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people observations - Living Rural

It's for You - Telephonists

March 1st 2008 02:25

Across the miles - communication

When I first went out into the country to work – in the early ‘70’s (OK that gives away my age) the main form of communication was the land line telephone – and, believe it or not, there was still a human (usually female) operator who would make the connections. Coming from the city I was not that familiar with such workings, so I was duly warned by my flatmate to be careful what I said on the phone. While telephonists (the word isn’t even in most dictionaries any more) will swear that they did not listen to people’s conversations, ….. of course they did - be it deliberate or not. Compare it with today - if you are next to someone on the bus who is talking on their mobile, you can’t tell me you don’t half listen!!!! Of course you do! We are all curious human beings after all!

Anyway, back to my story. My flatmate warned me to be careful and told me her story. When she had arrive in the little house we occupied she discovered the previous occupant had been using the bath as a place to store hay – because she had a horse. I won’t try to imagine how that girl kept clean. However…
My friend was discussing the same with a pal in the city on the phone and as a joke said “I’m not sure where I am going to put my horse!!!”
Within a couple of hours she had had several phone calls from friendly farmers welcoming her to the district and offering her a paddock for her horse! That was the end of any horsing around on that phone!

However, I do have to say the telephonist had her uses. If you wanted to know where someone was – for example was John ….at home, at the shop or down the pub, she would usually know – or would even ring the pub to check. And when there was an emergency – a fire or an accident, she would often make all the relevant phone calls once the first call came through. She was also known to give advice on everything from recipes to knitting patterns to childhood illnesses. I do wonder if, at times, she was a self proclaimed censor if phone calls became too heated or if when she discovered something illegal or immoral going on she would have to report it to authorities. One would have to be fairly dumb to plan a robbery or a dalliance on the telephone anyway! Perhaps there are some stories yet to be told. But hurry because ex-telephonists are a disappearing breed.
After exchanges became automatic, that contact was lost and there was a while where everything was more private and the town gossip or concerns were less well known. It could take a little longer to find out that old Mrs Brown had fallen down the front step and now needed a brigade of willing helpers to get her three meals a day and to do her washing.
Now, however mobile phones and e mails get messages around at great speed – provided they work in your part of the world. And on one level, that can be a good thing to ensure help comes quickly.
But is there something missing? I am not one to spend time reminiscing and I can’t really say that telephonists were part of my past – but could there be something to be said about someone who intercedes or stands between a message and its receiver. Perhaps if we all acted with a little more discretion when we text-ed or emailed each other, censoring the content and considering the circumstances of the receiver, we might live in a better world. And of course, whether you are living in remote parts of the country or in a large lonely city, face to face conversations can create their own form of censorship. One would like to think so, anyway.

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Posted By: bumpkin - Category: town life, people, observations

   

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Country Newspapers

February 11th 2008 07:01

Road Closed - read it in the local Newspaper

What is the main source of information in a country town? It is not the town gossip – despite the characterization of such people - it is the town’s local newspaper. These may be part of a wider network of Community Newspapers that are bought from the local newsagency and come on the usual newsprint and newspaper size. Or, as in the case of our town, it is a fortnightly paper run by volunteers with articles written and edited by volunteers, printed in the local telecentre and folded by volunteers. The costs here are met by local businesses that pay for their advertising. It requires a large degree of dedication from a few people and the co-operation of many organizations who contribute articles and information for future events.
There are, of course many regular items: sports results for all levels of every sport in the town – from bowls to bingo and everything in between, Church notices, CWA, Red Cross, Garden Club and other meeting notices. There are also children’s writings- a different class from school contributing stories for each paper. The Shire uses the paper to get out essential information such as which roads will be closed for repairs, when the fire breaks will be inspected or why the rates are going up again. Achievements of individuals and community groups – whether it is winning a state competition, the school productions, quiz kids or work milestones may make it into the paper.
Juicy gossip – births, marriages or who is having a special milestone are celebrated.
There are often the stories of who got their car stuck in the drain on their night out on the town (sure to get a picture with that!) or similar misdemeanors - it is quite an achievement if you manage to stay OUT of this part of the paper. However, it must be said that the volunteers also have to take great care that they get the facts straight and to avoid any legal issues! Letters to the paper cannot be anonymous so people tend not to “vent their spleen” in this arena.
The passing of locals are also recognized, both in the town news column and also when articles are written about prominent citizens. The Historical society use the paper for “interesting milestones” and farming organizations use it to advertise workshops or field days. Work positions and further educational opportunities are advertised and there are always a few things for sale.
When a newcomer arrives, they are likely to crack a mention – and maybe even have their photo taken. This will ensure they will at least start to read the paper!
There can be no excuses for people to be uninformed in a town with its own newspaper!
While I have a member of my family who is a journalist who has no intention of writing stories about “getting cats out of the tree”, I wish to praise the people who do that, week in and week out – for they are the ones who help a community celebrate their achievements and solve their problems. And whether they are dedicated volunteers or paid journalists, their work is appreciated in the day to day lives of their readers.

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Posted By: bumpkin - Category: farming, town life, people, events, observations

   

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Farm Stays

November 10th 2007 03:29

Suddenly a log becomes a cubby or a horse to ride

There are thousands of Australians who have little or no contact with the rural life. Up until about fifty years ago, a majority of city folk had a cousin – or some other vague relative that still lived either on a farm or at least in a rural town. Visits to farms were part of the childhood holiday plans and a taste of how the other half lived led to a better understanding. Of course there was the nostalgia of the perfect life “in the bush” where no-one would hassle you about being home on time or cared if you rode around on the back of the ute or did wheelies in the front paddock on the motor bike.
Now, of course there is a sense from some city folk that the outer suburbs are the bush and the closest they will get to farm life are the animal pens at the Royal Show.
Some fortunate children, often with parents who are re-living their own childhood, venture onto farm stay properties for a holiday and these can be a great experience, especially if the occupants have catered well for the visitor and enjoy having the family join in with the activities. But a fortunate few still have those cousins – or uncles that have a real farm, with real jobs.
We often play host to such families – nieces and nephews with their children and sometimes their children’s friends. The rules of such visits are usually fairly simple. Leave the gate as you found it (Shut it if you aren’t sure!), wear a bike helmet if you even think you are going to ride the three wheeler motor bike, and keep your dog under control.
We do have two dogs that visit occasionally. I have been told that one, a Labrador, gets excited even when its owner picks up his farm boots in the shed. When she arrives she gets out of the car and jumps on the ute, even before having a drink of water. She goes home with orange streaks in her pale coat from swimming in the clay dam and bits of sheep manure stuck to her fur – and sleeps all the way home.
The kids also leave exhausted. We aren’t a farm with horses or other animals to play with. There has been the occasional pet lamb to feed and there are always chooks to feed and eggs to collect. But there are other things to do. Collecting various skeletal remains from a long departed sheep can result in a great news story for “Show and Tell”. Mind you there is a fair amount of protest if the remains are a little too fresh for transporting in the car! Then there are gilgies (marron, crayfish- depending on which State you are in) that need to be caught. Lots of squeals – not just from the girls, and a messy meal after cooking them in hot water is par for the course.
If the farmer has any sense he will ensure that the extra work force ends up doing some sheep work – drenching, drafting even crutching can do with extra hands to move the sheep around. Or perhaps it's time to burn up a few dead logs in the paddocks – that can be fun stacking the wood to make large bon fires. Or logs can be a source of imagination - a cubby base, or a horse to ride.
The kids learn a lot. They learn that there is a life outside the bedroom and computer room. They learn that they can entertain themselves – building a cubby or having a camp fire (in the right season) and playing hide and seek among the rocks. They learn about people who physically work for a living and that they too run a business with all the computer models and high tech machinery that is part of farming today. They learn to get dirty – and that dirt and a scraped knee or a pecked finger doesn’t kill you. At times they learn about new life and about death. And as they get a bit older, some will even have their first driving lessons in a large paddock where they can sort out the basics before hitting the roads – usually accompanied by some sound advice from the uncle about driving on country roads.
If you are fortunate enough to have farming relatives, then make it happen – but bring some extra food with you – it will be appreciated. If you know no-one from rural areas, look up Farm Stays and consider it as a holiday.
This blog is to help people understand a little of rural life. But it can only go so far – if you really want to know – come and live it for a while.

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Posted By: bumpkin - Category: farming, people, observations

   

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More Blessings to Count

September 8th 2007 02:49

Plenty of Grass

OK. I'm not terribly inspiring at the moment. This flu is still hanging around and I've had my second visit to the doctor. I haven't been able to help my husband who has had a lot of sheep work this week, but at least I've done the books! But when I look out across the paddocks I can only thank God for the way He looks after us. After months of worrying if it would rain, for us, it did, and has continued to do so, so my blessings are scenes similar to those you see on this page. While APEC and other such meetings discuss the wealth of nations and are urged to discuss the sharing of such wealth with those who still suffer from the many devastating aspects of poverty, I too look at my own blessings and think of those within our rural communities that have not had the rains (or have had floods) and find the bottom line getting crimson - not just red.

A full dam

Many patches in WA have had either no rain to put in crops or not enough rain for run off into dams. South Australia is devastated because they had a good start but no follow up, and crops have been burnt off and died. The Murray Darling may be running, but for how long? It will take more than the rains that have fallen so far this year to help it and the industries depending on it - and the nature depending on it, to recover.
So think on these people as you look at these lovely pictures and pray with me that all may be blessed with a green paddock and a smooth road ahead.

A Smooth road

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Pondering our past - and future in Country Museum Parks

August 18th 2007 10:29

Pondering the past

What is this fascination of old rusty equipment from agricultural pursuits of the past or the machinery from saw mills or old dairies? Why do we spend hours standing in front of old steam trains or cars from the 1920’s pretending to remember things that were not our memories but the memories of our fore-fathers? What is it that drives people into yet another early settler’s kitchen to see yet another fire place and hanging black pots?
There are those who spend their whole lives trying to recreate the atmosphere of the early settlers in country towns – with their slab bush school, doctor’s surgery, police lock-up and “Mrs Jackson’s” house. These are often set among little bush walks, streams and wooden bridges, labeled trees, hand made wooden benches and picnic gazebos.
But there is nothing romantic about not having anywhere to be treated for a broken leg. There is nothing romantic about being crushed between a goods train and a timber log or several falling wheat bags. There is nothing romantic about being thrown from a flighty horse or being lost in the bush. There is nothing virtuous about slaving over a wood fire on a hot day in an iron hut. And what child would enjoy learning in a classroom that had cold wind whistling through the cracks all winter. These stories hold the attention of tourists and locals alike when they make the obligatory visit to the museum park.

air conditioned classroom

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Multi-cultural living

August 3rd 2007 01:28

Sharing Culture - photo from "The Kodja Place

All Australians are migrants – including the Aboriginal people, but their's is a level of occupation of thousands of years compared to the meagre 200 years of European and other nationalities.
While there are people within all communities that forget this fact and treat their British heritage as a class above the rest, it is time that the recognition of the diversity, even within a rural community needs to be acknowledged

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Shopping for food in a country town

July 27th 2007 03:35

Sunday -quiet, Monday - trucks, utes and muddy cars

Don’t you hate those food preparation programs on TV that insist that you must visit the local fish market to pick up some exotic species of marine animal that is essential for their recipe? Or even things like sea salt or a variety of Chinese vegetable only to be found in a city market? Now I don’t know what the local supermarket is like near you, but the only fish I can get is frozen hake, schnapper and a couple of other types – and they nearly all come from somewhere like Japan, Vietnam or Korea. Fresh unusual vegetables will take a week to get if you really want them – by which time the urge to experiment will have left long ago. You can try tinned lychees if you like or frozen raspberries – but they will be rather squishy when they defrost.
If you are attempting to be an enthusiastic chef, then shopping for your food supplies is not a joyous event in any supermarket – but particularly in a rural town several hundred miles from the coast or the city. However, if you are a reasonably straightforward cook who occasionally likes to try that new Charred grilled vegetable sauce, then you will survive shopping for food in a rural setting

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Lifestyle Farmers - neighbours from Heaven or Hell?

May 30th 2007 02:25

Farms to the left of you, farms to the right

There is a sense of unease among many farmers who rely on what they can produce from the land as their major source of income, when they are introduced to the hobby farmer, absentee land owner or those who have opted for a “bush change” in their retirement or semi-retirement - the so-called lifestyle farmers. While most people in the bush make a great effort to welcome new-comers to their district, these people can be met with some suspicion and coolness, if certain basic principals are not followed.
The new comer must realize that to begin with, the price paid for the piece of land they have acquired was probably inflated to a degree that a normal farmer was unable to acquire it. This is great for the seller, but not for farmers who wish to expand their properties. However, most farmers bow to the demands of market forces, however unwillingly, and if the new neighbours are nice enough people, such little matters can be overcome. (Besides, the farmer will make a mental note of the price and adjust the equity value of his property a little as a result

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Here comes the Rain!

May 3rd 2007 04:14

I'm in the good books!

The cat is earning his keep at the moment. He has managed to catch two mice in the house and he and I had a wonderful time getting rid of a family of eight rats that took up residence in the hen house. Well the old dog helped a bit with one – he scared it to death – honestly – it had a heart attack! I believe the moggie is now being employed gainfully down at the shed for the same purpose.
Why this sudden influx of rodents? It all has to do with a change in the season – and more importantly the signs that it is going to rain. I have it on very good authority (my husband) that rodents in my kitchen are a sure sign that good rains are on the way. So instead of complaining about the half eaten Weetbix and the smell in the saucepan cupboard I should be happily cleaning out said cupboards each week and living in hope! Well I hope he’s right – because I hate cleaning at the best of times… (Just as an aside here - we have had some rain already – it’s good to see some patches of green in the paddocks – may it continue – lots and lots!)
What other signs of nature should we all be aware of to predict rain? The first one to to be seen is when the salt water that is just below the ground in salt patches comes to the surface. This is really noticeable and often salt tolerate grasses start to green up too. This is, of course, like many farm activities a mixed blessing. The farmer can see if his salt patches have spread – not good, but he is also hopeful that rains are on the way - good.
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Anzac Day in the Bush

April 17th 2007 07:49

Lest We Forget

The time of year is again approaching when Australia remembers those who fought in many theatres of war over the last one hundred or so years. Most country towns will hold a march from point to point with any veterans available, women who had served as nurses or land army, some children of these service men and women, Red Cross and CWA members, the boy scouts, girl guides and possibly the fire and ambulance volunteers to swell the numbers. The local clergy will say the prayers and others will share the formalities of the service. The last post and reveille will be sounded by the gifted child that is learning the trumpet or the sounds will come from a well worn tape recording. Wreaths will be laid at the local memorial – a cairn in a park, a soldier with his rifle turned upside down in the main street or a wall on which names are displayed – many of them the same surnames as those that are still within the town. Nothing will stop this solemn ceremony – even Highway traffic must give way for this event.
Most towns sport a Memorial Hall, a Memorial park and/or an RSL Hall as permanent reminders of these sacrifices. These places are held in respect and a certain reverence.

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