Bert, what utter nonsense
It’s raining! Serious, bounteous, beautiful rain! It started on Sunday night and up until 9am this morning we’d had 130mm. And it’s just what we needed.
It’s always dry here during winter, but the last wet season (summer/autumn: December to May) was dry too. The creek on this property stopped running about a month ago, and previous to that had been trickling only thanks to some underground springs. This has happened a few times before, but it’s rare. And this little creek usually joins a larger one in the next property. That larger one also stopped running. My Dad can only remember this happening once before, and he’s lived in this area all his life.
The cattle have troughs to drink from, so they’re okay. But the creatures that normally live in the creeks? I don’t know whether they can migrate. I found a yabbie earlier this year, for the first time ever. And I’ve seen rats running into little caves on the creekbank. And a big goanna. And usually there are two ducks. What happens to them in a drought? I don’t know. Probably something tragic.
And that’s the context for what I’m about to tell you. Little-Pup and I were out walking this morning in the aforementioned rain. It was windy. I was struggling with an umbrella. I turned to Little-Pup and said (and this is word-for-word exact): “Oh, this rain! Goodness, how annoying it is!”
... Goodness?? ... How annoying it is?? ...
It's raining for the first time in thousands of years and I find it annoying?? And (infinitely more horrifying): when did I start saying "Goodness!"? What the hell’s going on? Have I started channelling Mary Poppins**?
**The film Mary Poppins (based on a series of books) was a live-action/animation from Walt Disney in 1964.
From IMDb’s “Memorable Quotes from Mary Poppins” (edited a bit):
[Mary Poppins, a nanny, and the children in her care, Jane & Michael, meet up with Bert, who - though burdened by the heaviest Cockney accent in the universe - has created a beautiful chalk drawing on the pavement. He tries to take them into the picture-world.]
It’s always dry here during winter, but the last wet season (summer/autumn: December to May) was dry too. The creek on this property stopped running about a month ago, and previous to that had been trickling only thanks to some underground springs. This has happened a few times before, but it’s rare. And this little creek usually joins a larger one in the next property. That larger one also stopped running. My Dad can only remember this happening once before, and he’s lived in this area all his life.
The cattle have troughs to drink from, so they’re okay. But the creatures that normally live in the creeks? I don’t know whether they can migrate. I found a yabbie earlier this year, for the first time ever. And I’ve seen rats running into little caves on the creekbank. And a big goanna. And usually there are two ducks. What happens to them in a drought? I don’t know. Probably something tragic.
And that’s the context for what I’m about to tell you. Little-Pup and I were out walking this morning in the aforementioned rain. It was windy. I was struggling with an umbrella. I turned to Little-Pup and said (and this is word-for-word exact): “Oh, this rain! Goodness, how annoying it is!”
... Goodness?? ... How annoying it is?? ...
It's raining for the first time in thousands of years and I find it annoying?? And (infinitely more horrifying): when did I start saying "Goodness!"? What the hell’s going on? Have I started channelling Mary Poppins**?
**The film Mary Poppins (based on a series of books) was a live-action/animation from Walt Disney in 1964.
From IMDb’s “Memorable Quotes from Mary Poppins” (edited a bit):
[Mary Poppins, a nanny, and the children in her care, Jane & Michael, meet up with Bert, who - though burdened by the heaviest Cockney accent in the universe - has created a beautiful chalk drawing on the pavement. He tries to take them into the picture-world.]
Bert : I'll do it myself.
Mary Poppins : Do what?
Bert : A bit of magic. It's easy. You think... you wink... you do a double blink. You close your eyes, and JUMP!
[Nothing happens.]
Jane : Is something supposed to happen?
Mary Poppins : Bert, what utter nonsense! Why do you always complicate things that are really quite simple? Give me your hand please, Michael, and don't slouch. One, two...
[And they jump.]
posted by D at 4:00 pm
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