One of my greatest pleasures is to walk along the banks of the Maranoa River, cross at the Old Crossing (yes, my feet get wet!), say "Hello" to my egret friend,
then wander through the bush of this semi-arid region.
At first glance all seems blue-grey in colour and the same. On closer inspection though, all sorts of different trees and shrubs emerge and I find myself learning new botanical names and recording the appearance of each specimen using water colour paints and brushes.
One of my favourite trees is the Bimble box (Eucalyptus populnea, also called poplar box because of the distinctive poplar shape of its leaves). Bimble box leaves are round and glossy dark green on both sides. As sunshine catches their surface, they shine and shimmer. Whenever a breeze plays in the treetops the leaves of the Bimble box play a soft subtle tune – the music of the bush.
After rain, the combined smell of eucalyptus and warm red earth fill my nostrils. Along along with Bimble box music, all my senses are activated.
I feel whole.
PS
The third and fourth photos show the Maranoa River, over the road from our home.
The first three things I noticed about Mitchell were the friendliness of the people; the strong community spirit; and the amazing amount of talent shown across a wide range of interests.
In Mitchell you get the feeling that anything is possible.
The opening of the annual quilt exhibition was held last Saturday at the Mitchell Gallery. A huge selection of locally created quilts gave the enthusiastic crowd a taste of the talent and creativity within this group of quilters. Afternoon tea was served offering
a delicious spread of home-made cakes and savouries.
This past week has included some good and some not so good situations. I'll deal with the negatives first.
Doug had a trip to Toowoomba for a difficult wisdom tooth extraction. He arrived home two days later with a very painful, swollen face, as well as bruising to his neck. One week later and he's feeling a lot better but is still eating a liquid diet. He is longing for a salad!
Last week our 17 1/2 year old Siamese cat came down with a serious bladder and kidney infection. She got very sick very quickly. Fortunately we have excellent vets in Roma, who visit Mitchell twice-weekly. Katie ended up in their animal hospital for three days, but thankfully there was no kidney damage and she was given a clean bill of health. Apparently she was very talkative, which of course, is typical of Siamese. She was very pleased to to get home to all her various sun porches and routines. She is the most affectionate and loving animal friend we've ever had.
Now for the more pleasant
aspects to our week. Today we spent an hour or so exploring the area upstream from the bridge at a place called Sladdies. This is a place we haven't been to since the February 2012 flood, so we were astonished to see the quantity of sand that was deposited on the banks of the river and the debris caught high up in the branches of river red gums. The quantity of water that swept down the river, and the force it produced must have been incredible.
Over the past seven years, late afternoon walks with my dog Major (along the Maranoa River, over the footbridge and up the eastern bank) have been my usual routine. Now things are different.
The disastrous flood of February 2012 damaged the road and footbridge, changed the vegetation along the riverbank and inundated a large percentage of the township of Mitchell.
The new bridge is nearing completion but it lacks the charm of the old one, whose pylons are decorated with colorful murals. These will go.
At least two bottle trees and many majestic river red gums have also disappeared. And the footbridge is obsolete too, replaced by a walkway on the new bridge.
Change is always difficult, but we must look towards the future. I believe that someone with artistic flair will think of something creative to adorn the new bridge: the gateway to our outback town.
Eventually the riverbank will lose its heavy machinery and the
ugly scar will be smoothed over. Trees will be planted and new walkways created. I will, however, miss the murals, footbridge, bottle trees, river red gums and the old mulberry tree; but who knows, maybe the future 'look' will be even better. I hope so. Actually, I believe so, as Mitchell and the surrounding area holds a nucleus of exceptionally talented artists.
Let's see what we can achieve!
Doug's birthday was celebrated with a picnic lunch at the Major Mitchell Campsite, north of Mitchell. The day was mild, overcast and still, prior to steady rain the following day.
Before lunch we walked down to the Maranoa River and then followed it upstream for about 1 km. River she oaks in flower; slender white-trunked river red gums; pieces of fossilised tree trunk and roots; burrs; fungi; chunks of coal;
cliffs studded with mysterious large round rocks; and places where feral pigs had dug up the ground in search of roots – these and much more made our progress interesting.
On the way home we stopped at the top of Orchard Hill to look at the plants growing in the red sand. I love this place. It has a distinct warm, arid, bush smell and the plants are fascinating – diverse and hardy. As usual, I arrived home with seven new plants to add to my collection of drawings.
Major and Del are in disgrace. Doug let them out at 6:30 AM and because they chose not to come in again, they were left outside, where they have beds on the veranda. When we got up at 7:30 AM we found Doug's newly planted vegetable garden dug up, with spinach and broccoli plants spread all over the grass, and a gardening glove chewed. They were not popular!
Fortunately the roots hadn't dried out so the vegetables were replanted and a wire fence erected around the garden.
Del said it wasn't her idea and that Major made her do it! Two sets of dog prints was sufficient evidence to scold both dogs. Talk about payback!
