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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For the past 6 weeks it has been my privilege to be responsible for 3 kangaroos. These 3 Kangaroos are orphans that have been raised by an animal welfare person - Shirley - who lives in Benalla. They are all survivors of traffic accidents. They are all approximately 14 months old. They had the run of Shirley's house until recently when she moved them outside in order to get them used to being released into the wild. She has brought them to me to allow them to integrate slowly into the landscape at our place. We have both open and treed country.
Of the 3 one has more or less moved into the landscape and has only been home twice. Of the other two - one I call little Skip - has stayed close to home and comes home most nights. The other one comes home every 3 or 4 nights. Skip likes to go with him but seems to lose him after a day or so. All three were still being bottle fed when they arrived and all three still like a feed when they come home. The first thing they demand when they arrive is a bottle. For a few days we could sometimes see them moving around in the open country exploring the place. Since then they have moved into the overgrown areas and keep themselves under cover. When they arrived we had a small section at the back door enclosed because Shirley wasn't sure how they would react if they were just set free. After 2 days we took down the shade cloth barriers and allowed them to go free. They coped remarkably well. They didnt panic or run off. They slowly had a look around. They saw the trees and gravitated towards them. They seemed to blend into the landscape very easily. They looked very much at home very quickly. One night early on some local Kangaroos came into the yard and had a good look at them. It is possible seeing that we have only seen one kangaroo since then that she immediately integrated with them. I believe that this kangaroo is a female. The two that still keep in touch are males. This makes sense as females would be accepted much more readily than males into the wider mob. I would love nothing else rather than have a pet Kangaroo that lives inside the house and lies on the sofa next to me keeping me company and talking to me occasionally as we watch TV. But this was not the intention when Shirley raised them by hand. The object was always to re introduce them into the wild. So we have a balance to aim at. They may always be aware of our presence and always see us as a benign force in their lives. But hopefully they will live most of their lives in the bush. The only worry I have is the road. We live on a gravel road with not much traffic but there are a heartbreaking number of kangaroos killed on this road. The human beings who live around here are immoral creatures who have little concern for the native wildlife. This is a sore point with me. Some farmers believe it or not have licences to kill 100 kangaroos a year. No one cares if they kill kangaroos with their cars. We shall see. Little Skip indicates that he would like to come inside but so far I haven't let him. He puts his head through the door and jumps inside but I quickly usher him out. In my short time with these little Kangas I have come to some conclusions. 1. I don't think they readily distinguish one human from another. All humans look alike to them. 2. I'm fairly sure they recognise each other. They are pack animals. But we humans can be in their pack also. I'm fairly sure of this. 3. They live in the moment. They don't think about the next 20 minutes or the last 20 seconds. They live in a constant bubble. 4. They are without guile. They are innocent creatures who trust everything until they panic and then they panic completely. Afterword. All 3 kangaroos have departed from our immediate area. We have a neighbor with a large dog - a cross between great dane and greyhound. This dog is very large. It is a friendly dog and likes chasing animals. It has several times wandered here and discovered we have Kangaroos. On one occasion it came it saw them and chased them but they managed to get away. The next time it came it saw a mob about 2 kilometres away and immediately went into a wild flap and ran until it caught the mob. It then chased them until it separated a young kangaroo from the mob and then chased it until it caught the kangaroo and killed it. He didnt so much attack the young kangaroo meaning to kill it - only to catch it. But of course it broke the kangaroos neck. The dog is so big and so strong it is impossible to get it to stop. It can jump a fence a metre high without any problem. Even 2 metres would not cause it any problem. It can run flat out for 5 or 6 kilometres. The little Kangaroo that was killed was not one of my kangaroos. But my little kangaroos having been chased away are not likely to come back. Why would they trust me enough to come back? Now what are we to make of this? I once visited a neighbor when Jess was alive and I asked her where her dogs were because Jess always liked to say hello. She just said 'Oh they are away in the bush bashing roos". No further explanation was necessary. Farmers do not give any importance to the deaths or otherwise of native animals. If the dog had killed a sheep instead of a kangaroo it would have been a big thing. Much more concern would have been shown The dog would most probably be dead by now. As it is the dog is looked on with sympathy. Some people would even call it heroic. I think this sums up all conservative voting australians. I grew up embedded in a society where these values were prevalent. |
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