C. M. Sheely

It is now two years since the devastating bush fires that ran through the East Coast of Australia causing so much damage and heartache. Two years ago we were suffering from the daily coverage of smoke of fires that would eventually come to lick our house and completely destroy others. It is a time for reflection on what has changed and what has stayed the same.

What has most obviously changed is that this Christmas it will be cool and wet. Early December and I am wearing a vest to keep warm. Qld and north western NSW are flooded and expecting more rain. Crops are drowned and again farmers are losing out on income. And still the leader of our country is turning a blind eye to climate change and working to keep coal and gas at the forefront of economic policy.

Not to mention Covid and it’s new variants. The old Chinese curse about ‘living in exciting times’ is coming home to roost. Vaccines are being rolled out but, like the flu vaccine, you can still get it but are a great deal less likely to die from it unless you have underlying issues.

And so it is Christmas, the shops are full of gifts and decorations, Christmas music is all around and what have we learned. Another year older and the ground swell of change is happening in the community, even in big business who can see their organisations suffering big losses if they don’t change. And yet we are the worst country for dealing with climate action in the western world. So sad.

Therefore, this Christmas I chose to focus on my family – enjoy their company and the company of friends. I will pick up the cudgel of trying to get climate and biodiversity action again in the New Year. But I’m tired of feeling sad and upset by politics and people thinking they are different and refusing to be vaccinated. Tired of people thinking about themselves only. I can love and provide support for my family – something positive and that will be my Christmas gift to myself and my family.

I hope this end of a strange year finds you well and that 2022 will be safe and happy for you.

This Gardian article, Capitalism Is Killing the Planet, says it better than I ever could. It is something we should all take in, understand and act upon.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word Languish as an intransitive verb

1a : to be or become feeble, weak, or enervated – “Plants languish in the drought. “

b : to be or live in a state of depression or decreasing vitality – ” languished in prison for ten years “

2a : to become dispirited

b : to suffer neglect “the bill languished in the Senate for eight months”

3 : to assume an expression of grief or emotion appealing for sympathy “languished at him through screwed-up eyes”— Edith Wharton

So here I am with vaccination rates in our area over 70% fully vaccinated and 95% with the first dose and we are coming out of strict lockdown. That the Eurobodalla Shire (Hobbitsville to us) where we live has not suffered as long a lockdown as Sydney or Melbourne but, nevertheless, it has had an impact on everyone. This includes being cranky that people from the same household cannot accompany one another to stores i.e. supermarkets etc to getting absolutely bored with loved hobbies.

I love to read, crochet, knit, do jigsaw puzzles and play computer games. But after nearly 6 weeks of having nothing but these, they are becoming less enticing.

The house maintenance is so up to scratch hubby is looking for stuff to do and is now on hands and knees sweeping special sand between concrete tiles to get a good seal so that no mold or weeds grow. Everything around us is tickety-boo.

And yet, with the prospect of visiting friends, having morning tea at coffee shops and getting to see family again, I find myself tired and listless. I don’t want to go out or make an effort to host visitors. My body feels tired all the time even though I walk every day and do Pilates twice a week via Zoom.

So I’m languishing as per 2a in the definition. And, from what I read, I am not alone. We have wound down so much that our bodies and minds have gotten into a rut that will take effort to get out of. A psychological rut it seems.

But I miss my kids and grandkids and I miss getting out and about in our little caravan and seeing other people. So I will get of my slightly rounder rear end and take my languishing brain and get out and about as of next Monday. I will hope with all my might that no numbty will come down here with Covid-19 so that, even though vaccinated, I get a mild dose. Although I feel it is not a matter of if, but when for this to happen. A bit like the flu. I get a vaccination for it every year and still, every 3-5 years, I will get a dose. Although not a bad one and no need for doctors or hospitals. I guess that is living with Covid.

The past two years, as it is coming up to the 2nd anniversary of Black Summer, have been something quite different. I believe our lives from here on in will have to become different too. We will have to make lifestyle sacrifices to overcome the forecast dastardly effects of climate change and we will have to live with Covid and we will have to change.

We will have to change how we view our current economic model of constant growth. In nature and humans constant growth is totally devastating and so it is with economic growth. We have wrecked our planet and as so many signs say, “There IS NO planet B”.

With the lockdowns we have all had time to think and, hopefully, have seen what our politicians are doing to us and can see what has to happen. In the next few months we will have local, State by-elections and a Federal election. I sincerely hope we can get it right and get people in power that will see the need for change, and are brave enough to enact the required changes.

But, unfortuately, I think our political scene is languishing as per 2a and 2b above.

Okay, I have to buck up now, find my natural optimism and keep going.

If you want to show your colours about climate action, go to CANsign and get a sign and put it in your front yard or window. Tell the world you want change, you want a world our children and grandchildren can survive in.

PS CANSign is a not-for-profit organisation that is purely set up to allow individuals and organisations to show their colours and buy/design/produce signs for Climate Action Now (CAN).