Wandering again.

After the trip to Point Douglas and the Lighthouse, the weather took a turn for the worse and winds of 120kph, with driving rain were predicted. The rain wasn’t too bad but the wind had  a few of us worried. I was worried

about the eucalyptus at the far end of the back yard, however, they survived. I suppose, really, they stayed where they were and I survived not having fallen trees and a mess to attend to. I will never make a ‘real Aussie”mainly because I hate Australian Eucalyptus  trees.  They are great where they should be – in the Australian Bush – they should not ever be in an urban environment – where they are. And they are there deliberately because the council of then ( and members of the council today) insist that  we do not import exotic trees and that the native trees for the state be used. Exotic, by the way, are not some trees from some far flung region of the planet, but merely trees that grow in a State other than South Australia — New South Wales, for example. I hate them because they are messy and shed leaves , twigs and bark everywhere. The leaves are toxic and nothing will grow near them. In a fire they are the most dangerous tree in that they are full of oil and where other trees burn, eucalyptus trees burn,  heat up and then the oil explodes sending embers and sparks across containment lines, thus spreading the fire. And lastly, they are dangerous in that they are subject to stress and  when under stress they can – without warning – drop large tree branches. In Adelaide several people have been killed because of branches falling on their cars and here, two little children were killed playing when a large branch fell on them. And I think I have said much of this before and it’s only the  really high winds these last days that have brought it all back to mind.

This morning,however,  being a fairly calm morning, I got ready to take Benji out for our 7am walk, He didn’t want to go. I did not force him but I  confess that I badgered him a bit and in the

end we went walking. About one third distance into the walk and he started limping and a few moments later he was lifting his front right paw.  Yes, I did think there was something there as he warned me off when I tried to  move the paw pads to see it there was anything.  He limped with this paw in the air so I told him we were going home and I lifted him and carried him part of the way. Only part of the way because he is no lightweight. Anyway, we got back on to the concrete and I put him down. Facing the way home, the tail went up in the air and he set off with a jaunty  stride – no sign of  a paw problem. He walked quite the thing. We got to the corner and the house was across the road, but I turned the corner and kept walking, and so did he. By the time we got back to the house we had walked more than one and a halt times the distance we normally walk. Yes, you are free to chastise me as much as you like, but I felt quite good about that!

Today being the 22nd August, which means that there are only nine days until Spring. I suspect that in the fullness of time I will complain about the excessive heat but at the moment I am over this cold and would like some warmth, I would like to get out and about with the camera. We have a “Foreshore” which is a different thing from an actual “Beach” I would also like to camp overnight at Point Lowly area so that I can  photograph the sunset and then photograph the sunrise the following morning. And yes, I would have Benji with me. Don’t know how he will go sleeping in a tent, so it should be interesting.

There was a post from the local council suggesting that not  many people had responded to the requests for photographs for the Council Calendar.  I thought “why not?” so I put in five entries. They probably wont get used but at least I entered. However, I did get a reply asking to submit a photograph of the Lighthouse without the time and date stamp on the photograph – which I did – so you never know.   The Shingle Ridge is a  ridge of shingles that run for several kilometres. No one seems to know how or why or even when, it was formed, The ridge is about six or seven feet high and about ten or more feet wide.