Welcome to this week’s editorial,
One of my many daily pleasures is to take my dogs for a walk. They have their favourite route that takes them by all the key stops, perfumed no doubt, by other dogs earlier that day. I am very much of the opinion that the walk belongs to the dogs and not to me. This is their time to engage in the wider world, their wider world as much as mine.
But the walks also allow me time to refresh, to reset from the noise of life and to shut out, as best as able, the human issues at hand, from Covid to recessions and war, and focus instead on the nature of where I live route. From soaring pelicans and eagles, to tiny thornbills. Wildlife at every turn.
Today I stopped and watched Mrs Wallaby with Little Joey out of the pouch, both with their bellies capturing the warmth of the early morning sun that beamed in via a narrow shaft between trees to illuminate their otherwise cold, shadowy world.
Each and every day for years on years I have watched generations of these swamp wallabies that call this local strip of cliff, faced, coastal scrub their home. New ones are born, the old go to god, and the cycle continues year after year. Mostly there are one or two adults but of late there has been three. They are doing well and there is no shortage of food so they tend to stay put. Much like the little family of red-necked wallabies on my front lawn who delight in eating the new shoots of my lemon tree. To me it is their lawn and their garden as much as it is mine.
Once you stop, and begin to take in the moment, the bush around you comes alive with birdlife. You begin to notice the leaves changing, trees are coming into flower, and that the there is no silence. As you become more aware of the sounds you hear the added bass boom of the sea as waves slap at the shore. And then come the smells. The perfumes of the bush, the gumleaves warming in the sun as you pass the eucalypts, the smell of the salt and seaweed that drifts in from the east.
All of this is there to enjoy. To remind us to marvel that we are alive on a planet hurtling through space. A rich reminder to look at it all from a fresh perspective. If only we learn to stop for a minute and drink it all in. The wildlife is always there. It is just a matter of stopping and, with the right eye, seeing it. The pounding of the surf is a constant for most of us who live within 100 metres of the sea. We just need to listen and stand in awe of how absolutely fortunate we are to even exist to see it all. The nature of it all is overwhelming.
But for one reason or another we appear to think of ourselves as being outside of nature and not part of it. Our human condition seems to think that nature is simply a nice wallpaper. Rarely do we take time to remind ourselves that we are also nature and our very being is tied to our surrounds. We exist because of six inches of topsoil and rain. Like every other land animal, plant or bird on the planet. A lungful of sea air, a chorus of birdcall and the curious morning stare of a mother wallaby can remind us and reset our values.
Generation after generation of wallabies have watched most of us hurry by from one important task to the next in our very noisy lives. I watch dogs being ‘dragged’ along on their walks. No sniffs, no stops for a pee, just short leads with a “Heel, Heel” and a reluctant “Sit” at every intersection. Much like the Mad Rabbit most of the daily dog walkers seem to be in an awful hurry to somewhere.
Without question many of us are living in difficult times. Along with Covid stress there is financial stress, and of late, survival stress as food costs rise along with fuel, gas, and just about everything else. These stresses only add to the residue that still lingers on in many of us from the days of the bushfires. We were reminded of our mortality and challenged to reconsider what was important in life. Time are changing as more and more people exodus the “grind” and look for a life change. This our housing crisis.
There is much to worry about in a world with so many uncertainties. But one thing we can all do is to go for a walk. To disengage from the noise and to stop for a minute to drink in the air, to listen to the sea, to watch the birds and the wallabies, and to reset.
We all chose to live in this stunning corner of the Earth, and from time to time we need to remind ourselves why.
Until next
lei
