Nature’s Paintbrush
Nature’s paintbrush is everywhere, but my favourite times are Spring and
Autumn because of the beautiful colours.
Nature’s paintbrush is all around us, we see beautiful coloured birds and
spectacular sunsets, the changing colours in the trees and surprising
blossoms and flowers in different seasons. Even the trees with different
patterns, colours and berries provide for the many colourful birds and
animals.
One Sunday I fell in love again with the beauty of the Australian bush.
Visiting the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve having traversed Paddy’s River
Road with the scenic hills and mountains and inviting rocky outcrops which
are the backdrop to the City of Canberra we took one of the short nature
walks. My grandchildren were with us and took full advantage of the large
granite tors where they perched ever so precariously but loved every
minute. I’ve never seen the koalas look more in their prime as they
chewed on their eucalyptus leaves and the little potoroos scuttling through
the undergrowth were charming. And the crystal clear little mountain
streams everywhere were a delight.
Thankfully we were unlikely to see any snakes despite the warning signs
so the kids ran along and fell off the logs to their hearts content. Perhaps
my enthusiasm was a combination of nostalgia and the pleasure of history
repeating itself as we had often visited here when our own children were
young. What ever the reason on this still winter’s day, my Australian heart
was warmed.
A day in Devon – The quiet of the morning, soft light, wood pigeons, the
sigh of a gentle wind, outside the green hillsides lie still, gentle green, with
refreshing rain…..fragments of fluffy white clouds, dogs swimming,
breakers sliding and retreating on a picture beach, lunch time in an English
country pub. The quiet of the afternoon settles like a benison around our
hearts. The day takes its place in our memories.
Whenever I visit Bundaberg and take a drive to “The Hummock”, the one
small rise in an otherwise very flat landscape, and look out onto the patch-
work of the regions cane fields and farms in one direction and the pristine
coast in another that’s where I breathe in the paintbrush beauty provided
so abundantly by nature. Likewise a visit to Alice Springs and onto Uluru
where the sunrise and sunset on the Rock provide breathtaking pictures of
beauty. Going a little further if you are adventurous and climb the rim of
King’s Canyon you will be stunned by the colours.
- contributed by St Margaret’s Friendship Group
St Margaret’s News
2
October 2017