Homestead

Homestead

When the shearing sheds are silent, and the stock camps fallen quiet
When the gidgee coals no longer glow across the outback night
And the bush is forced to hang a sign, ‘gone broke and won’t be back’
And spirits fear to find a way beyond the beaten track
When harvesters stand derelict upon the wind-swept plains
And brave hearts pin their hopes no more on chance of loving rains
When a hundred outback settlements are ghost towns overnight
When we’ve lost the drive and heart we had to once more see us right
When ‘Pioneer’ means a stereo and ‘Digger’ some backhoe
And the ‘Outback’ is behind the house. there’s nowhere else to go
And ‘Anzac’ is a biscuit brand and probably foreign owned
And education really means brainwashed and neatly cloned
When you have to bake a loaf of bread to make a decent crust
And our heritage once enshrined in gold is crumbling to dust
And old folk pay their camping fees on land for which they fought
And fishing is a great escape; this is until you’re caught
When you see our kids with Yankee caps and resentment in their eyes
And the soaring crime and hopeless hearts is no longer a surprise
When the name of RM Williams is a yuppie clothing brand
And not a product of our heritage that grew off the land
When offering a hand makes people think you’ll amputate
And two dogs’ meeting in the street is what you call a ‘Mate’
When ‘Political Correctness’ has replaced all common sense
When you’re forced to see it their way, there’s no sitting on the fence
Yes, one day you might find yourself an outcast in this land
Perhaps your heart will tell you then, ‘ I should have made a stand’
Just go and ask the farmers that should remove all doubt
Then join the swelling ranks who say, ‘ Don’t sell Australia out!’
Please keep this going – Australia is in real trouble!

Author credit- Chris Long
Far North Queensland
Photo a little homestead that raised a large 10+ family back when Australia was Australian Owned.

My Love For Truth

My Love For Truth

But hopefully you too desire to live in truth so, despite what I share contradicting what you may have been told, rather than be offended, you will pause to consider the possibility that a more truthful reality exists.

An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.

Robert Louis Stevenson

The son and grandson of prominent Scottish engineers, Louis was expected to follow in their footsteps. He dutifully attended engineering school, and excelled there, but upon graduation he disappointed his parents by announcing that he intended to become a writer rather than a civil engineer. Later he would disappoint them again by marrying Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne, a pistol-packing American divorcee who was 12 years his senior.

But following his heart led him ultimately to happiness and success. When he died at age 44 of a cerebral hemorrhage, he was not at a desk in Scotland doing a job he hated, but rather at his home in the South Pacific, happily married and doing a job he loved, his novels Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde having won him enduring fame.

“An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.”

Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850, one hundred seventy-three years ago.

Pooh and Piglet Visit Eeyore

Pooh and Piglet Visit Eeyore

“It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn’t heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore’s stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.

“Hello Eeyore,” said Pooh.

“Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet,” said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.

“We just thought we’d check in on you,” said Piglet, “because we hadn’t heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay.”

Eeyore was silent for a moment. “Am I okay?” he asked, eventually. “Well, I don’t know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That’s what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. Which is why I haven’t bothered you. Because you wouldn’t want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now.”

Pooh looked at Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.

Eeyore looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing?” “We’re sitting here with you,” said Pooh, “because we are your friends. And true friends don’t care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are.”

“Oh,” said Eeyore. “Oh.” And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.

Because Pooh and Piglet were There.

No more; no less.”