I should be thinking about my blog this morning but I can’t settle to it. Serious fires are raging not that far away from me and many people I know have had to leave their homes to find safety.
Last night, I drove to my daughter’s house (we were going out together to see The Hobbit) and it wasn’t that far from the fire front. I could see it ahead of me, like a giant red mushroom cloud. It looked like an atomic explosion. Since then it has gone berserk and is rapidly eating up the beautiful Adelaide Hills with its gorgeous little towns, beautiful farmland and its plethora of wildlife, including kangaroos, wallabies and koalas. The roos will probably get away but those little koalas can’t run any faster than me. (And I never run!) Some of the area under threat is where the Old Boy and I used to live only a few years ago.
I can’t stop thinking of all the livestock in the area: horses, cattle, deer, sheep and alpacas. I hear that some of them have already perished. Many people can move their horses but what do you do if you’ve got a herd of cows, or goats, or alpacas, or sheep? I guess you do what many of us are already doing: pray.
So, I’m praying for everyone and everything under threat. I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose your home, your animals and possibly your family or friends. I’m thankful for the wonderful fire-fighters, mainly volunteers, and I hope they all stay safe.
Let’s try to take better care of this planet – so far it’s the only one we’ve found that is inhabitable. It’s time the powers-that-be stop playing silly buggers with politics and do something pro-active and worthwhile about climate change. I’ll now step down off my soap box.
Take care of the ones you love.
While I’m all for action on climate change, it’s unlikely it will make too much difference when it comes to bushfires. In a lot of ways, a bushfire is the bush’s natural clean-up mechanism. I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to stop them but they’ve always happened and always will. I’m certainly praying for all those in the firing line.
It’s true that bushfires are a natural part of life in Australia. However, many experts are saying that due to changes in the climate we can expect more of them, with more intense fire-fighting conditions, including higher temperatures. Already we have seen the fire season begin much earlier and it is lasting a lot longer, too. Thankfully, there was no loss of human life this time around.
I share your concerns, Wendy. I have a nephew who has evacuated and several friends living in the danger zones. I also know a number of volunteer fire fighters involved. Here on the NW edge of Murray Bridge we’ve just had some rain but keeping an eye on conditions – we can evacuate into town if a fire comes our way. We had a big one here about 8 years ago just a kilometre from our home and the car packed ready to go.
I hope there was a good outcome for all your friends and family, Trevor. It got to about 15/20 minutes away from our house and a bit closer to our daughter’s place but, thankfully, that was all. Many friends were evacuated but I think most of them didn’t lose their house. We’re still waiting to hear about a few who had properties, with animals at risk. Now, it’s raining and we’ve been told to prepare for flooding. ‘Straya – yo gotta love it.