Duckhole Lake

I've  walked into the Duckhole twice lately, the second time early this morning, and really enjoyed the experience both times. The first time was just after a really vicious wind storm had gone through the area a few weeks back, and it had been wet too. I took quite a few snaps on that trip and those are the ones I'll share with you here today. The forest seemed somehow more alive on that first walk, with mosses and lichens looking rich and vibrant. Today things were looking a little faded.. 

I have a lovely pair of walking boots and I'm trying to wear them in. They don't give me blisters, but the first several times I wore them, the soles of my feet seemed to be burning up. Today they were much better. I did something slightly different this time...didn't lace up the last set of eyelets...so I'm wondering if that meant more movement of my foot in the boot...or more air? Better circulation? I don't know. Perhaps I'm just finally starting to get used to them. I'll keep experimenting and see what happens. 

The weather has been dry for a few weeks and I could really see the changes in the bush along the track. Apart from the ground and foliage being drier, the creek was less frivolous than last time; this time it was just tinkering along. A special treat today was the appearance of first one, then two lyre birds. Alas, my camera was still in my pack at that time and I didn't want to miss watching them while I dug it out...so no pictures...but they were just delightful to watch. They danced in their funny tip-toe gait along the boardwalk ahead of us, darting now and then into the bush at the side of the track then back again to continue along in front. They appeared to be a couple, but there was no display of that beautiful lyre-shaped tail for us - just two largish brown birds trotting ahead. On the way back from the lake I kept my eyes peeled but they were nowhere to be seen despite several generous and fresh 'calling cards' left on the boardwalk. Photographic opportunity missed. It's a funny thing of mine; I like to do the first half of a 'return' walk without my camera in hand so that I can just enjoy the sights...then on the way back I have my camera out and ready to collect the lovely images I've seen along the way.

Going early in the day this time, we found the lake very still and quiet, although after sitting quietly for a little while we enjoyed a real show by the resident currawongs as they swooped and screeched and squawked above the lake, their black wings and tails edged in white lace. It was a noisy and raucous show, but they were quite elegant in an Aussie bush kind of way. I thought we might see snakes today but if they were there they kept out of sight. 

We are so blessed to have so many lovely walks close to home. My friend and I promised each other that we'd get out and walk a bit more often. It's too easy to be busy with work and family commitments and forget to be outside enjoying the beauty of it all. We forget when we're busy in our own little bubbles that all of nature is out there and getting on with living and dying and decaying to give nourishment to more living things. It never rests; it never stops. It's truly wonderful to know it's there but even better to get out and spend some time being enveloped by it all. 

Welcome to the Duckhole Lake walk!

Pretty little home for bush babies...slaters and centipedes perhaps?

Mossy Giant

Thanks to the lovely people who made the boardwalk. It makes for easy walking!

Chicken wire for non-slip safety.
Wearing in those walking boots...greater walks ahead!

Soft and fluffy lichens...fairy gardens.

Fairy Bells

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My favourites...handsome shelf fungi.

Beautiful, serene, Duckhole Lake...mountain backdrop shrouded in mist.

So many magical micro-habitats...aka  fairy gardens...transported back to childhood wonders.

Mystical. Magical. Tiny bush treasures.

Pink and pretty fungi

Mushrooms, toadstools everywhere...beautiful.

Isn't that something!

Gorgeous concentric arcs...fungi  I must invest in a field book so I can identify them!

A good step and a wedding in the family

Some years ago, during a time of considerable stress for our little family, my daughter began to show some rather strange symptoms...enough to send us to the doctor for a diagnosis. We feared some dreadful muscular disease had befallen her, or some kind of degenerative nervous disorder. She was twitching and moving her face in peculiar ways and for us as parents it was most distressing to see. The doctor couldn't see anything immediately obvious for a diagnosis...it was baffling. We had her eyes checked and they were fine. Fortunately we were open to alternative medicine and so before we headed into a barrage of possible medical tests, and due to some serendipity whereupon we had heard about hair analysis, we decided to snip a bit of her hair and send it off to see what we could find out. That might seem a little strange to some of you, but I've always had an interest in natural therapies and so it was not a hard step for me to take. 

The results came back and it seemed that she was intolerant to a number of foods that we ate regularly. None of them were processed foods; they were particular fruits, vegetables, nuts and so on. We immediately cut the renegade foodstuffs out of her diet and miracle of miracles, her symptoms disappeared within a few days...as if by magic! It was amazing to me at the time...but also such a relief to see her return to her 'old' self! Some of the foods that had caused the problems for her were her greatest favourites...so she ate them very often. I wonder if that is what caused the problem. Anyway, that is history...but I will quickly mention that she can recreate some of those symptoms even now if she overindulges in some fruits...food for thought. 

On the strength of that success, I have decided to send a snip of my own hair away for analysis. The same naturopath is still running his practice and I have faith that he can help me. I have had a range of annoying symptoms that I just can't seem to shift...and having played around with diet and nutrition so much over the years and read so much conflicting information I am just feeling confused and overwhelmed by it all. I hope to have the results back in a couple of weeks and I'll let you know how I go with it. I truly am so sick of feeling unwell and living at less than my best. I'm hoping this will be a good step...and one that will sort out the confusion and worry over what to eat and what not to. 

There are so many various therapies and programs around to support us in creating good health for ourselves. Have any of you had spectacular success with anything in particular? I'm sure other readers would be interested to hear if you would like to share your story. I would love to know what's working for you. 

The wedding

Today my thoughts are in many places. My niece is getting married in New South Wales and my  kids are both there to share the day and film the event for posterity. Whilst I couldn't be there, I'm thinking of all the people gathered together to celebrate this auspicious occasion, especially the bride's mum who is organising the catering for over 250 people!. Frances, you're a Superwoman!

True to form I have yet to post the wedding card, although I bought it weeks ago. My life is organised chaos...the important things always get done in the end, but not always in the order I think they will, or at the time I plan for them to be done. 

To Lauren and Andy, my very best wishes...I hope you have a beautiful day to remember always.. I reckon Uncle Bill will be keeping an eye on proceedings, and wishing he could have provided the home brew to keep all those revellers happy. 

With you all in spirit.

Love, Kerry

A Pain in My Heart

I've been told today, several times, that it's a waste of time trying to stop people from bullying. I've been told that it's part of life and people should just 'suck it up'. I've been told that there are worse problems in the world, like hundreds of thousands of people in slavery. I've been told that it's pointless really, caring in a world where there is so much wrong. I can't not care. I can't fix everything but I can write and ask people to care with me. I can ask people to feel the pain in their hearts too, and see if it will motivate them to take more notice of the suffering of others. It's not that I don't care about all those 'bigger' issues. I'm not blind to the fact that there is war and violence and poverty and hurting, hurting, hurting people in our world. If we don't begin with feeling the pain in our hearts for the people and things close to home...for people in our own homes, our own families, our own schools, our own communities...then how can we ever find the heart to care about those far distant? It has to start in our hearts...and it has to start here.

I went to Hobart today to attend the gathering to celebrate the successes of Chloe's Law...the movement to introduce anti-bullying and specifically anti-cyber-bullying laws into Tasmania. I went because I feel pain in my heart when I think about a young girl so taunted and tortured in her heart that she felt she had no option other than taking her life. Despite the fact that she had family and friends who loved and cared about her, she just couldn't cope with the abuse any longer. It pains me to think that some of the young people that knew her had not the decency to treat her as a feeling human being; a human being with a heart that can bear only so much pain. It worries me terribly that there is a generation, or perhaps two, that have inexplicably moved somehow distant from the ability to have empathy for another human being. 

I threw a comment away the other day about children having to learn empathy. A mother of a young child challenged me and said her son, although only three and a half years old, shows empathy readily. He is quick to respond if anyone is sad. He immediately wants to help. He will put an arm around them. I think she's right. My own children always showed great empathy and caring towards other people and towards animals. They seemed to want to take care of everything. How many of you have seen a child rescue a fly or a beetle, or had them plead with you to take care of an injured bird? For most of us, if not all, I think we are born with emotional intelligence...with a natural ability to feel the pain of another being and to want to help ease the pain. So what happens to it? Why does there seem to be a lack of empathy in so many people these days? 

Could it be that some of us have become desensitised to distress by watching so many tv shows and movies that are based on murder, torture and violence. Have we ceased to understand that these things are not right? Think about it. If you invite visions of murder and violence into your home on a daily basis, via tv or even X Box and video games (I'm not right up with the lingo, but you know the things I'm talking about here)...if you do that, isn't it reasonable to imagine that you might become desensitised to the horror of it all. Isn't it reasonable to imagine that perhaps those things become somehow more 'acceptable' to you? I wonder. 

There is  quite a movement afoot now in education to introduce what is called 'social learning' to our students. Ethics are now part of the curriculum. It's great that we are teaching our young people to think more about why we do what we do, and what works well for community and what hurts community. We're all in this together. We all need each other. Our world is not a series of bubbles that we all live in and so are not touched by the ills of the rest. We are all connected. We are all one. When we hurt each other we hurt ourselves too. Social learning. How to work with, live with, cooperate with, collaborate with others to create a functional society in which every individual is valued for what they bring. We are all different; we are all the same. We can begin to feel empathy for others by starting to look for what is the same. "How is that other person like me?" we might ask. 

I can't do much. I can't make anyone do anything they don't want to do. But I can ask you to slow down and look at other people in a way that asks...how are they like me? If you can do that, you will find yourself beginning to think that others might have the same sorts of human frailties that you have yourself. Yes, you have them...we all do. We look for what is different and then we fear. We can't help it unless we make a conscious effort to change that and look for what is similar. You could start with the fact that you and indeed everyone else is human. We all belong to the human family. We all need to be accepted and loved as we are. Mostly we want some sort of recognition that lets us know we're worthwhile. Some people don't think they are, and I think sometimes they're the ones that hit out in anger about that. Someone hasn't let them know that they're worthwhile and worth loving...and they haven't figured it out for themselves yet. Please, if you can't love everyone in your life, if you can't love everyone around you, at least be kind. 

Some of the speakers today talked about kindness. Go away from here today with kindness in your heart they said. I read somewhere a sign that said "Kindness is my religion". What a great religion-a religion that needs no church, no priests, no bishops, no offering plate, no guilt, no rules, no sin, no threat of eternal fire...just the simple recognition of the fact that we can choose in all situations to be kind. Imagine if all of us everywhere made it our life's work to be kind in everything we did. What a new and different world we would wake up to. I know I'm not perfect, and I don't expect any of you to be either, but if you could just keep those two little words 'be kind' in the front of your mind...like a little voice reminding you all day long...and I'll try to do the same...maybe we can make a difference. Like the butterfly effect, the small changes we make in our lives affect those around us. Your small act of kindness ( a simple smile or holding a door open for someone) may just inspire the recipient to do the same. There are loads of kindness movements around the world at different points in time. There are Random Acts of Kindness, Free Hugs, and all sorts of others. Why do so many of these keep popping up on Youtube and Facebook and other places. I suspect it's because there are a lot of people out there who believe it is the only way we can mend ourselves and our planet. I refuse to share things about the vile things people do. We are all too well aware of those. Let's make a point of sharing with each other snippets of hope and encouragement to do the little good we can...and hope that the seeds we plant will grow a forest of caring.

If this motivates you in any way to change the way you've been living, please let me know. If you've ever been a bully, I'd like to know what it was that led you to that behaviour...did you lack love for yourself? I'd love to hear your story. In the meantime, I'll keep listening to my own heart...and if it tells me I need to care, then I'll be doing my best. Love to you all out there. Be kind to yourself by being kind to others.

I wrote a post last year after reading about Chloe's death. Read it here if you'd like to.
The Chloe's Law petition to the Australian Senate can be signed here