I Love A Sunburnt Country...

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MY COUNTRY

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die -
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold -
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land -
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand -
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

Dorothea Mackellar - 1904

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Photos

The Storm Is Coming
Just a note that we are safe and the fires are far from us but we wanted to share these photos with all of you. This entry is dedicated to the victims of the Victoria Bushfires and the volunteer Emergency Services workers that continue to fight bravely. Photos from http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/

Parkside Rd.
Cars stalled due to thick smoke... some melted into the road due to the heat... passengers had no where to go...

Untouched Mail
The mail waits at an address where there is no longer a home... how is it that the mailbox was untouched?!?!?

The Bad News
The death toll is expected to reach 300 people.

Peter & Wendy Crooks
Peter & Wendy Crooks used almost 40 cans of cola to put out fires in their eaves after their pump failed. They saved their Kingdale home.

It is estimated over 1 million animals and birds have perished.

Australian Red Cross
Please donate. Give blood.
Red Cross Australia - 1800 811 700 http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm
Canadian Red Cross - 1800 418 1111
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000005&tid=003

Comments

[Angela Nowlan]

Oh, It is just heartbreaking. I am glad you are all safe and pray that you stay that way. It is so hard when you are far away to imagine the devestation. I have people asking me if you are okay and I have flipantly answer oh yeah it's not near them. Now I know my answer will be a little different. More like yes they are safe thank God but you should see what people are dealing with there. Thanks again for sharing Don. Keep safe we love you all. Angela

[Jo Trouble]

Great photos
Glad your family are all safe.

[Theresa and Dave]

Hello from Sioux Lookout!
Hi yous guys! Thanks for the amazing (and yet sad) photos. We are hoping Melbourne gets lots of rain and that the recovery period will be quicker. The fresh green colours that grow after a forest fire, hopefully will come soon. All is well here, we are wearing crampons on our boots so we can walk on the ice from all of the freezing rain/rain/freeze/thaw weather up here. Take care! T and D

[Bonnie]

finally
I have meant to comment on your entries much before now but seeing these has sparked my urgency! Anyway, glad to know you are alright and having fun. We've enjoyed seeing all the pictures and are looking forward to seeing more as your adventure continues.

[denidax]

so sad
unbeliveable pictures!!

[TimboJ]

Oh....
Sorry to see such disaster but you have captured it so well.