Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind · 27 Comments

Gone Batty

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen.  Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

I don’t know whether the bushfire smoke is getting to me, or whether I’m just going a bit batty, or maybe both.  Either way, I sure don’t feel well.  Depending on the way the wind is blowing, my True Love and I will nip outside for a breath of fetid air.  On one of our brief walks, we saw a tiny colony of flying foxes (fruit bats) with what looked like several babies clinging to them.  Flying foxes have been having a tough time of it over the last few years.  They have been dying in their thousands from heat stress during increasingly frequent heatwaves.  I can relate.  I think I might drop off my perch too if I don’t get air-conditioning.  Seriously though, it is a real problem. Read more

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Stir The Mountain Pygmy Possum

In Australia, the expression ‘to stir the possum’ means to stir up trouble, controversy, or interest in an issue.  So I thought I would use that expression to generate awareness of the critically endangered mountain pygmy possum.  There are less than 2000 mountain pygmy possums left in the wild and their survival is on a knife’s edge.  What a tragedy it would be if they were lost to us forever.  I have just completed my mountain pygmy possum mosaic and am excited to share it with you.  Then, one thing led to another, and I had to write a poem for them too.  There is always hope and as usual, good people are working hard to save them.  Find out more about these incredible little marsupials and how you can help them here.  Now for the poem. Read more

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Outfoxed

In Australia, it is quite unusual to observe a fox going about its nefarious business, but we did indeed see one and have the photographs to prove it.  One day, as my True Love and I approached the river, we heard a duck making a great cacophony.  It was clearly very agitated.  Perhaps this noise, and the fact that we were upwind of the duck and fox, masked our approach.  The duck made its escape, much to the disappointment of the young fox. Read more

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

The Changing Seasons – July 2019

July — Winter.  Fade to red.

I am the first to admit that July almost always represents the winter of my soul (not discontent; that would be going too far).  At this time of year my mind tends to dwell on the negative and by some unconscious impulse, I dress in mourning.  This year my existential July crisis has been exacerbated by some serious hypoglycemia incidents that I have suffered, leaving me wondering each night whether this will be the time I don’t wake up in the morning.  So I often don’t go to bed.  That’s tiring and ineffective.  My little dog also requires a full-time carer.  (That’s another story.  Also tiring).

You know that feeling when you are so tired that you think it wouldn’t be so bad if you died but, at the same time, you want to cling on to dear life because your family, friends and animals need you?  It is a conundrum.  (My apologies, ladies and gentlemen, this is turning out rather more solemn than I expected.  Also, Martha Kennedy has written a blog like this recently.  Bear with me.)  By some other unconscious impulse, I seek sanctuary outdoors.  Made glorious by the sun and wind.  (Sorry.  I couldn’t resist).  What did I learn? Read more