"The Tourist Stations of the Nation"
This page was last updated on Thursday, 17 June 2010 05:56:45 PM
 

A New Way Of Thinking !

Its amazing when you listen and take an interest in what the other person is saying, you actually see and feel the opportunities that are presented to one another.

Great Minds Discuss Ideas, Average Minds Discuss Events, Small Minds Talk About People.

This gift of listening brought us to the over whelming conclusion that we needed to go and see Joes Farm. So just after dawn on Thursday morning when the sun was melting the dew and making the land fresh and the air invigorating, we arrived and joined Joe in an early morning cup of tea and fresh watermelon and papaya. I can still remember that first bite of the watermelon juice running out of my mouth and down the chin and onto my shirt, I just laughed ! The papaya juice followed the same trail as the watermelon so now my shirt was marked as a dog marks its tree, so what ! Something else was at play here, we had got out of our comfort zone and the week day ritual of heading off to work.

With a cuppa of tea in hand we set sail around this 10 acre urban farm, the cat gave the look I'm staying here but not his two dogs they were up and pumped for action and with his chooks in hot pursuit we set off down to the dam in the far right hand corner of the property. The rows of sunflower crop were standing tall and those big yellow flowering seeds had attracted a flock of white cockatoos. It was a moment when you see something in life and can relate it to something else, I had a laugh and said to Andrena, I see Joes put in a fly-through free takeaway outlet for the birds.

It was the first of that mornings university of life lessons, here on the farm we have a relationship with the soil, water, air, plant and animal kingdoms something that has laid dormant whilst we as the human race had pursed our industrial and now our electronic evolution. The movie Avatar reached down into our collective psyche and reactivated our connection to all that was, is and will be and here in one moment on a Thursday morning it was been played out in real life and not on the silver screen.

The dam was full and was completely surrounded by Australian native bush which gave it a rainforest feel, probably because it was cooler as the sun hadn't penetrated far enough into the bush, nether the less this was the space for a human connection with the water element. I looked at Joe and Andrena and said Marilyn, she knows what to do, she will bring the life force elements that will sustain life in this dam and make this a place for solitude. An outdoor temple if you like, where nature itself will provide the roof canopy and the beckoning overtures to enter and feel natures warmth and peace.

We proceed to the bottom left hand corner of the property where Joe figured we could create an earthen circular ring like an amphitheatre where people could sit on for workshops or sit inside the ring where you drum around a fire pit, with those words he got Andrena interested and focused on what she could do.

Moving to the centre of the property Andrena and I were startled by this flock of birds that came in at 4 o'clock at a low level trajectory and landed within metres of us. Hey Joe, what are they and he said Guinea Fowl. Oh what do they do. They are a bit like Geese, in that they make good watch dogs however the Guinea Fowl tell you where the snakes are, snakes you say ! Yeah, do you want to see one. Dead or Alive said Andrena. Alive, it's a carpet snake lives in the shed. How big, asks Andrena. Oh its about 2.5 metres, look, come and see for yourself. He or she wasn't there but now we know and so do you. Joe you make sure you get some more Guinea Fowl, that's okay Jeff we have 4 new chicks the population is increasing, Yeah Joe, just like Australia.

We checked out the mandarin, orange trees, bananas, papaya (red inside) and papawa (yellow inside) watermelon grove that had recently been planted. Jeff, I planted lemons here but the bee keeper told me to move them well away from this grove. That's interesting Joe, Why's that. Well, when the bees fly around this here grove they pick up the pollen off each flower however what i didn't know was, the resultant residual from the bees has an effect on the other flowering plants, as a consequence lemons have more pips so if you want your oranges or mandarins to have more pips then grow lemons in close proximity.

We walked up to the top left hand paddock to meet and greet the young calves and the horse, the chickens had given up the walk and gone back to the home paddock. The two dogs raced up with big smiles on their faces all wet from a dip in the dam, how cool to be a dog, eh ! i know my mate Cosmo would have loved it.

And so having meet the horse we headed back for another cuppa and this time fresh avocado on bread with salt and pepper. Whilst we sat under the tree the magpie, tom tits, finches, crow, cockatoo and kookaburra's came and sat with us. The bird blessing came shortly afterwards which bird i do not know but it was added to my shirts juice stains.

This was as good as it gets just sitting, and with that i said,  Joe i have 4 fig trees that are pot bound have you got a place for them here. I can report we had a tree planting ceremony the following week and now they have brought there sacredness to the farm. .... more to come