TheBanyanTree: 2020: That's a wrap!

[Optus Sal]

So glad you’ve settled in so well Robin.   I must say I’m relishing the cooler weather and won’t be at all upset if we get few days over 40 

It’s so frustrating to have to become super careful again after enjoying the freedom of COVID free days. Back to doonscrolling I guess 

Stay safe and have a safe and healthy new year. 

Sal xx

Sent from my iPhone

> On 31 Dec 2020, at 10:11 am, Robin Tennant-Wood <rtennantwood at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> This time last year I was preparing to evacuate. The bushfires that had
> been raging out of control for over a month to the north, south and east of
> my place, suddenly found a new direction on the back of 40-degree*
> temperatures and a wind straight out of the dragon's mouth. My neighbours
> and I convened hastily and decided that, with only one road still open and
> fire threatening that one, it was time to go.
> 
> Seven cats, three dogs and me in the car. Not a lot of room for much else,
> but I'd already stashed my most valuable possessions - art mostly, a few
> family heirlooms and my favourite books - in people's garages and back
> rooms in town in anticipation that an evacuation was inevitable.
> 
> I phoned a friend in town who'd already said that I was to go straight to
> her place when and if it became necessary. She was at work but her husband
> was home on holidays. After I'd arrived and we'd installed the animals in
> their new accommodation Dave said to me, did you get everything out?
> 
> I had to leave the Alfa, I said. Due to the fact that I can only drive one
> car at a time, and ten animals won't fit in my beloved Alfa Romeo soft-top
> sports car, I'd had to leave it at home.
> 
> Bugger that, said Dave, c'mon, we'll go get it.
> 
> We drove back to my place through smoke that, in some places, reduced
> visibility to 20 or 30 metres. Usually a 30 minute drive, it took closer to
> an hour. This was the day everything went pear-shaped. It was the day three
> whole towns on the coast were wiped out by fire. The day the entire
> population of one small coastal town took refuge on a jetty and had to be
> evacuated by sea. The smoke, I'll never forget the smoke. We got to my
> place and Dave, an ex-firie, checked to make sure the gutters were clear
> and then shifted stuff off the verandahs that might be traps for embers. I
> drove the Alfa back to town with Dave following.
> 
> That was the first of three evacuations over the next month. The rain
> finally arrived in the second week of February, by which time the fire had
> reached the top of the ridgeline on both sides of the valley where I lived.
> We dodged the proverbial bullet ...
> 
> Today I'm sitting in my new living room in a small cottage in town
> listening to a koel somewhere close and watching some kids practising
> cricket on the sportsground over the road. It's only 17 degrees outside and
> I find it difficult to remember what that 40-degree day felt like twelve
> months ago (and that wasn't the hottest day we had last summer!). The
> property out of town has been sold and my animals (minus one of the cats)
> are all settled in their new yard.
> 
> Confronted with the reality of living alone in the bush I opted to
> reconnect with the tribe. It's a nice little town. I edit the local
> newspaper, play golf in my spare time and the town is small enough for me
> to walk everywhere. I miss the view of the mountains and the roos and
> wombats in the yard, but there's a family of magpies that visits daily and,
> on balance, the advantages of being in town far outweigh what I miss.
> 
> So far our little town has remained COVID-free but people are taking the
> risks seriously. The cooler and wetter summer has kept the threat of
> bushfires away, but I'm not overly optimistic that COVID is somehow going
> to disappear and 2021 will be all rosy and bright. Vaccine or no vaccine,
> this virus is with us for a while, I fear. That said, I wish you all the
> very best of New Years. Take care, be with who you love, and wear the
> damned masks.
> 
> * all temperatures are in Celsius, for you American types who might be
> wondering why 40 degrees was problematic. That's 104 in F.
> 
> Happy 2021 ... Robin
> 
> 
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