In the last edition of eNews Chris wrote about hope as an action. That was in my mind as I walked out the front door of BCG the other day. On the wall in BCG Place is a farming mural created by students from the Birchip P-12 school. Cleverly handcrafted from ceramic plates, it is entitled “The profession of hope” and indeed this year in our farming there has been a lot of that. Whilst our hope for a decent rainfall event (anything over 10mm would have been welcome) didn’t come to fruition, our hope for a mild spring, good grain prices and an accident-free harvest have all come true.
After two years of being flat out and frantically busy, with one year’s work moving seamlessly into the next, 2018 for many of us has been a long, drawn out affair where the season never showed a lot of promise…. but then in the Mallee there is always the hope of that strategically-timed inch of rain that could’ve made a big difference.
One of our local hopes has been realised with the filling of Green Lake (between Sea Lake and Berriwillock). I took the kids, the kayak and the dog there a few weeks ago for our first visit since the lake dried up many years ago.
At a GWMWater stakeholder meeting last week there was much discussion about the importance of our recreation lakes. You may have read in the papers about the Wimmera Development Association’s report into the social and economic benefits of local weirs, lakes and rivers across the Wimmera Southern Mallee. This was the second year of the study and through a series of interviews with visitors, event organisers and local businesses they estimated the value from the 25 water bodies studied was over $30 million each year. They included a figure for the savings to the health system from the benefits to their physical and mental health. This coming summer, hopefully visitors to our little Green Lake will be surveyed.
What the study didn’t measure or mention was how much more important our local recreation lakes are during long dry periods. Whilst it’s lovely to have the lakes and swimming holes when the rain is falling, their impact is greatest when everywhere else is brown and dry as a place to be active, to socialise, to share stories and to get off the farm for a while.
Just as lakes are vital during dry times, so are holidays. How many times have you had that conversation with people about holidays where they say, ‘we will see how the harvest goes before we decide if we go on a holiday or not”? Dry, stressful times are the most important time for that holiday and maybe spending a bit longer than normal planning that holiday, giving the whole family time to talk, plan discuss and really look forward to it.
I was surprised when I moved to the Mallee at the number of families who stayed at the local lake for much of January whilst the farmer went back to the farm each day to check stock or get a few other jobs done. This seems like a handy way for everyone to get what they want but especially in poor years I think it is worth going a bit further afield to get a real break. Just like my hairdresser travels 2 hours to spend a fortnight at a lake pretty similar to the ones around here except there’s no one asking her if she packed her scissors it’s good to get away and talk to a few people about something other than farming. And if you need another justification, I just read on Facebook that holidays are good for kids too, ‘holidays advance brain development, and ‘help them build concentration skills’.
Chris’s article was about hope as action. Well I’m going to turn my hope for next year’s season into action by going to Tassie for a good summer break and when we’re at home, you’ll see us out at our local lake. We’ll be the ones with the orange kayak and the brindle whippet.
