By Graeme Dawson
Like us all, I have been living in ‘environments’ of varied forms all my life.
For many of us from early years we have taken it/them for granted.
Most of us didn’t think about rain volumes and keeping records, but I have old brownish colored roneod records from the Yellingbo rain station dating back almost 100 years.
As a kid growing up in the ‘burbs’ we loved the Autumn leaf drop because that meant sweeping the leaves up into piles in the gutters and setting light to them. Smoke would rise through the streets. Then dad would light up the ubiquitous 44 gal drum incinerator down the back in which we disposed of anything we didn’t want.
That included old furniture, curtains, cushions, all household rubbish including food scraps – even a chook if it died.
When we celebrated Guy Fowkes night with a bonfire and crackers a guaranteed fire starter would be old tyres and sump oil.
It wasn’t until I started farming myself that I become conscious of recording rain and have keep records up until this day.
When planting crops for my dairy cattle to strip graze on, I studied and practiced, ‘Planting on the moon’.
No, I hadn’t gone off my head listening to Frank Sinatra wanting to fly to the moon, but I came to realize some of the power of the magnetic pull of the moon.
I found the moon controls the tides, women’s menstrual cycles and a time for plant seeds to shoot into life and grow.
I had to change my planting plan or the cockies would come up with a plan of their own.
Reason was that I had to wise up to the moon phases and plant just before the full moon – that moon would then cause the seeds to shoot ASAP.
Plant after the moon and they would lay dormant until the next moon – a moon cycle smorgasbord for the cockies who had wised up to realize you just had to walk up the rows and pick up a seeds every few steps.
Now I have to tread carefully here because it is easy to get into a row over climate change.
I understand much of what we humans are doing to the environment in terms of vehicular emissions in particular, which may have dire future consequences for us and our families.
No space here to talk about world deforestation, high water consuming rice crops and over grazing in the world.
Yes we are interfering with the God created harmonic balance and will pay the price.
What I have trouble with in ‘climate change’ speak per-se, is that we hear a lot about rising temperatures and not much about low records.
For 65 yrs. now I have not experienced temperatures as high as we had then. 114 Degrees F, twelve days in a row coming in from Adelaide and in my apprenticeship we worked outside on bare earth building sites in nothing but boots and shorts @108 degrees F, without thinking of knocking off due to the heat.
My old roneod Yellingbo records show far higher and lower temperatures and far higher rain totals and droughts that we have seen in my lifetime.
Yes we play with the environment at our own risk and most only see what they can with their eyes.
Aphids were a topic on a 3AW garden show recently and my mind went straight back to my young boyhood when I read “Half hours in a tiny world’. In that book I discovered that ants milk aphids as we milk cows.
Many Blessings as you ponder my ramblings.
Graeme Dawson, Chaplain to Community
