Friday, January 9, 2015

THOUGHTS ON FRIDAY



Good Afternoon from Adelaide where the sky is grey and heavy with rain, which is yet to fall.   Northern parts of our State have rain already and we are promised the biggest rainfall for 30 years.     This is a land of contrast and extremes and Dorothea Mackella certainly knew and understood her country when she wrote "My Country" in 1904 aged 19 when she was heartsick and homesick in England.


My Country

by Dorothea Mackellar
(1885 - 1968)

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 droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark 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.

Dorothea Mackella 

~~~~~~~~~~

It is deliciously cool in Adelaide and delightful and after a busy morning with visits to the Post Office, The Pharmacy and the Shops I am happily at home with all the windows and doors open and a lovely cool breeze blowing through.

I hope that you are able to let go and see how much happiness there is in your life.  I like rainy days and I love umbrellas and find much pleasure in walking in the rain  - "soft refreshing rain".   We need rain all over this country and South Australia is the driest state in Australia so it is welcome news but it will cause widespread flooding and isolation of many northern towns.   Our news bulletins are encouraging people camping in some areas  to pack up and head for home.

Water is a magnet, particularly to children - take care if you have little ones in your keeping - make sure they are safe.   Don't drive or swim in flooded areas, no matter how hot things are - be safe and aware. 

Life is very sweet and should be cherished - be present to the moment and be safe.

Thank you for visiting the Musings of My Heart  - tread softly on our earth,

Love and hugs,



                     

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