Winter Fuel When we moved into 45 Francis Crescent we converted the fireplace to a solid fuel heater. It became a tradition with me that I would provide the wood.
Our first solid fuel heater was a Heat Charm. It was the best we have experienced. It put out a seemingly perfect heat that pervaded the whole house. You could close it down and stop even slow burning. It could smolder all day and all night. This style of heater is no longer made. The authorities do not allow heaters that only smolder. They must burn. Something to do with the smoke being offensive. The Heat Charm brand no longer exists. Our block at 45 Francis Cres contained a lot of stringy bark trees. It had lots of unused wood standing about. Left over from previous building attempts. Lots of dead trees. I would spend every summer sawing up wood to use in the heater. I would supplement what I collected from the block by getting discarded wooden containers from where I worked. These containers normally had to be disposed of so no one complained. Whatever - I collected wood and put it in an old water tank turned on its side that had been left on the block. Perfect for keeping wood dry. One year I photographed Alexander in front of the wood I had collected as I knew the photograph would go into the album and I would feel satisfaction in that it would also show how responsible I was. Of course only I would know this when looking at the photo. Fast forward to 2019. I still get the wood for our solid fuel heater. It can be argued that I am getting a bit to old for this but I will take it slowly and battle on. I enjoy getting the winter fuel and get satisfaction from it. When we had the house built we made sure it had the biggest solid fuel heater available. This present heater is not as good as the original Heat Charm but it is satisfactory. I wouldn't have any other type of heater. Of course we are contributing to global warming by burning wood. I know we are adding carbon dioxide into an atmosphere that already has too much Carbon Dioxide.. I justify this by saying that the trees I am sawing up by hand I have planted myself. Its true. Trees that I planted myself are now dieing and I am cutting them down for firewood. It is disappointing that they are dieing. Whether from age or global warming I do not know. Lack of water. Heat of summer. Extended drought. Whatever - trees that I planted myself 20 years or so ago are now dieing. Trees that I especially selected for their suitability for koalas. Trees that I selected for their suitability for bees. Trees that I selected especially for birds. A good lot of them are dieing. All the golden wattles have died. All my good intentions have mainly been in vain. We have only had an individual koala on two occasions. There is not much food for bees in the trees. The birds have probably been appreciative but small birds also attract large raptors. We also have some mature trees that have fallen over. We have one tree that was struck by lightning. This tree was a mature tree probably well over 100 years old. It was demolished by the force of the lightning strike. Debris was spread for over 500 metres in all directions and sizes. Just picking up the debris was a job in itself. We now know just how much power is involved in a lightning bolt. Believe me it's a lot. We have demolished the old wives tale that a tree struck by lightning will not burn. We have burnt the debris. We are sawing up branches. There is a small regrowth at the base of the wrecked tree which I hope will grow into a tree. In time. Sawing up wood provides lots of opportunities for reflection. I saw by using a Bow Saw. I saw by hand. I know people see me doing this and think that this is a stupid person. I do not use a chain saw. I am the equivalent of an Olympic Champion at blunting chain saws. Within 1 minute I can have the chain saw starting to divert from a straight line because the chain is wrecked. I spend more time trying to sharpen the chain than what I do sawing. You can think when you are sawing. I have learnt how to count up to 30 in German by forcing myself to count each sawing motion. It hasn't been easy. I am doing a German course at U3A. In the German course I have transformed myself back to the mid 50’s. The only difference is that I am now one of the dumb ones who sit up the back and understand nothing. I have reflected on E = Mc2. Mass and Energy are interchangeable. We store Energy in Mass by converting Carbon Dioxide to Carbon and Oxygen by photosynthesis using heat Energy from the sun. We then reverse the formula. We combine Carbon and Oxygen to Carbon Dioxide and have Energy in the form of heat as a by product. The problem is we are contributing to the Carbon Footprint. However I can claim that I have planted the trees myself. Does this get me off the hook. I am always reminded of the Christmas Carol Good King Wenceslas and the line – When a poor man came in sight gathering Winter Fuel. I am that man. Gathering Winter Fuel. I think its a worthwhile activity. I feel satisfaction when I am doing it. I even sometimes remember doing the individual sawing when I come to burn it. This gives me a certain satisfaction. Does anyone else understand? Each to his own.
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The year that made me was 1966. My voting habits were formed in 1966. There was an election in November 1966 but me being only 20 years old I could not vote. The big issue that dominated the election that seemed to go on for the whole year was conscription and Australasia’s commitment to the war in Vietnam. I felt it was easy to decide on how to vote. It was a matter of conscience. The moral issues were clear. After the election I was shocked at how the public voted. I did not understand it. I was taken aback at the enormity of the vote to increase Australia’s Military involvement. None of my family voted against our involvement in Vietnam. Not one. All were enthusiastic supporters of Australia's involvement. Every one spoke only in derogatory terms of people who wanted us to cease our involvement. In the early 60’s the Federal Government had prepared the people for military adventures by announcing that they would bring in National Service and conscription would be instituted. They did this inferring that Indonesia was a problem and this procedure was needed for our National Security. For me it all worked like clockwork. Time moved on inexorably along towards the day my number would be pulled out of the hat and I would be called up. Actually it wasn't numbers that were pulled from the hat but dates. The people whose birth dates were pulled from the hat were called up. The ballot that I was involved in took place shortly after the election. My birth date was picked. The election depressed me greatly. I could not understand the thinking that led to our involvement in Vietnam. I became more depressed as time went on. Quite quickly I became alienated from my family. My father for instance saw my behavior as being particularly shameful. He did not like me speaking in public. He would try to stop me and remove me from any situation where his friends might hear what I had to say. He thought that anyone who identified as being left politically could not be trusted. To vote labour was somehow un patriotic. Un Australian. He could not resist telling me how I should act and interfering in any anti war sentiment I expressed. For instance he would remove any bumper stickers I put on my car protesting against the war and conscription. I found this humiliating. I felt this showed how little he respected me. I never forgave him. Neither did he ever protest when one of his acquaintances would say to me that I should be put up against a wall and shot for thinking the way I did. My father particularly hated it when I tried to grow my hair long. He stood in front of me and insisted I cut my hair. He stood over me and made me shave my mustache off. He wasn't alone in this. Adults would walk past me in the street and make scissor cutting motions at my hair. This happened in Wangaratta. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight I wonder if they ever reflected that only a limited window occurs when males can grow healthy long hair. Experience has told me that baldness exists for longer than long hair. Did my father ever think that I had a life of my own to lead? I don't think so. I found all this behavior unedifying and not worthy of so called adults. To me the crucial point was what if we reversed the situation. I saw it as a moral issue entirely. If Australia was artificially divided into North and South what should we do about it. Was it a legitimate exercise to try and re unify the country. If efforts were made to re unify the country should we accept resistance to our efforts by foreign military forces. Adults also believed that if we withdrew from Vietnam then all countries in between Vietnam and Australia would fall like domino's to Communism. One after another. All the way to Australia. I could not see the connection between the two and felt it was immoral to say so. To me a simple moral issue existed. What was Australia doing? Was there anything remotely correct in what it was doing. The answer was plainly No. It was plainly wrong. People should have voted against it. Finally I got a letter from The Department Of Army. There was no mistaking what it was. I believed it would tell me to report for National Service. This was the end of the process. Inside the envelope was a little card that said I was not needed at this time. However I should keep myself ready to be called up at any time. I later found that the explanation for this was that the call up had produced more people than were needed so they didn't take anyone whose birthday was past October. After all I had been through I felt a little disappointed. It was certainly an anti climax. I walked out of the house and told my girlfriend. I knew I would never be called up. 1966 made me. I had started out on the right politically. I finished 1966 on the left. Subsequent events have only radicalised me further. I still think people vote for the wrong reasons. No one I know ever applies morality when they come to vote. They will vote for immoral people time after time. I am convinced this makes them immoral also |
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