A perfect day: a woman, a mountain, and a cup of tea

Occasionally one comes along: A day much better than average. Perfect. Or close to it. Yesterday was one such day. Naturally Sweetheart Vivienne and I spent it together. For without her one of those days’d be impossible. After a leisurely porridge breakfast we set out for Cradle Mountain – 80 km to Mole Creek’s west [1]. But first we packed warm clothing – beanies, gloves, scarves – as the forecast maximum temperature was 5°C. Nothofagus gunnii – Tasmania’s only deciduous native plant [2] – puts on a vivid autumn display (pictured), and yesterday we aimed to view its 2010 performance. We walked for two hours, savouring each moment. One way from Dove Lake car park to Ronny Creek past Crater Falls. There were some ups and downs, of course. It was aerobic at times, but nothing overly strenuous. The Nothofagus was, at a guess, 7-10 days past its prime. Disappointing? Not at all. At Ronny Creek, awaiting the shuttlebus, we ate leftover roast chicken and potato from Friday’s dinner. It was scrumptious. But as Sweetheart Vivienne often says, all food tastes delicious out there. After the shuttlebus dropped us at the transit terminal, we each savoured a mid afternoon hot drink: She a skinny latte; me (given this [3]) a cup of tea. Then, replete with this and our nature deficit disorder antidote, we headed home. After a day like that, life’s okay. Calm. Mellow. Balanced. Thank you Cradle Mountain; and Sweetheart Vivienne.

P.S. Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers today. (I hope I placed the apostrophe correctly.)

farmdoc's blog post number 569

Mole Creek has a public swimming pool. Built about 25 years ago, it’s an outdoor pool in the village’s centre, it has a fine view out over the mountains, and it’s run by the community (i.e. the Mole Creek Swimming Centre Association Inc.). Each winter it’s closed to swimmers and covered by a pool blanket. Then each late spring it’s emptied for cleaning and refilling ahead of the summer swimming season. And who better to pump it out than the Mole Creek Fire Brigade – because we’re local and we’re pumpers extraordinaire. Last Saturday was warm and sunny – perfect for emptying a swimming pool. Once our 3-man crew set up and started our two portable pumps (pictured), we had lots of time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. I’m sorry I didn’t take reading matter. Watching a pool empty is like watching grass grow. Or paint dry. It took 4½ hours all up. Because the pool’s not chlorinated over winter, hundreds of tadpoles were in the pool – training for the next frog Olympics. We pumped them out with the water, and hopefully their training’s continuing in a nearby creek. I wonder if they’ll grow up to be Pobblebonks. We pumped the water from the pool’s deep end. And as soon as the shallow end’s floor was dry, the pool crew moved in with a pressure washer to clean the floor and walls. All this happened the day before Celebrate Tasmania Day 2009 – whose theme was volunteering. Yes, being a volunteer sure feels good.

farmdoc's blog post number 567

Today’s Celebrate Tasmania Day. Its slogans are ‘Tasmania – worth celebrating’ and ‘It’s time to celebrate what’s great about Tasmania’. Today Tasmanians are being exhorted to select from this smorgasbord: think what makes us Tasmanians, celebrate everything good about life in Tasmania, stop and collectively enjoy each others’ company, learn the names of our neighbours, say g’day to them if we already know their names, play cricket in the park, get together for a community BBQ, visit somewhere in Tasmania we’ve never been before, attend a CTD event, and (for reasons unclear to me) print out and build this pinwheel. I’m doing none of these things. I think CTD’s superficial, jingoistic, banal and stupid. It’s a top-down event and not a grassroots one. So someone has an agenda. I wonder if it’s the State Election in March 2010. It makes sense: it’s only a short mental hop from the good things in Tasmania, to re-electing the incumbent government so the good things can continue. It’d be much more productive if Tasmanians spent CTD discussing how to improve Tasmania. But top of that list would be to vote out the pack of pathetic individuals who masquerade as the current government. So that’s not on the agenda. Yesterday I wrote that I don’t go in for herd activities. That puts me in the vast minority among my half million fellow Tasmanians – who will undoubtedly do what they’re told today. More fool them.