Regeneration

I wish I had taken my camera so I would have photos to accompany this post.

Over the weekend Mr Bliss and I went for a drive out through the local areas affected by the recent bush fires. It was a real eye opener, with many houses spared but the surroundings burned right to the door.

Miles of fencing is gone but the farmers are working hard to get new posts and wire up. Many paddocks were stripped to the bare earth, but are now sporting a tinge of green after the recent rains.

Always amazing are the gum trees, which sprout shoots all the way up the trunk in order to get the tree functioning again. After it finally grows a new crown, these shoots all fall off when they are no longer needed.

Along the road sides, the bracken ferns' long green tendrils are reaching for the sky.

Nature is indeed a wonderful thing.

Not so wonderful are the stories of fence posts, laid out by farmers ready for 'planting' the next day, and stolen from the paddocks. Indeed, poor character will not improve in the face of such hardship. Thieves are thieves, and stay thieves, no matter how bad things get.

Did the Earth Move for you?

We were sprawled comfortably in front of the giant TV watching 'Casino Royale' a few nights back, when the house shifted on it's footings, creaking and groaning. Then it began to shudder noisily, with things rattling busily in the cupboards.

The epicentre of this quake was in Korumburra, about a half an hour's drive away. We did have a smaller tremor a few months back, harking from the same place, but that was very light. At the time I wondered whether I had imagined that, but this one was 4.6 on the Richter Scale, and there was no mistake.

Will there be a bigger one at Korumburra? They must be wondering.