Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00215)

Well it's happened twice now in one week... a nice
morning stroll in the bush followed by a horror
afternoon running from a fire that one could not run
from. I left my site at 3pm and the fire started at
3.10pm - I never thought I could be a rally driver but
now I know I have the capabilities within me.

But unlike last week I am deeply saddened by this
week's fire. This particular fire that I was near
occurred in northern Sydney (there were others in
southern and central Sydney) in bushland that I am
very familiar with and am endeared to. And this is why
I am saddened. I knew this bush off by heart; I knew
where my favourite Angophora was, that little Zieria
pocking between two rocks, an out of place Grevillea
always amused me and the sheer diversity of these
plants was simply astounding. They were friends to me
and now they are gone; burned into smoke and ash and
probably half way to New Zealand by now. It wasn't
this scruffy, scraggly vegetation as a friend once
described it. All those plants around me were more
alive than we assume a plant to be. The hollow whisper
of the wind through the cladodes of an Allocasuarina
tree was like a gentle reminder that these plants were
innocent things. These plants were merely enjoying the
great Aussie sun like the rest of us. But now they are
all gone.

Yes the bush will regenerate; yes Clements succession
will kick in and in 5 years time (if that) the only
evidence of there having ever been a fire will be
buried deep in the soil profile; and yes my friends
aren't truly gone but they are just enjoying their
hard earned rest before the next incarnation. But the
thought will always be with me that these plants are
not the ones that I fell in love with. These plants
are just imposters vying for my attention. Perhaps one
day I will be able to accept them and call them
friends too.

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