Thistle Do

I hope we never lose that absorbing fascination of finding animals in the clouds, alien faces in the knots of timber, body contours and facial profiles in the outlines of mountains, and knobbly trees that look like wrinkly old men with warty noses. In fact I have a habit of finding faces in all manner of places, and they always make me smile, especially when they take me by surprise. ‘See the clown up there, with curly hair and big ears?’ sounds much more interesting to a child than pointing out the billowing cumulo-nimbus.

The humble thistle is the bane of any gardener. Let it go long enough and it will produce enough seeds to replicate itself countless times over, but this tenacious intruder we attack with such gusto still has a beauty all its own. The Scots chose it as their national emblem for a reason, reflecting something of their own tenacity, their ability to survive in a hostile environment, their strength and durability. I’m digressing a little, so back to the reason for drawing attention to the plain, ordinary thistle.

At different stages of growth, in amongst those painful prickles there can be another side, a more humorous one if we care to take the time and pay attention.

Smiling thistle

greets the

morning sun

Mercury Falling

Blessed relief

at long last

the rain

This morning the weather website tantalised us with the prediction of rain from 4pm to 4am non-stop. Well, we had a brief shower around lunchtime, then light rain for a couple of hours later in the afternoon. I’m yet to witness the deluge we were hoping for, but the updated forecast indicates it should start up again in the wee hours of the morning, so we can live in hope.

There’s been precious little rain of late, so simply seeing the ground wet is a treat in itself. My bird identification skills are practically zero, but I'm delighted to see a family of eight tiny yellow breasted balls of fluff and feather hopping around outside the study, fossicking for whatever delights the rain has seen fit to dislodge from underground hiding places. Their light brown and yellow colouring makes them blend in with the surrounding dry grass, so they can peck in peace without having to compete with the usual currawongs and crows. The temperature has finally fallen to an acceptable level, though humidity both inside and out is still pretty high, but at least I won’t need a second shower to get through the day. Very much looking forward to the next week of more typical Tassie summer days.

Bring on the rain. Autumn can’t come soon enough.

Tropical Tassie

I’ve lived here in Tassie 23 years, and I’m having trouble remembering a hotter summer, and we’re not even into the hottest month yet. Far be it from me to do a little Googling and check the frequency of heatwaves and mean summer temperatures of the last two decades, but with no fan whizzing around and no air conditioning to provide some relief, I had to think a little more laterally when the thermometer hit 34 inside while I attempted to distract myself from the discomfort by watching The Martian.

While Matt Damon used every resource available to survive his solitary ordeal on Mars, my solution proved much simpler. Drinking cold water with ice wasn’t cutting it, so to cool down my core temperature, out came my cold pack from the freezer. I keep it there in the event of insect stings, as I react rather badly, but wrapped in a teatowel it was the perfect thing to hug while his crew mates turned back from their homeward journey to rescue him by remotely blasting the intrepid astronaut off the planet in nothing more than a tin can with a tarp on top. In much the same way as a hot water bottle loses its warmth, the ice pack didn’t take long to melt, but at least it did its job long enough for me to feel a little more human.

I’ve never lived any further north than Brisbane, visited Darwin once, and I really have no idea how people can endure an entire lifetime in equatorial regions. The heat and humidity sap your energy; living in Queensland brought with it an understanding and greater appreciation of the phrase ‘Going Troppo.’

There's the slightest of breezes coming in the window, the sprinkler is trying to keep the backyard alive, and I’m waiting with much anticipation for the predicted cooler temperatures heading this way in a couple of days, just one more scorcher to get through before the relief.

Pervasive heat

even the air
is breathless

Festival Fun

Summer Festival

not only the kids

have all the fun

Australia Day

Australia Day

celebration for some

mourning for others