CHRISTMAS FIRES 2019/2020
I think I can hear the war. The one my parents endured, survived, lived through.
Except there are no bombs dropping. I cannot imagine how terrifying that must be.
We have learned a new level of terrifying in the last few days. We have our own aerial display.
We have had the constant drone of seaplanes overhead, falling from the sky, in the most choreographed, beautiful formation, collecting water from our front door, the beautiful Shoalhaven River. For the last few days, this has become our ‘normal’. Four planes, piloted by extremely clever people, fly in, we can hear them from a minute beforehand, slowly drop from the sky, skim the surface of our river, fill their buckets with water, and soar skywards, with their precious cargo, headed towards the destroying calamitous fires, fifteen kilometres from our door.
On Saturday afternoon I was having a champagne celebration at our local winery, with Catherine and Alison, who owns Two Figs Winery, down the road from us. It turned scary when the skies turned vivid orange and black at about 5.30 pm, and Alison drove me home. It was Armageddon, with ash raining down, and burnt leaves covering the road and gardens. The heat was intense, it was 45 degrees centigrade, and the fire was bearing down on us. People have already died, and hundreds of homes have been lost. I got out of the car in searing heat, and when I said goodbye, I thought it may be goodbye.
That was four days ago.
And now, it’s Christmas.
But not the Christmas I have ever known.
Our son is working in New York. Every plan we have had for groups of visitors has been stymied by the fire (or ill health, Priscilla and Jack, I am so sorry you never made it here, and I hope you are improved).
We spent this day, Christmas Day, alone just us two. For the first time in 55 years together, it has been us two. Without my parents, my son, my siblings, Gerald’s family, or friends. Its actually been a complete joy for Gerald! His wife and his dogs – alone! – with him!
But for me, despite two beautiful phone calls from Joshua, it just hasn’t been Christmas.
We are mourning the deaths of friends, Gwen the mother of Deb, Peter, the husband of Marjan, and Fred, our neighbour, the husband of Linda. And this year, we lost Robert. Robert.
The fires have surrounded us. The land is burning. Our animals are dying, in their thousands, perhaps our koalas will never live again in the natural bushland, and thousands, probably millions of animals, birds, reptiles, insects are gone. Our Brave Firies have battled and some have died, others having worked for weeks in unrelenting, torturous conditions away from their families, are bravely fighting out of control fires, hundreds of homes have been lost, leaving peoples lives in ruins.
We – our country - are in a state of emergency. Watching and waiting. Gerald and I packed our suitcase a few days ago. Its amazing what you choose when you think you ‘have to go’. In a house full of antiques, original and valuable paintings and artwork, I look around, and this is what we chose. Most of our photos are now on our phones, even decades ago, as Gerald has been cataloguing them, so we don’t need the photo albums. But – I still packed a framed photograph of my infant son, Joshua, just after he was born.
We prepared woollen clothing, ready to don, as advised on ABC Radio, in case the embers were raining down – woollen pants, tops and hats. Sturdy African boots to protect our feet. Woollen blankets to cover the dogs.
Then Gerald filled a huge cylinder with water and placed it in the car.
We packed:
Our passports.
Dog food, dog dishes, dog bedding, and dog toys and treats.
My thyroid medication.
Toiletries – make up, some scarves. I notice I am still a woman, even in this situation.
A change of clothing and underwear.
A box full of cards from our son, our parents, and our friends, over the last several decades.
Jewellery. My parents were not wealthy, but my father had a gold watch given to him by my Mom, Gerald and I – I have a gold watch given to me by Colin Hills, necklaces and rings and bracelets of sentimental value, from Gerald and family and friends, and several of my daily, everyday, modern and not valuable, but precious - earrings.
A special pen of Gerald’s – from the Westpac Deal.
My “Birthday Book” created by Diane McCann for my 70th birthday just passed in November 2019.
Then.
I thought about the ‘other’ stuff. What would we miss/want? Of all the valuable artwork and African carvings and international artefacts we have collected? Malachite and valuables and creative works of art?
Then I went upstairs and got Joshua’s christening gown, and my wedding dress.
Then, a box my father brought home from Germany after WW2. Made of inlaid wood, with a flower on the lid.
I packed it all in a “Who Gives a Crap” cardboard box.
I got the dogs beds and blankets and prepared them ‘ready to go’ in the laundry.
Then we opened a bottle of wine.
It’s now the 27th December, 2019.
We had Boxing Day with some of Our Tribe, Sue, Ross and Sam Hobson – as Joshua is still in New York, and Jane and the kids were unable to come down from Queensland this year. We had a happy day, with enough food for a small African country. Sue brought oysters and prawns and a magic Christmas pudding, a box of fat red cherries, and ice cream. I glazed a ham, with a Jamie Oliver recipe, it looked and tasted delicious. I made a bean sprout, onion and rice salad, postatoes with mushrooms and peas, and another salad with twelve different vegetables. I made sausage rolls, mince pries (both my Mom’s recipes), Rocky Road.
I set a beautiful table on the back verandah, with a place setting for Joshua, and photographs of my Mom and Dad, and we exchanged gifts around the tree, being thoroughly spoiled by the Hobsons. We sat outside on the front deck and watched the planes roar in, repeatedly, collecting water from our front door. As each of them took off, I said a prayer for where they were going to drop that precious water.
We drank French champagne, we told stories, we laughed, we spoke to Joshua, and we averted a ‘crises’ for Sue, who was approached by someone wanting to book three tickets to Istanbul via ACCRA IN GHANA! Terrorist Training Territory! I had visions of planes being hijacked and buildings being blown up, but all that was high jacked was some of our day as we worked out if she should make the booking. It turned out, she didn’t – as advised by her business partner. We had a good laugh about it, and decided it had been entertaining and a valuable learning experience for a brand new travel agent to learn! We each shared what it was we want to accomplish in 2020 – I said “I want to do less” – which was met with scorn by The Tribe who do not believe that is possible. I want to write.
When Sue and Ross and Sam got home, Bonnie their beautiful but unruly dog had demolished six mince pies, a slab of quince paste, and a box of biscotti. They landed up at the vet, where she stayed overnight and today on a drip, at a cost of $1000. The sunny side of this is, that we saved Sue losing $6000 in the Accra Terrorist transaction, so I worked out she is actually UP five thousand dollars. Ha ha! She plans to go to the New Year sales!
Its lunch time now, and is unbearably hot. Gareth Ward our local member, has called an Emergency Community Meeting in Bomaderry tonight. The fire could ‘jump the Shoalhaven River’ and the situation is serious, we need to have a plan of action about how to evacuate, and when and if we evacuate.
Saturday 28th December 2019.
At 5 pm last night we attended a meeting at the Bomaderry Bowling Club, led by Mark Williams, the Control Manager for the RFS. There were 400 plus people there, and the atmosphere was tense. Mark was impressive, providing leadership, clarity, reassurance, and guidance, explained what was happening, and the seriousness of the situation. The fire is uncontainable, unpredictable, and will jump the Shoalhaven River, to the north side. They are attempting to divert it west of us, down past the bridge, where there are less houses and people. Tuesday is the most dangerous and challenging day, despite cooler temperatures predicted, which normally work to assist the firies, they will – as they did, last Saturday, when it turned to Armageddon, make matters worse.
We must be prepared to evacuate, we must have a plan, clothing, animals sorted, and a safe place to go to. We left feeling reassured that our country is being taken care of by amazing people doing their absolute best, and alarmed at what could happen. This could continue for up to three months, as there is no rain predicted until February, and the fires have been burning for a couple of months already.
It was recorded on a link, which I have sent out to several people who weren’t there last night.
I’ll keep updating this record.