release

They say that Melbourne is the only city where you can experience four seasons in one day.

Or so it used to be.

I spoke to someone the other day who had flown into our fair city after being away for years and was shocked by the devastation that fire and drought has wrought on what is officially called ‘The Garden State’.

Another friend said she used to pack her bag in the morning to go to work.  Book, wallet, umbrella. Because on any given day you had no idea whether it would rain or not.  And for all of February we had no rain.  She gave up on the umbrella.

And it was scary to hear on the TV the other night from a climate expert that the rain is falling, just not on us.  That ‘drought’ is actually not the right word for what we are experiencing.  That we are in the grip of change, and our water is falling over the sea instead of where we are used to it being.

Lordy.

But today, it is raining.  And it did yesterday.

And we are seeing our garden breathe and relax and soak up the deliciousness through leaves instead of thirsty roots.  Some grass is sprouting again quite quickly and I am reminded of how resilient nature (and we) can be, and how mindful we need to be of being in tune with the rythmn of the earth instead of frightened by the consequences.

Because only the strong survive…

The rain is at last washing the ash out of the air, and today I will start our cleanup.  Every surface of my house is covered in fine, fine dust, that comes back each day.  It covers the walls , the floor and has been thick in the air.  I need to stir myself up and remove it, and then we can start to sprout again too.  I’d rather be painting though to be honest.  I think I may need a cleaner….