Maylen Park comes back to life

Looking back to the closing months of 2019 and into 2020 there was so much stress around us all. We were in deep drought and the country was brown and bare. All the established trees dropped their leaves and began to die.

For the first time I could see through the forest area next door as all the undergrowth was dead. Instead of a barrier of green growing trees and shrubs, there was a clear view well into the forest. Over a period of three months, I watched the great trees die.

Then at the end of February the rains came. There was also a mini cyclone which left a trail of broken sheds and broken trees. There was so much damage. I had six trees across my access road and three huge branches on my house.

I had to get the S.E.S. men to come and clear the road in case I needed to leave in a hurry and to cut me out from under the tree on my house. Those men do a wonderful job and all are volunteers and, I add gratefully, they were at my place within an hour of me calling for help.

The rain that we had barely seen or felt in over six months continued to fall in great torrential downpours. The mudhole at the back of the house suddenly became a dam again. It filled up in hours, overflowed into a noisy waterfall tumbling into the ravine making music to my ears.

Within days there was a green tinge across the land. Soon there was green stuff called grass sprouting everywhere.

When you live in the country, you certainly get a large dose of what Nature decides to offer, whether it be good or bad, and there is no choice.