A Day in My Life

Yesterday I did something I've not done for a long time, five and a half years, actually. I went on a picnic...me, myself and I. The prematurely warm weather heralding the early arrival of summer was my primary incentive. I packed some cheese, salami, olives, pate, a crunchy breadstick, decanted bottle of red wine, grabbed a notepad, pen, sketch pad, pencil and off I went. I didn't go far because one needs not to travel far up here on the mountain to find a suitable spot to laze. Oh! I threw in my straw hat adorned with a bright red scarf, as well.

Being mid-week, the weekend hang-gliding folk were busy at work in the city or elsewhere so I commandeered their area high on the mount. Spreading a blanket on the grassy slope, I was in awe of the vista before me. The vast valley below, featuring farms, dusty bush tracks, dams and meandering waterways almost depleted of their loads is suffering from the ongoing drought. The once green paddocks now brown and brittle, give little hope or sustenance to livestock that, from afar, look like ants dotted across the landscape in their search for the odd green shoot.

To the west the horizon is framed by rugged, steel-blue mountains of the Great Dividing Range. In the far distance to the north, the blue sky, rudely sullied by shades of murky brown and smoky grey, signs of early season bushfires, disappeared in the haze. Winter is all but gone. Summer's entrance is early and a little unwelcome, unless with it, it brings promises of bucket loads of rain. Promises it will fulfill, hopefully.

My presence was soon detected. I wasn't alone for long. Cheeky butcher birds, inquisitive magpies and stately kookaburras sought my company, or rather, the contents of my lunch. I had enough to share with my feathered friends whose company I did enjoy.

Life on my mountain is joyous and peaceful. A day such as yesterday reinforces my love for it and the reason why I chose to live here.

drawing by Lee