A lament.
For some, there is no tomorrow.
There is only today – neither grand, nor fine.
The light is cruel so close your eyes
and then, in the day’s fading, sleep
while the bombs rain down.
Comments are turned off.
End Day
Thursday Thoughts
I thought I might get bogged so I took evasive action. Also, I didn’t have a “web” cam. Get it?
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Confusing Colour Management
Dear Readers, please excuse this fooling around with photos. Apparently the colour management of my various photo editing software programs in relation to different browsers and various other confusing stuff is confusing. So I am experimenting. Blimey, as they say in the classics. Just ignore me. Or you could tell me whether the spider looks orange, brown and cream? Anyway, just in case you are interested, we think this is a some type of lynx spider. Have to get the colours right so we can ID it. Long story.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Silent Sunday
This is a test, perhaps of my patience and perseverance. It seems there has been a software update somehow, somewhere, so I can no longer load photos that are true to the colour that I shot them in. I’ve tried the fixes but they aren’t working. So my workaround is to over-saturate my photos in Photoshop and then re-edit the de-saturated photos in the Windows photo app. Technology!! Anyway, this will do. I now look forward to seeing how this photo looks on my various devices.
Life goes on. Yes, I am still here. Hope you are too.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Neighbourly
Thanks to our neighbour’s wonderful native garden, we have many little birds nesting nearby.
The Superb Fairywrens are up at the crack of dawn collecting nesting materials and hunting insects. They have been incredibly bold bounding around our dog yard.
Here she is.
Here he is.
And a female Golden Whistler also visited today.
Down the road at our park, currawong chicks have already hatched, while the magpies are currently on their nest too. It is all happening.
It is a very different year to last year. It is much drier and hotter. The temperature is forecast to be 35o Celcius next week and we are only three weeks into Spring. Perhaps the rats will leave home then, although it is probably better for the wren chicks if they do not.
Photos courtesy of my True Love.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Our Girl
Happy birthday to our darling girl, Makea, who turned 11 today.
How about we sing a song for her? Happy Birthday To You? Nope, I know a better one. She will love it. It’s the delightful Jenny Morris singing “She Has To Be Loved”. There aren’t many words so sing it with me.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Feral Friday
By the way, the title refers to the head shot, not the species. 🙂
Have a feral Friday, everyone.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Nearly Wordless Wednesday
Thank goodness, free to be Untidy again.
It was nearly killing me trying to be sophisticated (ie. tidy).
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Keeping Up Appearances
Good morning. It’s time for a few photos taken at the wonderful Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra.
These were the photos that I entered for a photography project run by my photography group, none of which were chosen. It was a learning exercise for me. An incredibly time consuming one. So I have decided that I probably won’t submit any entries for future projects until I have a bit more time. I might have to learn focus stacking first. I’m not sure I will ever have time for that …. We shall see. I hope to take some updated photos of my verge garden soon. I will give you a clue. Nothing much is happening.
By the way, the title of this post is an acknowledgement of how busy I’ve been and my complete inability to focus on 50 million things, including this blog. However, I am happy and I am learning heaps. Also, my True Love is retiring in a couple of weeks. How exciting is that? Sorry, for that digression, but how exciting is that?
Stay well, everyone, and talk to you soon.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Listen With Our Hearts
It is not every day that I attend a habitat restoration workshop and am asked to question my underlying (culturally ingrained) motives. If I am truthful with myself, I acknowledge that I have a tendency to doggedly focus on bending country to my will – my timeframe and ideal of restoration – rather than drawing on the strengths of the land to heal itself with gentle and compassionate assistance. So I wrote a poem about that. Then it turned into a poem about the forthcoming referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the Australian Constitution. Nevertheless, whether it be about my novice landcare experiences or about the Voice, I wouldn’t change a word.
I dedicate this poem to the First Peoples of Australia who have put themselves on the line to ask their fellow Australians to support their call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution. Many indigenous Australians believe that this is the best way of being heard on issues that affect their lives. (See Uluru Statement From The Heart.) Let’s call it an invitation to a better future.
Listen With Our Hearts
There may never be the perfect time or perfect place.
There may never be a more special time or place
to acknowledge you.
Consider the options.
I rail against your stubborn persistence; your resistance to me and
my well intended or misguided ministrations;
my colonial attitude – bossy and entitled.
Must I fail before I can embrace your song?
I question.
Can I truly love you if I cannot love all your imperfections,
my compassion conditional,
heart filled with suspicion and doubt?
This is not a battle with self that I can win alone. But I, we, have you –
Your Voice
to heal the gap between us, for the good of constitution and country,
so that we may love all with compassion.
We connect
in quietude, mirth and fury.
Your strength, my strength
when I make a choice.
To see You. To hear You and to listen.
It’s time.
As the old saying goes, “Perfection is the enemy of the good.” If we hear one another, then we can aim for better. At least that is my personal opinion. You may have another. However, I can’t help thinking “if you don’t know, vote no” is just very bad poetry. I’ve included some links below for those who would like more information.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Further information:
Official resources on the Referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
Uluru Statement From The Heart and the Referendum Council Report
First Nations Voice, Australian Public Law Blog
The following is sourced from voice.gov.au
The Referendum Question –
On referendum day, voters will be asked to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a single question.
The question on the ballot paper will be:
“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?”
Constitutional Amendment –
The proposed law that Australians are being asked to approve at the referendum would insert the following lines into the Constitution:
“Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:
- there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
- the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
- the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”
Reflections of An Untidy Mind 