I know I’m not alone in dreading the daily news of the corona virus. Turning on the TV or our car radio or computer brings more serious and worrying updates. This morning I didn’t want to listen to the gloom and doom, so I decided to go for a walk. Damn, I couldn’t do that either because it had begun to rain. Back inside, opened my laptop, flicked through various news channels and stopped at the ABC Rural news heading:
Widespread rainfall in western NSW gives hope to farmers for strong harvest
I thought, “Stop complaining about the rain preventing a walk, three months ago we were praying for the wet stuff to end the drought and put out the fires.” So, while today’s pandemic news is grim, I’d like to share something more cheerful.
While Australia is no stranger to bushfires, this season was unprecedented with out of control fires in every state and territory from September 2019 to February 2020. When our fireys were stretched to the limit, their brothers-in-arms from America, Canada, Singapore and New Zealand arrived to help. We were overwhelmed by the support, donations and prayers from around the world but what we needed was rain. And we got it when Mother Nature decided to turn on all her taps. Some drought-stricken areas received more rain in a few days than they’d had in two years. Sydney had flash flooding after weeks of being shrouded in smoke.
Where I live, 4 inches fell over one weekend and that was mild to what 
some other places received. The huge Warragamba Dam which supplies 5.2 million people in the Greater Sydney Area rose from just 43% to over 60% in 24 hours, and the rain didn’t stop. We watched the news showing ecstatic farmers splashing in water streaming through their properties and the faces of little children who’d never seen puddles. A man holding a glass under his overflowing water tank and gleefully drinking the contents with, “bloody good, mate.”
One farmer stripped off – well not quite – to celebrate the rain.
Creeks and rivers were running again, and roads flooded. And smiles grew wider. Countryside down to the dirt is now brilliant green pasture.
It will take more follow up rain before some areas are out of drought and we are very optimistic and very glad to leave that horrific summer behind.
Before I sign off, here’s a video that made me laugh – and right now we need a laugh. I hope you enjoy it too. The ventriloquist act.
Jan
Jan Selbourne was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and her love of literature and history began as soon as she learned to read and hold a pen. After graduating from a Melbourne Business College her career began in the dusty world of ledgers and accounting, working in Victoria, Queensland and the United Kingdom. On the point of retiring, she changed course to work as secretary of a large NSW historical society. Now retired Jan is enjoying her love of travelling and literature. She has two children, a stray live in cat and lives near Maitland, New South Wales.