Queensland guys OK?

[yossie]

I read a news about the flood, All of you are safe right?

[El Presidente]

We are fine Yoss. The north of our state is a mess. I mentioned in another thread that the land mass the size of Texas is underwater. There are crocs swimming through the back yards of homes. Smithy has family in that part of Australia, they are wet but fine.

[asmith]

We are fine Yoss. The north of our state is a mess. I mentioned in another thread that the land mass the size of Texas is underwater. There are crocs swimming through the back yards of homes. Smithy has family in that part of Australia, they are wet but fine.

I actually haven't heard from my parents for a week they have not been able to leave their house as they are surrounded by water. The joys of Australia fire storms at one end of the country and floods at the other, almost Biblical really?

[Ken Gargett]

saddest thing about all that was the little kid that got taken by a croc.

[Fuzz]

saddest thing about all that was the little kid that got taken by a croc.

Just read about that. Kid's older brother was right there when it happend.

[yossie]

saddest thing about all that was the little kid that got taken by a croc.

It's very awful to hear..

[Ken Gargett]

Just read about that. Kid's older brother was right there when it happend.

the report i read said the kid's father was with him (though that doesn't make it right). he apparently jumped in after to chase it - it was about 3m - but no luck. i believe the father was a local ranger. they have asked that no crocs be shot in retaliation.

[Fuzz]

the report i read said the kid's father was with him (though that doesn't make it right). he apparently jumped in after to chase it - it was about 3m - but no luck. i believe the father was a local ranger. they have asked that no crocs be shot in retaliation.

Yeah, the father was nearby working on a boardwalk (owned some sort of tourist venture). Dove in after hearing the older son's screams. Feel sorry for both kids. That's no way to go and not something you want to see.

[smokem]

Hope things turn out all right, at least as right as they can be.

[Trevor2118]

I Love A Sunburnt Country

by Dorothea MacKellar

The love of field and coppice,

Of green and shaded Lanes,

Of ordered woods and gardens,

Is running in your veins;

Strong love of grey-blue distance,

Brown streams and soft, dim skies -

I know but cannot share it,

My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of drought and flooding rains,

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel sea,

Her beauty and her terror -

The wide brown land for me.

The tragic ring-barked forests

Stark white beneath the moon,

The sapphire-misted mountains,

The hot gold hush of noon.

Green tangle of the brushes

Where lithe lianas coil,

An orchids deck the tree-tops

And ferns the crimson soil.

Core of my heart, my country!

Her pitiless blue sky,

When sick at heart around us

We see the cattle die -

But then the grey clouds gather

And we can bless again

The drumming of an army,

The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!

Land of the Rainbow Gold,

For flood and fire and famine,

She pays us back threefold;

Over the thirsty paddocks,

Watch, after many days,

The filmy veil of greenness

That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,

A wilful, lavish land -

All you who have not loved her,

You will not understand -

Though Earth holds many splendours,

Wherever I may die,

I know to what brown Country

My homing thoughts will fly.

[JMH]

Terrible news about that poor kid.

[bolivr]

Thanks Trevor, a thought-provoking read in the circumstances.

[sounddust]

I Love A Sunburnt Country

by Dorothea MacKellar

The love of field and coppice,

Of green and shaded Lanes,

Of ordered woods and gardens,

Is running in your veins;

Strong love of grey-blue distance,

Brown streams and soft, dim skies -

I know but cannot share it,

My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of drought and flooding rains,

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel sea,

Her beauty and her terror -

The wide brown land for me.

The tragic ring-barked forests

Stark white beneath the moon,

The sapphire-misted mountains,

The hot gold hush of noon.

Green tangle of the brushes

Where lithe lianas coil,

An orchids deck the tree-tops

And ferns the crimson soil.

Core of my heart, my country!

Her pitiless blue sky,

When sick at heart around us

We see the cattle die -

But then the grey clouds gather

And we can bless again

The drumming of an army,

The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!

Land of the Rainbow Gold,

For flood and fire and famine,

She pays us back threefold;

Over the thirsty paddocks,

Watch, after many days,

The filmy veil of greenness

That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,

A wilful, lavish land -

All you who have not loved her,

You will not understand -

Though Earth holds many splendours,

Wherever I may die,

I know to what brown Country

My homing thoughts will fly.

Thank you, Trevor. Truly a poem for our time.