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As I am sitting here trying to find the right words to start this post with, a movement out the window catches my eye and I watch four Green Rosellas fly into the branches of a gum tree. Seeing them perched there is a reason to be cheerful in itself, I love these birds, their clinking musical calls, their very Australian beauty.
It is now ten am and I have been fiddling with photos and daydreaming away on the computer for well over two hours. No wonder time just slips away from me. I wont mess about with any more words this morning as they have become unnecessary, the title of this post really says it all.
I received this comment on my oil covered birds post,
Our class has been watching this video as well as the news every day. We are sad that the birds are covered with oil and they are stuck on the beach. What can we do to help? PLEASE WRITE US BACK…LOVE, ROOM 110
I don’t know what you can actually physically do to help room 110, as I am Australian and thousands of miles away from this disaster. I am sure there are plenty of practical things you can do that don’t involve picking up oily and distressed sea creatures though.
You could choose a wildlife organisation and ring them up and see what they need. I do know that volunteer rescue organisations are always chronically short of money so maybe you could organise a fundraiser, a raffle, something like that and then donate the money to an organisation of your choice.
Here in Tasmania a few years ago the community got together and knitted woolly jumpers for the penguins to wear as part of an oil spill response pack. ( a jumper is a sweater)
Here is a web page with a list of organisations you can contact
I assume that The American Red cross would know how you can help and I am sure that The ASPCA would be another good organisationto get in touch with.
Now as for what you can do in the longer term, that requires a bit of a think. Have a look around your home and really look at everything that you have. The ice cubes in your refrigerator, the throw away plastic bottle in your rubbish bin, all your gadgets, the family car and the clean clothes that you are wearing today.
Everything that enables you to have a comfortable life takes energy.
We are all responsible for this oil spill.
We all need to change our habits.
Reduce your consumption, it is as simple as that. Dry your clothes outside on the washing line rather than in a dryer. Put a sweater on when you are cold rather than turning the heater up.Turn the lights off that you aren’t using. Unplug your mobile phone charger from the wall when you aren’t using it. Dont leave the television on standby. Turn off the microwave when you aren’t using it. Think about that next trip in the car, is it necessary?
Look at how many green or red or blue little lights are on in your house while you are sleeping of a night. Do all those electrical items really need to be sitting there all night silently, sucking power just to save us a few seconds time when we want to use them.
Don’t leave the water running when you brush your teeth in the mornings. Put the plug in the sink when you peel potatoes. Choose environmentally friendly products and ask for organic produce. I am sure you can all think of a zillion more things to do to reduce your own consumption.
Saying NO to plastic is a really good thing to do.
Small things. They are all small things but from little things big things grow.
One person does have the power to change the world.
Because with the amount of giggling and talking I was doing last night at the Hobart tweetup there was a very real possibilty that my teeth could have shot right out of my mouth and flown across the room and that, just isnt a good look. It is one of the tricky little downsides to shiny false teeth, the other downside is not being able to eat really crunchy things but that is a story for another day.
Last night a group of tweeters? Twitterers? People who tweet, met up for drinks and nibbles at Remi de Provence in South Hobart and it was great fun. I wish that I had though to ask where the brie was from as it was divine, the blue was gorgeous and the pate was very good.
I had been a bit nervous beforehand, I hoped that I would like everyone and more importantly I hoped that they would like me as well. As Veronica and I walked across the road to the restaurant my nerves were forgotten as I recognized people by their photos. Once inside we were guided to our seats in the corner of a small room and immediately we all started talking and laughing and exchanging our proper names.
The group was @Samaramc , also found at Samara McIlroy @StephenEstcourt,also found at Reminiscence of a Food Tragic, @MaryEstcourt, also found at The constant gardener, @utsicafe,also found at ut si, @SleeplessNights also found at Sleepless Nights and the blogless ones, The Prof ,@quinnal, @JoHCook and of course there was me @frogpondsrock.
We did have a camera but as the light was very flattering the photos are very blurry, so you will just have to imagine us all in our sparkly glory, eyes glowing, hair shiny, free of children and stable of tooth.
I would like to organise another tweet up in Hobart very, very soon and everyone is invited. We need a venue that has a bit more space than Remi’s, though I am happy to go back there just for the cheese alone. So any suggestions from Hobart people on a venue is more than welcome. We need to consider the ease of parking as well as somewhere that we can talk and be heard easily but they wont mind if we are a bit noisy and the food needs to be decent.
In the spring time I would like to organise a tweetup at the gardens so that children can come as well. That will be fun.
In other blog meeting news I am meeting up with Watershedd tomorrow at Salamanca market and I am looking forward to that very much. I must remember to glue my teeth in for that one as well. hehe.
I have been asked to help spread the word about the Breast Cancer Network Australia’s field of women LIVE event 2010,which is going to be held in Melbourne.
It’s taking place on Friday, 7 May 2010 and will see 14,000 women and men standing together in pink ponchos to form the Pink Lady silhouette on the MCG, reflecting the number of women expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. The event aims to raise awareness and much needed funds to support women diagnosed with breast cancer (BCNA is a unique not for profit organisation, its sole focus is on providing complete support for women who are diagnosed with breast cancer and their families).
I remember the cold terror that gripped my heart when my twenty one year old daughter told me that she had a hard lump in her breast. I remember the fantastic relief when the lump was just a cyst.
My grandmother had a masectomy in her seventies and is still going strong at the ripe old age of eighty seven. I have had three lumps in my breasts over the years and they have all been benign.
So I am more than happy to help spread the word here on my blog and you can help as well my lovelies.
You can follow them on Twitter @BCNApinklady
You can join the Breast Cancer Network Australia Facebook fan page.
You can register to attend the event at www.fieldofwomenlive.org.au
You can provide a link to the event www.fieldofwomenlive.org.au on your blog and encourage your readers to promote this link on their websites and blogs as well.
You are more than welcome to copy this and post it onto your blog as well.
My ancestors were boat people. Irish convicts transported unwillingly to Australia. I grew up in a working class suburb full of immigrants. New Australians they were called then. My father was casually racist and his language was the language of his peers. I was taught to be wary of wogs, wops, krauts and coons. The New Australian kids were different and their sandwiches at lunch time smelled funny. So of course we teased them. Australia’s national food was the meat pie and everyone had a roast for Sunday lunch.
Then I grew up and so did Australia. I grow bok choy in my garden and make sushi for my grandchildren. Sunday lunch might be a Thai green curry or Moroccan lamb. Australia has benefitted greatly from our multiculturalism and there is a lot of hope for the future.
But I feel that there is a black cloud of doom lurking just over the horizon and it has to do with our politicians and the popular media’s attitude to this generation of boat people. If our leaders demonstrate intolerance and the media reports in a frenzy of protectionist nationalism what hope is there for ordinary people to be heard?
I was down at the market last year and my son and his mate where looking at tshirts with humourous quotes printed on them. Deeper into the rack of t-shits were some with, not quite racist but certainly horrible slogans such as, This is Australia we drink beer, play cricket and speak English and other such small minded intolerant shit written on them.
My son’s friend wanted to buy a t-shirt that said, piss off we’re full.
Anyone that knows me in real life knows that when something pisses me off I get loud and *Hmmphy*. I explained to my son and his mate exactly why I found the t-shirts so distasteful. The salesman enthusiastically pushed his view that the t-shirts were just a joke and I pushed my view that they were crap. I reminded the stallholder that we are all boat people here mate and he would do well to remember it.
I huffed off from the stall and loudly lectured the boys on tolerance, well aware that I was being extremely intolerant of the bogan twat selling the shirts.
The experience left a sour taste in my mouth and I have been meaning to write about racism and intolerance for a while now. But I really don’t have the words other than to remind those that cry the loudest about the perils of the boat people to remember where you came from.
To remember that except for the Koori people we are all descended from immigrants here in Australia.
To remember that we are all the same under our skins and that hate begets hate.
Fe photographed two opposing protests at the Villawood detention centre and the APP have been commenting on her blog post, The face of Racism
My friend Anne,also writes eloquently here in her piece, aptly titled the lucky country and I would recommend that you go and read both blog pieces and then tell me what you think.
