Re-turning to a More Normal Existence.

Well it has certainly been a week of strange happenings and some very tragic. Thankfully, other than being cut off on the roads and a very marshy garden, we have not been personally affected. On Monday a friend and I were to have gone into Toowoomba. I am very glad we didn't' as they had the dreadful tidal wave wash through the main streets and cause tragedy and destruction. It was truly amazing to see all the videos people had made of places that we knew and frequented. A number of T.V. channels had 24 hour coverage of the events. Thankfully some places had warning, as in Brisbane, so it helped to a certain extent.
The main problem is, that we have had so much rain in the last few months that the ground couldn't absorb any more and the dams, meant to hold the water, were full to capacity. But what can one do when there has been 10 years of drought, with dams almost empty and people in the towns on water restrictions, then, sudden out of the blue (or grey) the rain hammers down? You can't really have loads of empty dams waiting for the once in a decade flood. Or may be you can. That is up to the politicians
The road to our house is broken up and the tarmac washed away in ,any places leaving the bedrock. We couldn't get out for a few days and I had to change my work shifts.
Yesterday, going into a supermarket, I found no milk, no bread or potatoes, very little toilet paper, fruit and flour. This is partly due to the transport system being help up in places where the main roads have been damaged and bridges down. Also the Lockyer Valley, which is along the road to Toowoomba from Brisbane, the Warrego Highway, is one of Australia's fruit and veggie markets, and it has been flooded - so no harvesting. Terrible for the farmers. The Australians are from a hardy stock of survivors, so they will survive and the will power and caring that is coming through is amazing to see and read about.

Autumn

Summer is over as yesterday was the first day of autumn, well, officially. It hasn't been much of a summer by Aussie standards.
Yesterday evening I went with some friends to see ' Romeo and Juliet' acted in Queen's Park, Toowoomba. Every year they have a Shakespeare in the Park. We took our supper and bottles of wine. It was most enjoyable, especially as it was such a beautiful evening. The sky changed from blue to pearly grey as the sun set behind the trees; then to purple as the last birds fly over, Honey eaters, Gullahs and a few budgerigars. And the silhouettes of the magnificently sculptural Camphor Laurels stood out in the spotlights. There didn't seem to be any mossies about either, so it was very good.
This mornign I thought there was a different smell outside of the house. It wasn't unpleasant,butfamiliar and I couldn't place it. Going out-side to look about I realised it was from 2 big wattle trees that were in flower. A mass of pale lemon blossoms frothing over the trees. As they are the same as the mimosa family, you can understand what the distinctive scent was like.