A Developing Story.........

I have been wondering if I would keep up with this blog but with the things that have been happening lately I have a head so full of things that I need to put them down somewhere.

If you have been looking at the TV, watching the flood disaster in Queensland, then you will see that the heading has often been 'the developing news'. It is true it is a developing story and as more water moves or another house becomes inundated then what the newsreader is saying is changing constantly. The figures of missing people keeps changing. The number of people who have lost their lives keeps changing!

To the people caught in the middle of all this it may seem like it is not changing (for the better) quickly enough! It must seem like the water is never going to go away and that the rain will never stop!

I have friends and family in SE Qld and it has really made me stop and think about the whole situation. I managed to get a text through to one friend who let me know, that though flooded in with no electricity or tap water, he and his partner and animals are alright. I have not been able to contact him since then because I am pretty sure he has a hands free phone which requires electricity and of course the mobile needs to be regularly charged! So I have to hope that no news is good news.


My fantastic LED wind up or solar torch. I wish I could have this technology in a lantern.

My 94 year old mother is okay but I have been trying to make her see that she should have jugs filled with boiled water so that if the water in her area or the electricity is affected she at least has water. We don't necessarily have infrastucture locally so even if not flooded she could lose power and water. My sister who lives not far away is going over to get a shopping list from her so that she can get her shopping done. Apparently there is panic buying in the supermarkets. People getting twenty packs of toilet paper and thirty loaves of bread. Well I guess they will be alright, but they might get lonely if that is going to be their attitude for the duration of this incident.

This is not going to be over any time soon. Three quarters of the state is inundated. This means that all airports that have been flooded will need to be totally rebuilt as the under lying structure will be damaged. The same goes for all the roads. Every house will need to be cleaned up but also have all the electricity checked for damage, make sure that the gas pipes are clean, make sure the water pipes are clean. All electricity, sewerage and water transfer stations will need to be checked and repaired. All the traffic lights will need to be repaired. I hope too many banks haven't gone under! I heard that some ATM's have run out of money. Then there are the roads which of course will be unable to cope with heavy trucks bringing in food. The railway lines will need to be checked for safety.

Do you get the picture that I am trying to paint. The wildlife that will be lost will be unbelievable. The talk is that the vast majority of cattle in Qld are dead. There will be hundreds of horses and pets lost and dead. Don't think that this will not matter because we don't know how it will affect us. If all the snakes are drowned will this mean massive mouse plagues in three months time? Will that mean we will still have no crops when we are in winter down south? We might have to start eating much more seasonally than we have for many years.  

All of this will affect us just as much in different ways. We will be affected by the loss of meat, vegetables and fruit. The weather is such here in Victoria that we will have problems with our own crops as there has been so little sunshine down here. If you do have a few things growing then certainly that will help with your food supply.



My zucchini plant growing well!

I personally feel that now is the time to think about the fact that things are constantly developing....even if we can't see them. Like flash floods we will have no warning! What will you do if there is no power and no water? Have you thought about that? Have our councils and governments thought about that? If there is no power how will we get out information. Do you have a battery powered radio? Do you have your important papers in a waterproof packet ready to be grabbed and taken with you at a moments notice? Do you have a container that you can put water in? There are so many small things that we can be doing to be more ready for whatever the 'development' is in the future. Remember we are all a part of the web of life and we need to think about what this means.

This train of thought does not have to just refer to weather events. I have a dear friend whose mother has become very ill quite quickly. It has taken a lot of tests to find out what the problem is and now the story will keep developing while the medical staff try to reverse this problem. This is another story that has been developing over weeks and days and continues to do so. Can anyone of us say for sure what is ahead of us? Have you got your affairs in order? Have you a will made that is as relevant as possible for today?

Perhaps most importantly it comes back to what you do each and every day. We have to work in order to live in this world and that is fine. If you don't like your work but don't feel that you can leave it, then at least make sure that you don't upset yourself about it. Keep focused on the fact that you are doing this work in order to get your pay cheque and make sure that you are spending that pay in a way that does give you true happiness. Often money is not needed in any way to feel your heart full of joy!


I am grateful that my passionfruit has decided to flower and fruit for me!

Remember there is always something to be thankful for! Make sure you look for it!
What am I grateful for today? That I have not had to leave my loved ones to save my life! That I have so gently been reminded that my story is 'developing' and I have to live it like that. I am grateful that my friends and family who are in Queensland are safe and well. I am grateful that I am not ill myself. I am just grateful!