30/08/2020
Wonderful words.....
SURVIVING COVID-19
by Ian Burns
Here I am again, my favorite ritual of having my morning coffee sitting on the front lawn, amongst my plants and vegetables.
My chair is getting a bit wonky and I’m mentally planning on how I’m going to repair it again so it might last a few more years.
The sun streams down on my upturned face, I wiggle my toes into the still damp green grass. I look upward, giving thanks to who or what (Mother Nature?) for the fact I’m alive, mentally well and physically healthy.
I hear and feel the sounds of the garden around me, mentally note all the subtle changes in my plants and veggies.
They seem as content as me (and slightly pampered I might add); I count all the birds as my friends, even the old currawong (lousy jacks if you live in NSW). There is another regular visitor I have named “Dirty Harry”, he’s an Ibis, and as such never seems to clean himself .I hear the maggies, the plovers and the somewhat harsh call of the wattle birds. A Kooka sings in the distance.
I mentally picture the swamp harrier I saw yesterday, hovering and gliding over the swamp land on the Rhyll/Cowes Road.
Occasionally he and his partner come up as far as Rhyll, gliding high on the wind currents, a keen eye looking for movement that might mean a feed.
I think of my brothers and sister, wanting badly to shake their hand and hug them all. I mentally send them a message to stay safe, be careful and bloody well survive this rotten thing that has been thrust upon us all.
I vividly picture the faces of my friends: some I have not seen for quite some time. I silently hope they are coping and are being careful to stay healthy.
Now I’m conjuring up what I might have for lunch, scrambled eggs on toast sounds OK; my wife has already “decreed” that she wants fish, mashed potatoes and peas for dinner … so that’s a no brainer.
I’m the cook (on most occasions) nowadays so that’s fine with me.
And I think to myself ... what a wonderful world.
📸 Vanessa Heuser
