25 th January 2015: Fire at Leda Reserve

Aerial and ground fire crews have spent the past few hours putting out a fire in Leda Reserve that was dangerously close to Leda and the Village at Wellard. We have been watching the stunning co-ordination of the  teamwork of fire fighters, pilots, the SES and police and others. We stood in the flickering shadows cast by the chopper blades on our gardens. The Australia Day fireworks tomorrow night will pale by comparison. 

You are just a seed...

A 1962 televised cartoon series , 'The Jetsons',  could be called a seed for television programmes in the science fiction genre. Made in colour, 'The Jetsons'  explored every future technological option that society might face and use in it's social structure. Later, in 1965, the early black and white episodes of 'Lost in Space' were put to air in America, before migrating to New Zealand and Australia. Avid followers watched the use of communication devices, teleportation, space blankets, silver insulation fabric and velcro. I am sorry to say this  but I grew up with life on  the Jupiter 2, not 'Neighbours'. It was fantastic. 

During the same year, the British went one step further and brought us the 'Thunderbirds'. The concept was based on  an international rescue team formed by an ex-astronaut... this was a hybrid formulation created as a result of the making of early comics, film and sci-fi programmes. 

Each series had it's own individual format, using notions of space travel and NASA for reference. Man hadn't yet landed on the moon*. These programmes then seeded spin-offs and rival programmes such as 'Star Trek', becoming the reference for narrative and space culture used in entertainment on T.V. 

Dheborah.

(*Age signifier)

The Dune

"Oooh...aaaagh, oooh...aaaagh" the lyrics said. "An ice-cream saved the day, again". I listened to the song as I was driving and wondered what the words meant. It was probably about someone's kids. Today, as I assembled a cupboard, it hit me. This could have been written about a day  I had at the beach a few years ago. It was uncanny. In New Zealand, the only poisonous spider can be found under driftwood along quiet coastlines. This was "Oz". I bet it was a redback...they are everywhere. There are moments when first aid is not an option: this was one of them. If I hadn't been a female, I may have understood his immense courage during  that painful moment. I knew he was suffering but the best I could do was give him an ice-cream.  He stifled any comments about his burning, physically nauseating pain  and ate the ice-cream.  I am glad he managed to keep his cool in a moment of sheer agony (actually, this moment lasted  a couple of hours, now I come to think of it) when he got bitten on the testicle by a  nasty, horrible little dune spider. 

Digital illustration: tiny hummingbird

...of the Cave

Desert Banded Snake

This tiny, beautiful snake was lying  outside the hospital ambulance bay two nights ago. Desert Banded snakes usually burrow just under sandy surfaces, hence most sightings are at night. In the dark, against her gold body, her black stripes were a vivid red and black. On the top of her head was a lacy black pattern. She looked dangerous, despite her size. I emailed her image to a snake information site to identify her species. "Simoselaps Bertholdi", I was told.  Mildly venomous, she kills and eats skinks, legless lizards and geckos. Her venom neurotoxins are not known.  Diminutive, this little snake never grows much more than 20 centimetres in length and looks not unlike a wild, tropical worm. Recent hot, spring weather and  hail storms probably disturbed her. First recorded in the 1800's, one hot January, she is often referred to as "Jan's Banded snake". This snake is sometimes killed when mistaken for a baby Tiger snake by the misinformed.  Basically, the experts advise: leave her alone…she is very reluctant to bite and isn't thought to be of  any danger. She is, despite the local presence of  much larger and deadlier Dughites, Death Adders and Black tiger snakes...kind of cool.

Words fell from the sky...