Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
As Australia’s Right-“thinking” “pundits”/commentators/zealots “know”, if this “scaly, self-indulgent millennial” continues to bolt down avocados, it will never achieve home ownership!
They may, however, be pleased to know that no member of this species has ever sipped a latte…although some “pundits” surely will be disappointed to learn that its name does not salute a monarch/y.
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…in our street, at least, the pervasive “warm, buttered, milky spuds” aroma almost certainly has nothing to do with potatoes.
Melaleuca quinquenervia is the “culprit” – flowering, not mashing.
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…or discovering him.
Arguably one of South Africa’s two pre-eminent improvising pianists, Bheki Mseleku was also an arresting saxophonist and vocalist.
His music deserves to be much more widely known.
Anyone who deeply admires Abdullah Ibrahim, McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane is highly likely to appreciate Bheki Mseleku.
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Soil restoration can be expensive, and impractical across vast areas of land. Soil disturbance by echidnas offers a cost-effective restoration option, and this potential should be harnessed.
Very easily reached via sealed roads, but astonishing little-visited, Anvil Beach is deliciously wild.
It offers visual splendour, grave danger, and safety.
If you intend to swim there, you must very carefully select exactly where/when/if to do so, how to reach your chosen point of entry, and how/if you can safely return from it…most especially if the tide is soon to turn, or a weather change is imminent.
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The rodent pictured above – well-rounded, petite, and “out in the wild” – quite probably strikes you as “cute”, maybe even “adorable”.
But how about the longer-toothed, urban-invading ranks of Rattus norvegicus?
Allegedly, they are currently making themselves ever more “at home” inside our cities’ offices, shops and homes…
Comments closedOn 22 October 2019, in the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai, China, I met an obviously-ambitious sheep-owner.
Clearly, he was “improving” his flock, probably with help from Australia.
Some of his sheep greatly surprised me – very evidently, some of their “bloodlines” were merino.
The prosperous grazier’s mask was entirely appropriate to his dusty task.
However, wearing it would have been expressly forbidden in some other places/contexts, even in the much more open/democratic land of Oz…
Comments closedOur hero lost his “sacred” status when his Australian-ness was recognised!
As is true of many birds, Threskiornis molucca – the Australian white ibis – is wonderfully elegant when high in the sky, but rather less so when on terra firma, or in the process of becoming airborne.
Comments closedAt the moment southwestern Australia’s very own turtle is very evident at Lake Monger.
All photos copyright Doug Spencer, taken late afternoon on 27 January 2021.
Comments closedThis sequel to the immediately-preceding post shows the magnificent landscape which surrounds and towers above the valley’s floor.
From Budongquan (see #4 in Tibetan Plateau series) we set off in darkness.
We breakfasted two hours later, overlooking a brushy, sandy section of the valley floor…through which we then walked.
The featured image (all photos copyright Doug Spencer) was taken at 8.11 am, during breakfast.
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