On New Year’s Eve unexpected fireworks ended 2019 with a bang! as bushfire roared through the mountains and valleys surrounding my small hometown of Cobargo, leaving my house standing but many others destroyed. My partner and I spent an exhausting, and at times terrifying night and day, successfully putting out the embers and spot-fires that threatened to engulf our home and those of our neighbours, and the beautiful old church next door… But sadly, a multitude of charred remains lay in the inferno’s wake: forest, paddocks, farms; many of the cafes and shops that lined the historic Main Street. Incinerated images of Cobargo (population 776) made their way from oblivion — to the front pages of British and American tabloids, also headlining News broadcasts throughout the world. Ironically, the fires’ smoke was similarly global in its reach: making its way to New Zealand and Chile, forming clouds that have circumnavigated the planet reminding us air (and breath) have no borders… Very sadly some people’s lives and many homes were lost, in addition to an estimated 1 billion native animals being displaced or killed along Australia’s eastern coastline. It was a carnage that in parts resembled a war-zone; in others, a desolate moonscape. Days of eerie darkness lit by a terrifying orange-red glow, were followed by weeks of grey skies and smoky air. We had to breathe through protective face-masks until the smoke cleared, and I hope I never take the luxury of blue skies and breathing clean-fresh-air for granted, ever again…! Green shoots quickly began to push their way through the black ash, and the magpies, wrens, rosellas and king parrots returned from I don’t know where… finding new nesting-places in the charcoal-trees (which have gradually been re-coloured by sprouts of new growth). I am so grateful that beautiful birdsong still (miraculously) wakens my mornings, and heralds each day’s end… Cobargo established its own Bushfire Relief Centre, and has been assisted by many diverse groups from near and far offering assistance: locals, charities, actors, sporting stars and musicians, banks, businesses, government, army reservists, fencers, cooks, counsellors, chaplains, wildlife carers, to name a few. People are helping each other: gifts of caring, generosity, sharing and hospitality… People are coming together: embodying community, enabling (im)possibility… I am feeling grateful, emboldened, alive! Life is rising (as it does) from the dust, depths, darkness… True-coloured. Indefatigable. Defiant. Wonderful! Cal Móre (Risking Wonderful, pp.284-287)
