trees speak out

ancient forest spirits

whisper from distant times

protect our future

These trees are in the Gariwerd National park in Western Victoria in Australia. This is an ancient mountain range formed millions of years ago through geological upheaval. The forests are also ancient and regenerate after regular fires usually caused by lightning but occasionally by humans. For thousands of years, we are not sure how many, but possibly 30-40,000 at least, Indigenous Australians lived within these ranges and respected the flora and fauna. There are many thousands of years old rock art galleries sharing the culture of the Indigenous people throughout Gariwerd. Rock art sites are still occasionally discovered by current scientists that indicates the wild nature of some sections of this area . The haiku in this Haibun is a response to
RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #273 Forest&Whisper go to https://ronovanwrites.com/2019/09/30/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-273-forestwhisper/#comments and see lots of other haiku responses to this challenge from Ronovan.

stay away

a nest to be saved

standing firm in defence

spring hovers nearby

We were walking along the coastal pathway at Ricketts Point recently. This blue male Superb Fairy Wren and his brown female partner were aggressively warning all living things to stay away from the nest they had built somewhere in the bushes nearby. For small birds they are very courageous.

here comes the sun

a cool southern sun

saving more heat for europe

climate change is real

Not much heat is coming from the sun down in our Southern Hemisphere Winter. However for weeks now we hear and read about the record breaking Summer temperatures across Europe. Our current climate records show drier Winter conditions leading to less rain that quickly leads to drought . Across the planet the climate is slowly unravelling with disastrous consequences and our politicians close their corrupted ears to the messages. A teenage Swedish schoolgirl makes more sense of global warming than the G20 group of world leaders.

released

unleashed excitement

freedom comes in all sizes

maggies play moments

Maggie is now tracking along, living a well cared for life with plenty of leisure time. At the moment this small park is the only secure ,fenced, off lead park for dogs in our city. There are 12,500 registered dogs so fortunately most can be trusted off lead in unsecured parks and only 5-20 are at this one on most occasions we visit.

We did visit other parks however our local government recreation department decided to take gates off many that had secure gated fences. Maggie quickly discovered that no gates led to free runs  with a hint of danger.

Yet another political challenge arises, this one at a more localised level.

 

no nature

developers greed

environment destroyed

no chance for haiku

 

One hundred metres down the street from our home these photos show  where a suburban house and garden once stood for over 60 years, where families shared their lives, where plants once grew and died , where birds, animals and insects     co-existed in nature. Now all gone.A desert of flat dozed lifeless dirt. Already foundations are being created to build fence to fence double story townhouses and concrete hard surface and maybe a few plants in pots. Gone is a local history and an ecosystem, not an original one but an ecosystem that saw many indigenous life forms existing. Through the gap in the rear fence where green weeds grow the same thing happened last year and over that next street the same again. This is happening all across our suburb and in neighbouring suburbs and on and on in Melbourne Australia. Population growth demanding new dwellings and  a greed from property developers to squeeze as many living spaces on a block of land as possible  means vegetation and fauna loss on an increasing scale. We have noticed the little birds have disappeared from our garden and that is one small sign. Our local government is unable to limit or control this madness, this environmental destruction. As well the loss of trees and shrubs adds to global warming. Maybe these images sum up Australia’s attitude as a nation to global warming.                   No chance for haiku !!!!!!

Returning

shades of grey

reflecting coldness

lonely times

In the depths of Winter 2019  Haiku Hound returns to the blogging world. I have missed my blogging and the wonderful bloggers I have met. Nia of sunset and cat blogging fame from Istanbul recently prompted me to return. Thank you Nia.  Much has happened since Maggie and I bid Sayonara in November 2017. Plans rarely come to fruition and time gathers speed when it seems to be unplanned. My novel is still drifting along as a draft and has had many about to starts. Another is just around the corner. Maggie is  now two and a half years old and finally beginning to settle down. Most of my time and energy has been used up on Maggie who has had a series of health issues caused by her seasons. We decided to trial a contraceptive implant to control her hormones 6 months ago and she has blossomed. More posts will follow and cover the last missing months.

World politics has reached new depressing lows in these past 20 months. Australians recently re-elected a conservative government that has no heart, no policies and no understanding of our country and refuses to acknowledge the dangers of Climate Change . As for Trump’s tweets and Boris I will remain silent. A glimmer of hope for the future comes from New Zealand, where  Jacinda Ardern leads with compassion and honesty.

sayonara

writing calls

sayonara now

for a while

These latest sunset images are from two nights ago when the sun bade its glorious daily farewell to us at Ricketts Point. I have to bid a temporary farewell to you my blogging friends who have been sharing such creative and educational haiku plus poetry, photos and stories with me during these 3 years I have been blogging.

I have to stop procrastinating about completing the initial draft of my first novel. That means I have to seriously rationalise my time and that in turn means minimising my time spent on the internet. Thus  a halt to blogs and blogging and all those other fascinating things the internet throws up daily.

So its Sayonara, a longer goodbye as the Japanese would say until we meet again in WordPress space towards the end of our HOT Australian Summer in 2018.

 

memorable walk

special place

enticing for a walk

orchids call

Walking the track out the back of our house in Bendigo is one of our favourite places. There is a small remaining pocket of ground where native orchids still flourish  from Winter across into early Spring. These beautiful tiny plants were much more abundant  everywhere in this area of The Bendigo Regional Park. However 2 severe wild fire burn offs by the State Government authorities during the last decade has all but eliminated Orchids now except in our special place that lies just at the edge of the burnt areas. We have  an impressive photographic record of native orchids from this entire area dating back to the 1970’s, including a couple of species  that we have not seen for 30 years. Each year we return with hope and cameras. Both these photos are taken at the same spot on the track. Charlie was trusted off lead in her mature years however Maggie must wait  a while before she wanders  the track independently.

This is my contribution to the one a week Photo Challenge and this week for number  45 the challenge is WALK . For this years 52 weekly challenges planned by Cathy and Sandra visit Cathy’s blog at  https://nanacathydotcom.wordpress.com/one-a-week-photo-challenge-2017/

more than a shop

journey break

coffee scones and peace

recharging

Whenever we travel to Bendigo The Merchant of Malmsbury is where we break the journey. Len has made this wonderful place his business for travellers like us to stop off and enjoy coffee and home made scones, jam and cream in the garden. His shop is crammed with interesting curios  and his own brilliant photography artwork. In another life Len once worked in a Melbourne drafting office which he shared with an Afghan Hound. Hence there was always a warm welcome for Charlie and now Maggie. There is some fascinating historic C19th architecture including The Merchant’s in this small village. The Botanic gardens are also historically significant. Malmsbury is a lovely place to escape the monotony of the Calder Freeway.

This is my contribution to the one a week Photo Challenge and this week for number  44 the challenge is SHOP . For this years 52 weekly challenges planned by Cathy and Sandra visit Cathy’s blog at  https://nanacathydotcom.wordpress.com/one-a-week-photo-challenge-2017/

bush blossom

 

bush setting

explosions of colour

gifts of spring

free feedtime 

nectar everywhere

careful choice.

Recently we visited the Grampians / Gariwerd National Park North West of Melbourne for the annual first weekend in October Spring native wildflowers exhibitions. At Pomonal the local members of the Society for Growing Australian Native Plants display flowering specimens cut  from local bush gardens. These plants represent the Spring flowering plants of Southern Australia. At Halls Gap the Friends of Grampians/Gariwerd National Park display the range of flowering plants found across the park. Rangers collect specimens in the days before this weekend from the park and the friends prepare the display.

We have now regularly visited these displays across the last 12 years and always look forward to the concentrated displays of colour and the aroma of nectar. Because Maggie was with us we could not get out into the tracks of the park looking for flowering plants in their  natural environments.

These 3 images are from open gardens at the Pomonal display.