It’s hard not to get obsessive about checking the fire updates at the moment. With fires to our north, south and west we are in an almost constant state of vigilance and have been since the start of November. Trying to maintain a balance between monitoring for safety and being sucked into a vortex of anxiety is not easy. Today I forced myself into the garden to try and develop a more sustainable plan for keeping at least some of my garden alive, so many little critters depend on it. What to keep watering, by bucket, (level 2 water restrictions) and what to let go? So, I moved things into more sheltered positions, put up some more shade-cloth, dug little craters of hard-baked earth around the plants so the meagre watering doesn’t simply run off and refilled water bowls for the thirsty birds, bees and lizards. I know there has been much devastation in so many parts of our country, including further up our Mountains and there are many people living in fear at the moment, but just the act of setting up some further protective strategies for the plants (and the birds and animals that visit my garden) was grounding. However, as the wind comes up again and the smoke comes in and the sirens scream up and down the Highway, I can’t help wondering if, by the end of summer, I will still have a house or garden to worry about.
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