TheBanyanTree: St Andrews Day, Sydney

[Peter Macinnis]

St Andrews Day is here, and the colour has almost gone from the
jacarandas -- winds in the last couple of days have snatched away most
of the flowers.  We are battened down for a forecast 42 degrees
Celsius today, even on the coast -- that is about 108F, triggered by
hot nor-westers coming in off the dry inland, later in the day. In
France, thousands would die at these temperatures, here, a few will
probably die.

Our slumbers were interrupted this morning by the sound of sirens -- 
usually we hope it is a fire engine, because more than half their
call-outs are false alarms, unlike the ambulance service, but this
time, we had to hope for an ambulance.  Later in the day, we won't
know what to hope for, but it will only take one idiot and the
firestorms will roar.

Looking out my office window, 45 degrees round from the droopingly
dejected jacarandas, the magpies are sulking in their nest across the
road, the lorikeets are silent, and the air conditioning has just
died.  There are no birds to be seen or heard, and the cicadas have
fallen silent.

We are dressed in beach wear, so we are somewhat prepared for whatever
happens. Outside, the clouds are still and the trees are placid,
suggesting that the winds may not get up, the oven-warmed western air
may not get here. The state is under a total fire ban, so low winds
are a boon. Sadly, the forecast is that it will get hot and gusty
later, and the cloud is clearing from the west. The radar screen shows
nothing in the way of rain for 300 km to the northwest, suggesting
that there is little cloud coming our way.

We appear to be in for a bumpy ride, and we seem to have run out of
seat belts.  Once, I was a small boy on an overly large bike,
careering down a slope to a drop of several feet.  I have the same
know of foreboding in the pit of my stomach that I had then -- I just
hope we find another soft garden bed to drop into.

peter