GOOD WEEKEND l “The cows are picking up. The dogs are grinning. Each day brings new delights. Wildflowers dot-paint the land in purple and yellow as they begin the colonisation and repair of the soil.”
“I may not believe in the weatherman, but I believe in nature and I trust in frogs.
The second rain came in February, of a similar amount, but this time soft and soaking. It took 48 hours but the frogs awakened – and only frogsong comes close to the sound of rain.
Small brown frogs have taken up residence in the bathroom. Green tree frogs under the tank stand call to the one in the bedroom air conditioner – who shares lodgings with a gecko with irritatingly regular bowel movements. Snakes have taken up residence with the dogs – a python by Bonnie and six pieces of brown snake in Manu’s run. A hundred million biting mozzies want to feast on my blood.
The cows are picking up. Their coats shine and they run and buck and fart and gallop through grass growing ahead of them. The camels have shed their winter coats and once again look majestic standing on a green ridge silhouetted by blue-black storm clouds.
The dogs are grinning. Last year, a 12-kilometre lap around the farm was an arduous hot and dry ordeal. Now they climb out of a trough and splash into the lagoon, swim across the creek and race each other madly through puddles in paddocks.
To live by nature is to live by her rules and her extremes.
Each day brings new delights. Wildflowers (or weeds, depending on your point of view) dot-paint the land in purple and yellow as they begin the colonisation and repair of the soil. Pasture grasses thrive. Cuddles the koala reverse-parks into a fork of a poplar box. The rainwater tank overflows.”
