farmdoc's blog post number 332

‘All over, red rover’ is a croquet term. The red rover’s the last hoop. I first came across this saying, which I’ve used in a previous post, when Felicity Kennett said it to a waiting media pack the day her husband left politics in 1999. Last Monday morning as I left for work at 8:30, the echidna’s soil mound remained undisturbed. So it must have had a sound night’s sleep sheltered from the rain and wind. And it slept in. At least longer than I did. At 3:15 when I returned home, the first thing I did was look at the mound. But there was no mound. The echidna had neatly de-roofed it and decamped. As the photograph shows, it made a doughnut-shape depression. Very artistic. I thought that when it went, it’d go in the night. But self-apparently it felt safe enough to venture out in daylight. So folks, for the time being at least, the echidna story’s ended. If there’s more, and I doubt there will be, I’ll let you know. That’s my life here in Mole Creek. Sweetheart Vivienne comes and goes, wombats come and go, and now this echidna – whom I’ve named Rover – has too. Though a cliché, it’s nonetheless true that all good things come to an end. Rover’s brief visit was a good thing. No doubt. For me, anyway.