DianaOut of the mouth of babes in the bush...
April 28th 2008 00:31
Have you noticed the increased use of pictures of almost naked men and women in Orble? All of a sudden? Pity.
Now, where was I???? Oh yes:
In the 'back blocks' of Emu we own 200 odd acres of land. In earlier years we used to have a few hardy sheep there but for a long time now it has been locked up and left to re-develop its own environment.
Due to be tagged 'Land for Wildlife', jelously coveted by the DNRE to be labelled 'enviromentally precious' we re-visted this land on the weekend and guess what: the kids have fallen in love! (better they fall in love with bush than a new computer game, eh??)
I must admit it is a very special place in my memory. It was in this bush, some as near-virgin as you will get around the district, I taught the two girls as toddlers, how to track animals, identify rare orchids and walk silently and trackless. Early on they learnt to recognize the plover's call, screech of different owls and identify thumps of a mob of greys or a solitary swamp wallaby.
This weekend the bush was invigorated and scented following recent showers of tantalising rain. The kids bounded off ahead of me with their dog leaping in front and were soon lost in the deep scrub. Re-emerging excitedly half an hour later (telling me the collie had led them 'home') they were in awe of the prisitine, thick bush and abundant wildlife.
My son wanted to build a 'camp' and 'go on a hunt'. The girls wanted compasses and to do do orienteering. The dog wanted rabbits. (yes, abundant wildlife both native and feral, of course!)
The following day they begged me to take them back, which of course I did, and showed them the tricky way through the bush to the big dam in the middle.
On the way back to the wicked city that night, conversation turned to global warming n stuff, and Lisa said:
"You know mum, if my friends could get out of the city and see the bush like at Emu, or if everyone could, they would realise the world was worth saving.."
"My friend Greg said he didn't go outside all last weekend", volunteered Michael. "How can we get him to see 'the bush'? He just wants to play computer games all the time. Is that greenhouse gas, mum?"
Matty said her friends never went beyond the fringes of suburbia on weekends though many of them wanted to come to 'the farm' cos they were so bored.
The kids decided that they had to get more people to see the beauty of the world so that they could see it was 'worth' the effort of saving.
It struck me as terrible that our kids could judge that the adults in charge of their world had deemed it 'not worth saving'.
The earth: not worth it? Is that the way it looks to kids???
What do the kids in your life have to say on the matter? Would love to know...
Now, where was I???? Oh yes:
In the 'back blocks' of Emu we own 200 odd acres of land. In earlier years we used to have a few hardy sheep there but for a long time now it has been locked up and left to re-develop its own environment.
Due to be tagged 'Land for Wildlife', jelously coveted by the DNRE to be labelled 'enviromentally precious' we re-visted this land on the weekend and guess what: the kids have fallen in love! (better they fall in love with bush than a new computer game, eh??)
I must admit it is a very special place in my memory. It was in this bush, some as near-virgin as you will get around the district, I taught the two girls as toddlers, how to track animals, identify rare orchids and walk silently and trackless. Early on they learnt to recognize the plover's call, screech of different owls and identify thumps of a mob of greys or a solitary swamp wallaby.
This weekend the bush was invigorated and scented following recent showers of tantalising rain. The kids bounded off ahead of me with their dog leaping in front and were soon lost in the deep scrub. Re-emerging excitedly half an hour later (telling me the collie had led them 'home') they were in awe of the prisitine, thick bush and abundant wildlife.
My son wanted to build a 'camp' and 'go on a hunt'. The girls wanted compasses and to do do orienteering. The dog wanted rabbits. (yes, abundant wildlife both native and feral, of course!)
The following day they begged me to take them back, which of course I did, and showed them the tricky way through the bush to the big dam in the middle.
On the way back to the wicked city that night, conversation turned to global warming n stuff, and Lisa said:
"You know mum, if my friends could get out of the city and see the bush like at Emu, or if everyone could, they would realise the world was worth saving.."
"My friend Greg said he didn't go outside all last weekend", volunteered Michael. "How can we get him to see 'the bush'? He just wants to play computer games all the time. Is that greenhouse gas, mum?"
Matty said her friends never went beyond the fringes of suburbia on weekends though many of them wanted to come to 'the farm' cos they were so bored.
The kids decided that they had to get more people to see the beauty of the world so that they could see it was 'worth' the effort of saving.
It struck me as terrible that our kids could judge that the adults in charge of their world had deemed it 'not worth saving'.
The earth: not worth it? Is that the way it looks to kids???
What do the kids in your life have to say on the matter? Would love to know...
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Comment by Diana
Eyes On Oz
you aint been looking very hard: there have been 2 saucy women pictures and one of a six-packed man advertising some type of 'creamy' substance, supposedly edible, with the caption something like: "the best thing you could put in your mouth..". I don't really care, just noticed it suddenly happening.....
Just lowers the tone somewhat, but who cares???