Chiff and Fipple Forums

Thanks, Ben and Tunborough.

The map at that link is very current--as you get closer you can see how much smoke is covering things

Australia has a long way to go before it gets any weather relief--good luck again down under

Hi again all....

Seems like I might be back. Internet just restored at home at last.

Not relying on it at this stage, as a massive thunderstorm with "large and possibly giant hailstones" is just starting to impact on us. I refuse to survive unprecedented bushfires only to be subsequently struck down by lightning, hammered by giant hail and possibly drowned in flood waters.....

Terry McGee wrote:I refuse to survive unprecedented bushfires only to be subsequently struck down by lightning, hammered by giant hail and possibly drowned in flood waters.....

Good man.

Sigh. I don't want to appear to be going on about this, but we've just had a few more days with no power and no comms. (Hmmm, even as I type that, I note that the lights on the modem have all gone off. Hopefully they'll come back on soon....)

And I've been up in Canberra, which had been peppered by giant hail stones (in the middle of summer), which damaged cars, smashed windows, destroyed 65 of the CSIRO's glasshouses bringing to an end 65 years of continuing research, and shredded the leaves off trees. And then had to flee in front of a new fire front threatening to close off the road to the coast, just getting out of there in time to avoid being stranded.

And then had to endure a big dust storm (not quite of Dust Bowl Blues proportions but you can see where we're headed) and then an afternoon of over 100F temperatures, high winds, swirling clouds of leaves and bark, and the knowledge that friends further south were now the target of these unprecedented fires. One has just reported her garden was singed but the house is intact.

We now have several groups of friends who have had their homes and properties destroyed. 33 people have now lost their lives, including a crew of three US water bombers who died yesterday when their C-130 Hercules suddenly went down in a mission. 2700 homes lost, 11 million hectares (27 million acres) burnt, a billion animals dead, some species made extinct, many more animals likely to starve, many people traumatised, some likely to struggle with this for the rest of their lives, some likely to end their lives sooner. One in two Australians are now regarded to have been "directly affected" in some light or other. Our government still supports coal mining.....

The modem lights have come back on, so I'll get this out while I can. Be grateful for your lives.

I don't know what I could possibly say that would be adequate; "Hang in there" sounds trite in the extreme. I can only offer my hopes that the onslaught will end soon, so that Australia may have the breathing room to assess and rebuild.

This does seem world-historically awful for Australia especially. It's hard to watch even from here

Ah, back in the workshop, at last. Hmmm, looks like no-one's cleaned up here in a while. You'd think a bomb had hit it the place. Now what's all this fine black dust. Ah, soot. Lucky I'm not making white flutes!

Not going to attempt anything too testing, at first. Tempting to finish off a few flutes very close to finishing, but a wrong move could waste a lot of good work. I know I'm still distracted by recent events, and need to make haste slowly. So I've chosen to rough out a few new flutes instead. Could be interpreted too as a subconscious statement of hope, and determination, for the future. There's been a lot of talk around here about "is this the new normal"? Um, no thanks. Do I look like I want a starring role in a new series of "Mad Max"?

The bushfires are now well south of us, and not likely to be back. Not a lot to burn left around here. A scary day though in Canberra, where we used to live, and where a new fire in the Orroral Valley is causing concerns. (If that name seems vaguely familiar, the former Orroral Valley tracking station was an important link in the early days of satellite tracking and lunar landings.) A declaration of emergency is in place, they are expecting temperatures in the 41C (106F) region and hot, strong dry winds. The worst case conditions for fires. Fingers crossed.

Thanks all for the expressions of concern, here and privately. It's been helpful to remind us there is a normal world out there. Now, back to the workshop!

Very glad to hear the worst is over for your locale and that at least some resumption of normal activities is possible, Terry.

Thanks Jem.

And hopefully to be able to rule a line under all this, I can advise heavy rain has now extinguished the local fire, which had been making its way further south, menacing other towns and villages, only saved by heroic efforts by ground and arial firefighting. We are however now being warned about the risk of flooding.

Pestilence and brimstone have been postponed until the weather improves...

All of this stuff reminds me of this.

Ya know, just to cheer everyone up on a Sunday.

I'm trusting that there is a missing link, Ben. In the meantime, I'll share my cheerful "thought for the day".

Supposing you made a list of all the stuff you had to do, unfulfilled responsibilities, the messes you had to clean up, and all that, and did a quick calculation of how long they would take, and determined that it would well exceed your probable remaining lifespan....

Sometimes I think my role in life is to help cheer people up....

(Heh heh....)

Terry McGee wrote:I'm trusting that there is a missing link, Ben.

Did you not click on the word "this"? [/quote]

What is the saying? "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." A box a week to the thrift store, and another to the trash.

You must be living well. I would add "apologies not made".

I can't help you with the responsibilities, though.

benhall.1 wrote:

Terry McGee wrote:I'm trusting that there is a missing link, Ben.

Did you not click on the word "this"?

Wow. You would not believe how little colour difference between "this" and the rest of the sentence there is on my monitor! Got you now!