Amber........

This is Amber, she is growing since we got her on Thursday 9 April 2009. She has been a treat and is starting to get the hang of being without her pouch for longer periods of time. Beginning to eat grass and leaves and she is so inquisitive. Being no trouble at all, other than keeping us on our toes when she hops up onto tables, chairs and anything else she wishes to see the top of or just test her hopping ability.

She is outside in the day now, but still comes in at night. She doesn't mind the cold, but we prefer to keep an eye on her.

She is some time away from soft release yet, though adapting well to being alone all day at least. The summer might see her allowed to roam further.

Quick nest builders

The eastern spinebill [honeyeater] began to build it's nest in the potato vine above the arch covering the gate that leads into the shearing shed garden, and we loved the thought of this pair raising it's babies just over our head as we walked through each day to feed the free range poultry and generally did work in the garden. There is considerable movement around and through the arch and under its gate. The Eastern Spinebill is a fast nest builder and in this way misses out much of what is going on over a longer period of time as it quickly completes the construction of its nest. So when it was ready and decided to lay its eggs and sit, it was suddenly disturbed by all the things it wouldn't normally see and therefore felt threatened and left all this work and resource expended, abandoned, as it moved away

So it is a desirable thing in some instances to go slow, to be certain that we see much of what is going on before we finally decide to expend a great deal of energy and resources to do what we think might be something good. There is no reason for rush, but it appears that human beings pursue speed so that the one who does may get the benefit of whatever they have done. Maybe all we should do, is to make certain that something we are contemplating is not going to create more problems than what it solves, and then, if this is proven and certain, we can go ahead and do it; allowing it to mature for the benefit of our children and grandchildren?

So the magic of planting a tree, especially one that will grow slowly, adapt to the conditions as they change is: it will be mature for our grandchildren to enjoy. We cannot leave a greater legacy for them; a planet disturbed as little as possible and a resource they can use and replenish in turn for their children and grandchildren. Then they may also have time to contemplate what they are going to do before they attempt it?

The mind..........

The true mind when referred to is the being, the one whom we are, the person that is. The mind is referred to in that manner as a rule. The physical mind is the brain mind, that which controls the body of which the brain is part. That which the true mind uses to make the vehicle it travels in, work as it should.

Poddy lamb........

Last night on a hill, we found two skinny sheep belonging to we knew not who? Lying on their side to weak to move with the eye pointing up to the heavens pecked out and their heads pillowed in a pool of congealed blood. One of these was a ewe that had obviously given birth, because we found the lamb, one that had never had a chance to suckle, bleating as it tried unsuccessfully to suckle a rough tree trunk. The lamb ran to us, the only living things, moving about on the hill which it had probably seen all day. It was a strong lamb, willing to fight for the life its mother had died to produce. She was being carried home as I returned with a rifle to send her mother and the other sheep home away from the misery which engulfed them. This is the way of life, there is misfortune and luck and all manner of other factors that are the yin and yang of life.

So two grown sheep have been returned from whence they came and we now have a poddy lamb; a small animal that will be solely reliant on us for some months and then partially reliant on us for a short time after that. This is not the first baby that we have looked after and it won't be the last, and we wonder? But just keep putting on foot in front of the other. It would have made a difference had we not picked up the lamb and left it for the fox, it would not have been better or worse, just different. We did nothing marvellous or wonderful, as the fox would not have done anything wrong. We just followed our natural inclinations as they are and the feelings that moved them in the moment.

Danger Will Robinson........

The warnings continue but few people recognise them. The worry of so many diseases are happening in the livestock industries, poultry enterprises in particular, as people disrespect the food they eat looking only for anything that's cheap, rather than a product that has been farmed well, humanely and lived well. There are more and more diseases that were almost dormant under normal stocking rates and conditions of healthy space and reasonable self determination for animals and birds, which are becoming a serious problem. Not only for the production of the end product which we expect to be of good quality, but also for the people working in these intensive, disrespectful industries. The voices in the wilderness can be heard if one listens and yet no one takes any notice and people continue along what looks like the yellow brick road to plentiful food, but which is really only a sand track leading to a really horrifying, disease ridden mess for the human race.

Diseases that are becoming more prevalent in all livestock and any loss of quality in plants is not going to help us survive all the other problems that greed and carelessness is heaping upon us. Science has for far too long been treating symptoms which it thinks it has overcome, and not the actual causes which affect us and everything on this planet. All human beings have allowed themselves to be mislead by what appears to be glorious time of plenty and happiness, but never looked the mess left behind or the future for our children. Mass production is not the answer and never was, though it looked promising at the start, and should have been long recognised, but like global warming is now, will be noticed only when it's too late.

Small production and producer operations decentralised and in all areas should be encouraged. Small scale producers, and manufacturers. The lower cost of mass production has enormous costs in other areas, huge companies are the problem not the answer. To think that getting bigger is better, and that it can be never ending shows a complete disregard or lack of understanding of what life is all about.

Now it's all about money on every hand, and there is a squeeze which cannot be endured for long. People are getting pushed to the wall because they all seek to do the same thing, they follow without thinking. To make something less expensive will require something to be at a reasonable cost, but those that grow and process it to be happy with a Little less financial reward, and maintain a pride in their work and the product they produce, which should be sufficient for even the most greedy?

People are either very stupid or don't have a thought about what is happening under their noses? I repeat myself.

There is nothing gained but something is lost. The trick is trying to discover if the gain is actually that and not a greater loss than what is already in place. This takes time, but there are too many who think that racing ahead is what is required. I wonder to what end racing ahead might be required?

Conservation....

Conservation is a term used often. The meaning of it is something like this:

[quote]

Conservation \Con`ser*va"tion\, n. [L. conservatio: cf. F. conservation.] The act of preserving, guarding, or protecting; the keeping (of a thing) in a safe or entire state; preservation. [1913 Webster]

[end quote]

So conservation doesn't appear to be desirable at all. It seems to suggest keeping things in the state of the status quo, which after all is not only impossible but capricious. All things either evolve or degrade and/or erode, this is how evolution works. Trying to keep something as it is/was is a task both futile and unwelcome to any who would like to retain species and environments for future generations.

Victoria, Australia has more than 4 million hectares, or 14 per cent of the state, which are wilderness, state, regional park and reserve areas. The state government projects itself as protector and manager of these areas and they are evolving land and seascapes. The management appears insufficient because there is just not enough staff for the task, yet some would argue that's a good outcome, allowing these areas to constantly evolve; though many would claim they are degrading, but that depends where the person making the claim stands in opinion, thought and control tendency. Nature is working in these areas, it can't be prevented from doing so and the result is change and if this is degradation by natural means, then who would gainsay this? Only those that would control every aspect of what is happening, and create things as they see them, in their imagination, if only they could. But our ancestors as transporters of plants and animals from other countries have already created opportunity for the natural evolution with these new species.

So forget conservation for a moment and look more at protection. We can only protect anything from our own species and therefore society sets out rules and laws, and each of us have rules and laws, some more stringent and others more lenient than these of society that we also obey. For protection of any environment, and that's how all protection should be viewed, not like it has been n the past, as protection of an animal, which results in the animal in captivity in zoos, because its natural habitat has been desolated. A protection of an environment means all it contains, plants, animals, insects etc., from our species. With rules and laws we inhibit our species from taking what we think is undesirable action in the protected areas, and therefore hinder the application of what we consider undesirable effects from burdening or shaping the evolution of protected areas. Because nature will do as is intended and it cannot and must not be halted.

Protection of environments is important. Because it shows we are willing to allow nature to do what it has ever done, and even though we may see things happening that our ancestors have encouraged by the importation of what are often termed feral or weed species, we should trust natures ability to change and manage this change with what it discovers. Trust that animals will adapt, and trust that those which don't will be marked as obsolete by the same force which create them in the first place. It's a hard decision, which isn't ours to make and will be made if we interfere further, or not.

People mention pristine environments, but this usually tries to show an environment where man has not been the vector for introduction of animals and plants which were not discovered when the people who took away or colonised the environment of the native peoples first arrived. Prior to that, since the world began, other vectors and opportunity were created by nature to distribute plants and animals. These environments have evolved, and they are no more, nor will they ever be again. Time cannot be turned back, and land returned to uneducated, natural and enlightened native peoples is not possible either. It's not even natural that it should be so. Nature is the controlling force. Man is arrogant enough to think that its species has some control, but humans are unable to control anything, especially themselves no matter how hard they try. Humans are and will always be controlled by nature which created them, more evident now that the knowledge of global warming has registered its presence, even to science which created much of what has caused this phenomenon in all areas of human action.

Conservation should be replaced with protection, and evolution allowed to continue without interference, even though it may result in the destruction of the human species in the end. If we as a species were as clever as we thought, we would not be destroying what is already there, tried and tested, to rebuild it as we want, but rather build and live round all which was encountered and share the space and ambiance. Since we aren't that clever, we use force to shape natures tested landscape and formula with machines and flawed science, and get into more and more trouble every minute of day and night. Natures control is supreme, but we can try to curb the excesses of human habitation, not try to conserve what we have already destroyed.

A home rather than a house...

In search of the home one seeks a shelter, something that will keep off the rain, something that is dry, and yet when the weather is dry will be a little moist. Warmth in winter and shade in the hottest part of summer. A home can be a thing which loosely and lovingly treats us differently us from the outside the world which nature creates, it permits, possibly even encourages us to engage an environment which is mostly ours alone. A house, which is very different from a home, can be a thing that shows us boasting and by so doing build a rack upon which we may be broken. Confusing us into thinking what we want is what we also need. It can grow from us, showing who we think we are, putting up a front and becoming one who competes with others.

A home is a shelter to our being, it should cosset and succour us, but more would make it a monster that will drive us all our living days. A house is not important, though in modern society it has taken on another dimension, and people strive to have a house which is better than the one which keeps their neighbour dry. We need to take care with our home, because it is supposed to be an extension of our true selves, an environment of our own, not a status symbol to impress others. A home is supposed to be a place to go, or come too. It is a place to enjoy things that might not exist in the natural world, and yet it should allow the natural world to come in, join us and find itself welcome and comfortable. It should be a place within the natural world, a micro-climate for our personal needs.