a cup of reflection, a pinch of advice, a teaspoon of sweetness
As the sun breaks through the final of the rain clouds Tom strolls into his paddock of wheat and surveys his land. He kicks the black soil under his feet and the corners of his mouth turn upwards, ever so slightly. He starts to get optimistic for a good yield this year. That last bit of rain has topped up the moisture store, should get the crop through to its end now.
But he has learnt there is still a ways to, so don’t go banking the money just yet. Read More
I met a man the other day. It was ever so fleeting. He told his story. I listened.
I will call him John, he looked like a John.
John is 75 years old. Forty of those years were spent shearing sheep across north west NSW. From Walgett to Walcha, from the Queensland border to the hills sweeping the Liverpool Plains. He had spent time in most of the shearing sheds in the district. Read More
As cousins jostled for the best position in the back of Grandad’s blue Chrysler ute the uncles in the cabin scanned the paddocks for stray sheep. The black, white and tan dogs kept the main mob together and gently worked them down past the dam to the sheep yards nestled in the valley.
Amid so many cousins together (there were over 30 of us in total) there was an air of fun and mischief. The older ones got to ride the tailgate at the back, daring each other to jump on and off the moving vehicle until Grandad would yell out “Either stay on or get off and walk home you lot”. Read More
Country Horizons 