smoke and septic

sunday was a complex day filled with simplicity.

there was the simple joys of locating john and mallees septic tank because they had septic fluid running all over the backyard, clogged toilets and clogged drains. no real clue of where the septic lay under the ground so we got out the tractor to do a bit of reconnaisance work. glens wife diane, a patient woman, watched the fever pitch activities. she was also looking carefully at this tacky little map i’d located of the house extensions. she called up to me on the tractor have you got a tape? i instructed her to the appropriate place she’d find it from my princely tractor seat. she came back with dust from the tractor filling the air. she measured a couple of things. she then got my attention again and suggested that just maybe the septic tank might be located about 12.5 metres from where i was digging. i felt a bit silly but given that finding the septic was a higher priority than me driving the tractor I dismounted, got a shovel and within minutes we’d hit the septic. a fine band we are indeed. i’ve learnt alot about septics in the last week and the system is now nearly working which is particuarly pleasing. maybe another week and it will fully work.

this complex day full of simplicity was also the allotted day for the hut smoking. after our sterling but unscheduled work on the septic it did set me back a bit in getting the hut ready. but this was the day. john was signed up a few friends David & Sue Woods, Margie herfernan Glen and Diane and Stephanie and her new man Greg. Greg is the head engineer for Alice Springs Town Council and he did note that the hut was a little suspect which isnt an ideal start to the hut opening. simplicity can be complex. he also said he has very poor recall.

the next simple complexity was that just as our guests were arriving we noted that john and mallee had disappeared. i said teh show goes on. stella much more persistent than I rang up mallee who said they’d gone into town to have a shower because of the septic. they assured us they’d be back in a jiff, well, half and hour. we had a cuppa on our verandah with the guests and true to their word they came back.

it actually got quite moving then as we all walked up to the hut John emerged from his shyness and as Aboriginal elder he ushered us through a lovely smoking ceremony that would cleanse the hut and heal those who would come here. it was wonderful seeing this man bring his wisdom and love of country and traditional cultural practice to us. he was also wonderfully comfortable in this role. Gentle but also clear and strong.

Stella had prepared a few prayers, we talked about the genesis of the hut and its building and then we finished with ‘Bless this Hut’. Which for most of the people reading this will know it is a variation on John Colemans song which we sang and Mil and Martins wedding.

we finished with a BBQ back at the house which was nice because i like functions where there are Aboriginal people and non Aboriginal people sharing simple things together. that BBQ has its own story but if i tell that this will never get finished. suffice to say the Aboriginal politics around kangaroo tail makes Kevin Rudd look like a beginner.

Yes it was a complex day full of simplicity.

john starting the smoking ceremony

alice springs show

well friday was the alice springs show day and we got an extra day off as one should if its is such an auspcious occasion. we did skip off to teh show for a bit which was really quite good for a little bitsy town bit it was just better to have a day off. Stella and i went for a ride along the bike path which is always fine and dandy. It seems to be a good way to touch the desert at a reasonably efficient speed.

Sundaywas a sort of subdued day so i went and made a porch for the hut. Its a shame (Vernon) John wasnt there for the rock laying. That would have been nice. Its now close to finished and we are looking to (Arrente) John to give it a ceremonial smoking. So smoking it will be in the near future. That is an aboriginal custom to ward off bad spirits. I remember what I said when I was on the roof hitting in a nail and decided to hit my thumb instead. I think it is that sort of thing we are trying to cleanse the hut from.

i have enjoyed working on the hut because its such a nice contrast to the vagueness of work. Its a nice place to spend a few hours. i like it there. i have got to know our place much better because I often choose different ways to walk back to the house. Theres the fence track, the tank hill track, the bore track, the middle hill track, the whitegum track and the perimeter track. Each one is very nice in its own way. Alice Springs is teaching me to enjoy familarity. Sydney teaches you to enjoy difference. They are both good in there own ways.

It’s raining!

I know you coastal people aren’t too excited by rain but for us people in the centre it’s pretty special. It hasn’t rained for 6 months. We are having a wet cold day of non stop rain.  David, who is here from Melbourne, thinks the West Macdonnells look like the Blue Mts because they are half covered in misty clouds.  I’m not sure I’m quite with him there but the atmosphere here is certainly different to how it usually is.  I’m sure it is raining because it is a long weekend and we had made plans to go camping with our neighbours out to their traditional land… or it might be because I finally got around to washing the cars last weekend.  Any way, the rain has driven me inside so I am blogging. Keith and Glen are undeterred and are up at the hut installing the old windows we merrily brought up from Sydney care of Qantas. You know the woman at the airport didn’t even weigh them. She asked Keith how much they weighed and he said a number under our luggage limit and then she stuck stickers on them and told us to take them to Special Baggage. So we brought up 7 old windows Keith took out of some house before it was demolished. They will contribute to the special recycled nature of the hut.

life just keeps going except for the little matter of death

There are so many things I want to put down on the blog but it seems that life has just flown by. I remember when Bob Dylan wrote ‘Hard Rains a Gonna Fall’ he said he’d written this one song with so many things in it because he really wanted to write a separate song about every line in it but thought he’d never get it done. he just put it all in the one song. I feel a bit the same. Since i was talking about the hut and tractor I’ve had the road trip visit which involved family/friends ging, walking, riding, campfiring, and maybe best of all just hanging. That was one special week. It was followed by the Kaldors, Trish Watts, Rod Pattenden, my brother Brian and his wife Sandra. We’ve planted trees, we’ve fixed lights, we’ve fixed gates, we’ve fixed pipes and of course we’ve brought the aviary (all 16 metres by 18 metres of it) back to life for our planned four chooks. I’ve applied for funding grants from NT Govt at work and had one approved. We’ve spent a lovely week in Sydney with Hannah and friends and family. Stella has said goodbye to her old friend Karen and I’ve said goodbye to my Auntie.

Life and death has been an underlying theme for some months now. I feel quite unsettled. I have loved every minute of the month yet have hardly had tim eto savour one thing and the next thing is upon me. And yet there have been these experiences of death and end. With David, Karen and Auntie they would probably rate as three pretty special deaths I guess, each for differnet reasons. Maybe a thing they had in common is that all three people had slowed enough to smell the flowers. Actually i think my Auntie had slowed even more than that but none of the three were rushing around living.

We often talk about needing to slow down and thats not what I feel. I actually quite like rushing around and doing things. But I also am hit by that tension of the being. Thats possibly why a week with Hannah is a pretty good thing to do. She lets you rush at one level but also models and encourages you constantly to be.

So no insights just feelings that it has been an amazing month which i wouldnt swap but its also nice to catch air.

Visitors, death and stars, and Eddie Mabo

I haven’t blogged for ages so I probably should put something out there into cyberspace for those few of you who might be interested. I really have been very busy. We’ve had a lot of wonderful people staying with us since the weather got more temperate here in Alice.  It has been great but when there are all these fantastic people here in real time I tend to neglect the blog. At the moment we have Trish Watts and Rod Pattendon in the house and Glen is still in the cabin and Keith’s brother and sister-in-law have parked their caravan here as well. Glen and Trish are running singing and Interplay  workshops here as well as mens and womens retreats. I did a womens retreat last weekend which gave me a chance to reflect on all that has been going on in my life. The big thing in my life lately has been that my very special friend who I have known and loved for 35 years died a couple of weeks ago. I had to fly to Brisbane and back in a space of a couple of days for the funeral with a brief stop over in Sydney to see Mil and eat Japanese food. It was a great funeral because so much of Karen was present. She had planned a lot of it as she has known she was dying for some time. Before she died she had told us that she was certain that no matter what happend she would remain connected to God and so also connected to us who are connected to God. I can believe that. Out here we have amazing stars and aboriginal people believe the stars are their ancestors looking down on them. I look at the stars and I think of Karen and David and Peter and Maggie, who all died in the last year. It’s been a big year of death for us. Being out here in the desert is a good place to ponder death as everywhere you look life and death are all around. Dead trees and live new leaves all side by side, both part of the pattern of it all. And the amazing big sky full of stars. Last night after work I met Rod and Keith for dinner on Todd Mall and afterwards they went to Trish’s singing workshop. My singing makes a cockatoo sound melodic so I gave it a miss. I walked out of the restaurant onto the Mall and noticed that there were films being shown on Story Wall, a public wall which is the side of a building in front of the Uniting Church where they screen free films. The films last night were positive stories abot men because some poeple have felt there have been too many negative perceptions of men here lately with all the sexual abuse stuff. Any way, they were starting to screen a doco on the life of Eddie Mabo so I thought I would watch because I knew nothing of the man other than his role in overturning the crazy law of Terra Nullius in this country. I sat on a chair on the lawn to watch with a handful of others. Shortly an aboriginal woman asked if she could sit with me and of course I said OK and partly expected her to ask me for money. In the centre of Alice at night you get asked a lot for money by aboriginal people. She didn’t ask me for anything and sat there drinking from a hidden beer can and watching the movie. I guess she figured she was less likely to get harrassed by  police for drinking sitting next to a white woman on the church lawns. The movie was finishing and it was a sad end. Eddie Mabo died of cancer only 5 months before the famous high court decision overturned Terra Nullius. And then some rotten bastards desecrated his grave. I was feeling emotional as the credits started rolling and I looked to the woman next to me thinking she will surely hit me up for money now. Instead she said “Good story” and told me her name and asked for my name and we held hands for a few moments and she left without asking for a cent. I walked down Todd Mall to my car and looked at the stars and felt uplifted.

Glenrod

Well you may think te big story for us has been a new yellow tractor. News it certainly is but there’s a bigger story. Alice Springs the land of the big stories. Inspired by the Woods, I have had this goal to build a retreat hut for people who want to com eto our place and get away from stuff like tractors and spend queit time in prayer or contemplation.

These last two weeks with our friends Glen (the prophet) and Rodney his friend who knows a thing or two about building we have set about building this vision at the back of our block. It has grown from selecting a location to a real hut. For the design I was inspired by the huts I have slept in whilst bushwalking in teh Australian Alps so Ryan and John will know what I mean. It needed to look like its been there for awhile. Now that is tricky because I didnt want to spend much money so you have to use what you can find whiuch is also kind of fun. We’ve scrounged around for corrugated iron, and windows, and doors. Rod wanted to put trusses in it which I dont think are veru Australian Alpsish but they are certainly spivvy. Glen wanted to put in a stone floor by using the rocks on the property. All in all its been pretty bloody good fun and Glen and Rod are my heroes. Prophet and Building Priest. How good is that.

I have a whole heap of pictures of teh development of teh hut which I’d like to put up but it sems I cant even get one photo to work based om my last post. Never mind I will try again. The hut is still to be finished but I am over then moon about this little place. I invite each and everyone of you to come and stay in it some time.

tractor talk

Well I have got my technology together and I now have a piccy of my beautiful tractor. We’ve become good friends already doing those little things together that make life worthwhile. She has few vices, is careful about everything she does. Stella has become a little concerned but I’ve assured her we are just good friends. Owning a tractor is as good as I dreamed it would be.

first day with big yellow

well i went to work trying to prepare for my biggest presentation to staff of both the organisations I work for trying to convince them that wat I have been employed to do is very important. Come 4.30 it just got too much. I thought I should go home to see how big yellow was.

As I said in my comment to comments there was Brian and Glen fine tuning its running gear. Brian again said goodbye so it was my task to take the 44 gallon drum of water up to the toaster shed. I’d got I’d say 3 metres with no mishap but it was the 4th that threw me. I pulled the lever teh wrong way and teh 44 gallon drum tumbled out of teh loader bucket to teh ground. Glen had gone to open teh gate and Brian had said goodbye so I tried to sneak to the dented drum to put it back on the loader. Unforunately I heard Brian get out of his car laughing and Glen walking back shaking his head. I didnt think it was that funny.

Next lesson was going up the track to the toaster. I got to the flat bit of the track starting to get the feel. I changed up into second gear. With this I surged to 5 km/hr feeling pretty happy until the 44 gall drum decided the pace was a bit much and got off. This time it fell further and was looking pretty dented. Unfortunately Glen was walking directly behind and witnessed the whole thing. He didnt shake his head this time but he did say something under his breath. I think it was something to the effect that if God wanted him to continue to be a prophet he wanted to work with better people otherwise it was going to be counter productive.

I wont go to my final humiliation of running over the tree and go directly to the prophets own misdemeanours. We decided to go up the track to get stone for the floor of the toaster. We took it up over the hill with him driving. We filled it with stones and then he tried to get up the hill unsuccessfully. He backed down the hill with a creative plan B. He attacked the hill again and with som etrouble got back over saying I lost a couple of rocks. he got out of the tractor to see that he had lost all of the rocks. I did wonder why God picks such poor people for his team but also felt a bit better about my own failings.

So score after day 1
Destroyed 44 gall drum
Small shrub looking doubtful
Rock collecting expedition a total failure
Had a hell of a good time

big yellow news

I haven’t blogged for over a month. Where the heck did March go. Well starting Wednesday this is going to be a big blog week for me. I better start with the big one. Yep Keith is the proud owner of a big old but beautiful yellow tractor. After that intimate Commie Dinner in Hornsby where everyone told me why i should have a tractor I finally realised it was God’s will. I have fought it for eight months but the Lord will have his way. Let me tell you the story.

Glen Curran is currently staying with us at present helping us build the first toaster cabin. He is also in fact God’s prophet as it was he who let me drive his tractor in Tasmania for two days. God spoke to me through that experience challenging me to think about tractors for my own selfish needs but I have been reluctant to listen.

Anyway one afternoon on my way home from work I saw this little tractor. It was yellow, it was old and it was cute. It didnt want much for itself which made me think it had an issue with self confidence. It needed someone to care and respect it. I went and said hello and it seemed nice in every way. A few oil leaks but nonetheless an all round nice tractor.

I took this news back home to enthusiastic excitement from Stella and a considered cautious optimism from the prophet Glen. He agreed to come and have a look. He too was taken in by the wily charms of the little (actually its a bit big) yellow tractor. He prophesied that it was a good tractor and whilst I may not need it I certainly should get it. God’s word can be powerful. He also suggested that someone who knew what they were talking about should look at it as well. In obedience I went to the decreed Diesel mechanic and asked him to meet the big yellow tractor. Alas he too fell under its charms and declared it to be a good tractor notwithstanding a few leaks. I guess we all leak from time to time. I thought if three grown men could fall in love with the big yellow tractor on first meetings then God was certainly in this.

I stepped out in faith and asked the big yellow tractor’s owner if he would see his way clear to me buying it. After a days consideration he said yes. I said whoopee and Stella was beside herself with excitement. She hadn’t even met it at this stage.

The man selling it was Brian. A man who had up until recently lived 4 kiometres down the road on a similar block to ours. He said he would like to deliver the tractor personally to say farewell. I came home a bit early to welcome him and the big yellow tractor to its new home. Glen arrived home from work about five minutes before the tractor arrived but just after I had started to hear the tractor in the distance on its way ‘home’. I said to Glen as he got out of the car. Glen can you hear the tractor. its coming. He too was excited. I never realised Prophets got excited. I always thought they were too busy renting garments from their body waiting on God. No this prophet was a titchy bit excited.

And then it appeared bouncing along the road in a way that somehow reminded me of Thomas the Tank engine. Brian at the helm and his wife in the car behind. He drove into our place and got off the tractor. I detected a tear in his eye. His wife Annette got out of the car a bit choked up as well. We talked a while but then it was time for them to go. I said if you ever want and come a drive the tractor again you would be most welcome. He said “Could I?” Yes today was a special day.