plants were a blaze of brilliant golden flowers and they, along with some basil and nasturtium flowers and leaves, can make a pleasant part of a meal.

Hmm, I just realised I should have taken a photo because they were lovely. Ah well next time.

Australian Women Writers Challenge 2015

Well I've signed up for the Challenge again and I'm looking forward to it. See the badge on the right - elegant and eye-catching as they always are. Last year I only managed eight reviews although that is by no means how many books by Australian writers - both male and female - that I read. I'm hoping to do better this year. although the trouble is I always put reading of a book ahead of writing about it. I recommend this challenge highly. It makes me think about what I'm reading and that's always a good thing.

Musical Magic

because I don't know how else to describe it. 'It' is polyphonic overtone singing or throat singing, where a performer sings two different notes at the same time and what they can do with the technique is extraordinary. German singer, Anna-Maria Hefele, is an expert in the overtone singing technique from Tuva in Russia and produces eerie and lovely music. Once reserved only for men - it was thought to make women infertile - it is now sung by both men and women. In this video Hefele shows just what it is like.

There are other kinds of throat singing notably in Mongolia where it is a traditional music. I found this video just breathtaking.

You can find out more about overtone singing here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvan_throat_singing.

Thanks to my friend, Annie, for telling me about this.

Just Because I Can

Here's another video of the Yvonne die Kuh song. Apparently it became very popular in beer halls. Hmm.

Just to prove my taste isn't completely lacking here's something a little more serious. Scroll down the page and you'll find a video of Ryan Kelly from Celtic Thunder singing The House of The Rising Sun.

Still not your thing? Here's more Celtic Thunder, this time the whole ensemble, and they're singing Amazing Grace.

Then there's this - Celtic Woman singing The Parting Glass. They certainly could put on a dramatic show, couldn't they.

Enjoy.

Seasons and Reasons

So here we are halfway through the holiday week that starts with Christmas Day and ends with New Year - and for the most part it's been good. Family, good friends and far too much delicious food. Having a small grandchild around is an added bonus. We've yet another feast on New Years Day and then - a little later - there's a special birthday party for me (having a birthday just after New Year means I've had very few parties in my life - 4 in fact - so, this year being a milestone one, I'm determined to enjoy it).

We've had a frustrating year in many ways and a sad one at times with the deaths of several dear friends overshadowing much of the time but I finally managed to overcome my initial apathy towards the season and there are tins still full of goodies to eat, decorations and silly photos. See.

A small dog in her Christmas finery. She gets dressed in this every year but this time she was NOT impressed.

Tree with cat decoration.

Christmas kitty - in detail.














Seasons greetings to you all and may the coming year bring you all you desire. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.