DINKUM! FAIR DINKUM! FAIR Dennis

Booth's

I shook my head in annoyance. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. So, what is that and how do I do it? Because I can tell you now, I simply cannot lift and transport a washing machine at my age.”

Fair Dinkum! Are we the lucky country or not?

In the 1960’s acclaimed author Donald Horne described Australia as the lucky country, but he did it very much tongue in cheek rather suggesting were we in fact the/a lucky country.

Well since those days, the term has been used a fair bit, particularly by politicians and media journalists.

However, I cannot help but see that we are indeed a lucky country and never more so than in the last twelve months.

Agnes giggled as she obviously imagined me with ropes around my shoulder lugging a washing machine on my back. “Your best shot is to ask a young person, Merle. The boy at number 42 up the road here is very helpful when it comes to this. His parents have brought him up so well with a marvellous sense of community. He is super happy to help us older folk with these sorts of things.” Agnes was nodding away with great sincerity. I shrugged. “Alright I will call in and see him, thank you Agnes.”

Agnes chirped up smugly. “I happen to have his parent’s phone number, so I’ll call first to make sure he is home and he can help you out, that way you don’t waste your time.” Agnes was now in her personal assistant mode with no bad jokes in sight, thank goodness.

Now that may seem strange considering that we have had a drought many have said is the worst this country has seen, we have seen terrible bushfires ravage our country and leave untold misery as a result, and now we have the Corona Virus halting life as we once knew it.

So how can we say we are a lucky country?

Well, suddenly rain began to come when least expected and that has been followed up by some wonderful sustaining rain to fill dams, create sub-soil moisture so that crops can be sown.

Even the once dead Darling River is flowing again!

I made a time to see young Jeffrey the very next day and was leaving for his house when, as I stepped out of my front door, I almost trod on that damned stray cat. “Be off with you!” I growled. “Go on, scat!” Barney was inside and had been sleeping peacefully on his bed but now, he was suddenly at the door barking frantically as he tried to chase the silly cat away. I managed to shut the door and keep him inside and the cat quickly ran off, but I was not pleased about this whole business.

And the rain has put an end to possible continuing bushfires.

Yet there is still so much misery so again, why are we a lucky country? Because we have men and women who have a spirit within them that makes us so proud of who we are.

Jeffrey explained the whole Marketplace thing to me and said he would come and take pictures of the washing machine so we could put it up for sale. I agreed with everything he said because I actually had no idea what he was saying.

I am talking about the SES, Rural Fire Brigades…all of those who went day through night to help keep bushfires under control and who did so with some losing their own homes, and so many putting themselves in harm’s way.

We strolled back to my house and as we walked up the driveway he said. “Oh, nice pussy cat Mrs Merle.”

I quickly turned my head to see the damned stray cat back at my front door, lying comfortably on the doormat. “That’s not my pussy cat young man. It just keeps coming around. Do you know where it lives?”

I am talking about the convoy truckies who day through night and drove countless kilometres to take hay bales to farmers really struggling.

“No, Mrs Merle. I ‘ve never seen it before now. So cute. It looks hungry though.”

I am talking about the unsung, unseen heroes who went out of their way to drive to properties doing it tough with supplies of food and needed essentials.

The cat ran off into the bushes once it spotted me. “I won’t be encouraging it to keep coming around by feeding it. I think it’s best if it finds another home to belong to. Not to mention, my dog is very unhappy about it.”

And now we have the virus and we are seeing Australians learn to turn their business into helping others.

And now we are seeing health professionals and those who work daily in our hospitals putting themselves at risk because it is their job and the same can be said for those at airports, particularly those processing incoming passengers from overseas.

We are seeing what friendship, mateship and dedication is all about on a grand scale.

Yes, we are a lucky country in the true sense.

Finally let’s all still remember those who have gone in the drought, the bushfires and this virus.

“Oh yes I bet, but it does look really friendly though, and hungry,” replied Jeffrey. Agnes was right, this was a really lovely young man, although I wasn’t sure if he was trying to make a point about the cat looking hungry. We went through all of the processes it took to get my washing machine on the line and I even learnt how to read the messages when they eventually started coming through from interested people. However, because I still really didn’t have any idea about what I was actually doing, we agreed that I would go and see him first with the messages so he could answer them for me. It was all a bit over-whelming. A bit of a strange word that, isn’t it? I don’t ever recall being actually whelmed. Just over-whelmed or under-whelmed. Now where was I? Oh yes, why is everything so very complicated these days? Why is everything on the line or on the phone? Life was so much simpler when I was younger. Where is the world going? Can someone please explain? Anyone?

Surely remembering makes us want to ensure they are not forgotten by doing what we can to keep Australia the lucky country.

QUIZ answers

1d – Jupiter

2c – Yellow

3c – 1957

4d – Fear of dogs

5a – Eagle

6b – Ferdinand Magellan

7b – Scotland

8a – Edward John Eyre

9a - 32

10d – 12

Scoring.

0–2. Struggle Street. Watching reality TV and texting your friends on the phone has some benefits but gaining general knowledge isn’t one of them

3-5. Bland Street. There you go again, another average performance which is about average for people who perform averagely. As Mr Mediocre says, “It’s normal to be average.”

6-7. Above Average (sort of). Well done! You’re clearly better than normal. Of course, you should realise that you can now be legitimately called abnormal.

8-9. Smarty Pants. You have a well-rounded grasp of general knowledge. Unfortunately, there’s always one or two questions that trip you up. Perhaps we should allow you to reject your two worst answers.

10. Genius. There were some difficult questions here so getting every question correct either puts in in the top 5% of the population for intelligence or the top 1% for sheer flukes. You choose.

Unexpectedly Alive

Things only I see

As some of you will know, I am establishing a new vineyard. There is considerable planning involved, which only I see. Where on the property should I position the vineyard? What varieties of grapes should I plant? How many acres? How long shall I make the rows? How much space should I have between each vine? What direction should the rows run? What materials should I use for the posts? What endassembly design should I use? When should I undertake the different stages?

I need to make so many decisions about irrigation, infrastructure and planting. Every decision has multiple possibilities and not just one correct answer. Often, even when there is a best answer, availability of contractors, material or the weather can mean those plans are delayed or changed.

What

Everyone Sees

Then there is the stuff anyone can see. As the posts are installed, great effort goes into making their spacing and alignment as perfect as possible because everyone who drives past will look down the lines of posts, and if it has been done well the posts form straight lines in almost any direction. It really only matters that the rows are straight, but visually, this is the first thing people see. And for my sense of pride, that is important!

There is also a mind-numbing number of staples to hammer into posts to hold the fixed and moveable wires. Eight staples in each of 3000 posts. And an even more mind-numbing, back-breaking, finger-blistering number of spiral plastic clips to secure the irrigation tube to the dripper wire – around 36,000!!! We need perseverance, attention to detail and lots of patience to successfully achieve these grand plans.

What no-one sees

But all this is easy compared to the patience required to wait for nature to take its course. Due to the record winter and spring rains, the planting of the vines was delayed. We finally planted in early January. The timing was not ideal, but you do what you can. And then you wait. Some vines spring to life almost immediately; others are slower.

But after eight weeks I figured those that hadn’t pushed out a green shoot were dead, and that no amount of weeding and watering was going to change that. Fuelling my impatience was the fact that I had a few rootings left over from planting. Sitting in buckets, many had sprouted. I was keen to plant these replacement vines, so I decided to make a start.

As I dug up the “dead” vines, I found, to my surprise, that nearly every one of them had root activity happening. They were lifeless on top but slowly stirring below the ground. Chastising myself for my impatience, I quickly re-planted these vines and hoped I hadn’t killed them with kindness.

Easter celebrates the disciples’ discovery that Jesus was unexpectedly alive. The events of Good Friday: Jesus crucified, dying, buried, were seared into their minds, and all their personal sacrifices, planning, learning and following had come to nothing. Jesus was dead and buried! But then…

“On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24 1-5)

A slow resurrection

Every Easter weekend, people repeat the saying, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” as if to say that your dreams or desires or hopes are dead, but just hold still during the nothingness of Friday night and all day Saturday, and then at dawn on Sunday everything wakes up and you’re suddenly alive again.

I have experienced a few “resurrection” events in my life but most things in my life improve by subtle, slow, small steps, which are often punctuated by significant struggles. Like the seemingly dead vines in my vineyard, new life and resurrection is stirring beyond my sight or knowing.

As I’ve walked with God, I’ve come to learn to hope when all hope seems to be lost. Maybe life is like Easter Saturday. In the space between death on Friday and resurrection on Sunday morning, our desires and dreams lie silent in the grave as God’s love, imperceptibly, breathes them back to life.

We are People of the Resurrection, but it’s a resurrection we often have to believe in through faith, not by sight. And so, in spite of all the good we cannot see, with tearful hearts and shaky voices, we lift our voices together in faith and sing: “Christ is risen. Alleluia!”

This is the gospel and it’s good news.

Brian Spencer Minister, Tatura Uniting Church

Tatura Presbyterian Church

Minister: Kalpan Vasa

Worship Services

Tatura 10:30 am

Rushworth 9:00 am.

Weekly Bible study and Fellowship Groups

Contact 0477 241 042

All Saints Tatura

Anglican Church

Minister: Rev. Tracey Wolsley

Family Worship Service

Sunday 9.30am

Contact 0400 947 547 www.allsaintstatura.org.au

Tatura Uniting Church

“Olive & Vine”

115 Hogan Street, Tatura

Minister: Brian Spencer 0400 274 482

Service 9.30am every Sunday. See Waranga Uniting Churches Web site for Zoom links

Sacred Heart Church Tatura

Minister: Rev Fr John Paul Pasala

Worship Services: Weekends

Saturday 6pm (1st & 3rd of the month)

Sunday 10.30am

Weekdays

Wednesday 9.15am

Friday 9.15am

Reconciliation:

1st Saturday of the month at 11.30am

Contact:

Ph. 5824 1049

Email: Tatura@cdos.org.au www.sacredheartparishtatura.com.au

Generations Church Tatura

Senior Pastor: Ps Jeremy Burr 10am Service 03 58243240 295 Dhurringile Rd www.generations.org.au

Thank You Sausage Buyers

Our Tatura Hospital and Parkvilla Ladies Auxiliary sold sausages in bread from the BBQ outside Tatura Family Butchers on a Saturday morning as a fund raiser and were very pleased to raise $115. Any funds from our group goes towards help for the residents and patients locally. We thank all who bought a sausage from us and those at Tatura Family Butchers for supplying the BBQ table and sausages. Also, thanks to Trish for donating the onions and those committee members who helped on the day.

- Janice Dreyer, President