These catastrophic times call for different responses to the festive season. Mine is below. The community reaction in our part of the Southern Highlands (as yet untouched by fire) has been heartening. Donations are flowing, people are looking out for each other, and even grey-haired respectably clad ladies are openly railing about the lack of national leadership.
The tone of the season’s greetings is quite different too: more spontaneous, angrier, political. Will this be a turning point in the climate debate, the PM’s recalcitrance notwithstanding? To document this sentiment and perhaps that turning point, I am hoping to create an archive of 2019 Christmas cards and messages. If you would like to contribute, please contact me at fmbeddie@gmail.com
Bushfire Haiku
Red sun smoky skies
Surely not the new normal
Though it’s been weeks now
Stop checking the app
Blue diamonds are not that close
Can’t just hope for rain
Have a bushfire plan
Know what to take, when to leave
Impossible choice
Life goes on, prepare
Pre-Christmas celebration
Down at the seaside
There too fire invades
Its acrid smell permeates
Nostrils, then psyche
Smoke wakes me at 5
Reach for the phone, Fires Near Me,
No danger here, yet
The sun’s not up but
Turns the sea-mist apricot
An ominous dawn
Whitest sand in world
is grey under smoky sky
The water is still clear
The sea is calm now
An easy swim brings relief
Tiny shells sweep in
Childhood memory
Collecting dozens of shells
Making necklaces
A short-lived respite
Further along the bay it’s
Not shells but embers
Black gum leaf fragments
Mark the pattern of the waves
No escape today
Social media:
Hawaii holiday snaps
ScoMo with Aussies
Cave Beach next morning
Ripples catch the orange light
Burnt leaves fall from sky
Surfing with embers
Finishes the holiday
Pack up, leave early
Hot and dry at home
No more the green oasis
Water gutters, plants
Evening news: fire kills
Two young men, fathers of babes
Where is the PM?
A Facebook call out
Our local firefighters need
Chapstick, lozenges
I can help out here
Drop off a bag of supplies
Add mince pies as thanks
Family of firies
Deputy captain and son
Battling deadly blaze
Smoke in nostrils, dreams,
In every room: cannot sleep
Start the to-leave list
8am, gym class
Keep up the normal routines
Walk dog, exercise
Festive fun-filled class
Christmas yoga, breathing smoke
Downward dog with flies
Catastrophic day
A waiting game: should we leave?
Nerves fray, we are mute
Inside try to work
39.6 degrees
A new fire, closer
Panic scrapes my throat
Finish packing, spray the house
Check the app, again
Papers in the car
Along with clothes, did I pick well?
Plus some precious things
5pm, 20⁰
The fire 20k away
Down to watch and act
Sky is grey, briefly
Teased that it might bring moisture
Now a sallow glow
Variety show
Yes, life must keep going on
Scrooge, angels, bagpipes
Talent, cheer and hope
Hat goes round for firefighters
It’s time for Christmas
Francesca Beddie is a member of the Professional Historians Association (NSW and ACT). She serves on the PHA’s national executive. You can contact her at fmbeddie@gmail.com
Francesca Beddie is a former diplomat. She was general manager research at the National Centre for Vocational Education Research from 2007 to 2013. She is editor of Australian Garden History and co-editor of Circa, the journal of Professional Historians Australia. She is the author of A differentiated model for tertiary education: past ideas, contemporary policy and future possibilities.
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