Late summer is upon us as February zooms along, the lawn is dry and crunchy and extreme fire danger days are in abundance; the school closes, work closes for many and its time to bunker down awaiting the inevitable pings on the Vic emergency app. The bags are packed, important documents scanned and the emergency kit is (mostly) at the ready.
The plants are watered early to help minimise the midday and late afternoon wilting.
Making the decision to stay at home for the day or get out of the valley with said packed bags is always tricky.. It’s a feeling of being on edge, it feels intense, it feels unnerving..that sense of being at the mercy of nature in this heightened season.
Thankfully in between these days there has been some respite. And this brings a big exhale, the stress flows away with a cool change in the weather, the rain arrives spattering the tin roof with the sound of relief, of shoulders relaxing, of heartbeats settling.
The birds start chirping again, and the bush relaxes too.
School has returned for the year and the routine was at first a shock after the long summer holidays, but we are finding our rhythm again and my daughter is feeling more relaxed in grade 1. Gradually adjusting to this strange landscape of school that I myself still struggle to accept on many levels. But we carry on.
Although Summer can be intense here in the state of Victoria; unpredictable as the bushfire threat is very real. I feel very lucky in the pocket of nature surrounding this valley, we have the river, the lush temperate rainforest, and there is still an abundance of green despite the overwhelming dry.. Of course we need more rain, but I feel grateful to be here, to have this land surrounding me, to feel a sense of being held within it.
The cooler winds of Autumn will be blowing through the towering gums before long as the season moves on.
But for now, I’m trying to keep calm in the house while the summery blustery wind gusts and scatters the crispy brown eucalypt leaves across the back verandah, holding tight to the predicted southerly change this evening when I can open all the doors and windows again.
I can’t help but think of the future, of this land of extremes, of fires and feeling like what is coming is much, much worse than anything I have ever experienced or anyone has for that matter…
