Friday, May 25, 2007

Reptiles in our rivers

For the past couple of weeks I've been collecting my daughter in the early afternoon so we can go for a decent ride and have a little out door adventure instead of going straight home where she inevitably wants to watch videos!
I often take my camera just in case we see something really cool... So as we were skirting rapid creek looking at piles of scorched 'Long bums' (A mangrove shellfish), the remains of Aboriginal picnics, I noticed something in the water. "Look over there!" It's a.... err... It's.... Hey it's a crocodile! WOW! I quickly reached behind be and unzipped my bag as my daughter stood up in her chair trying to get a better look.
I whipped out the camera and turned it on just as the croc passed under some mangrove and out of view. I waited and edged my way slightly to the right until I could see him again. There he is, it was a little far away but I should get something in frame. I pressed my finger down on the button and waited for the synthesized click from my digital camera..... I waited some more.... I heard nothing. This was not so unusual I often miss the sound. I quickly turned the camera over so I could see the image. There was nothing! Some text flashed on the screen. "NO MEMORY CARD" No memory card!?!?!?! What!?
So many times I've lugged my camera along without taking a single shot but when there is something truly worthy of a photo I find that I've left the card in the card reader at home! Oh well it was a great thing to see anyway.
Today I reported the 1.5m (aprox) crocodile to the Parks and Wildlife department. As a matter of public safety they have to remove crocodiles from city beaches. I would have gladly sacrificed an afternoon of Data cleanup at work to go out with them and was tempted to ask but didn't. My adventure was over. I slumped back in my chair, opened another spreadsheet and continued my mindless assessment of data no one may ever want or look at again. Humpfff.... 1,375 lines down,9,438 lines to go!

The crocodile we saw resembled this skink...vaguely... kind of...
(species unknown)




Cleaning up our community
On the way home from work I saw Trevor picking up rubbish along Lee Point Rd, he'd managed to accumulate a couple of large rubbish bags full of junk in what seemed like a fairly short distance. It amazes me that people can just drop their rubbish on the ground like that.
When I got home I grabbed a bottle of water and headed back to catch up with Trev for a chat. After spending my days indoors surrounded by computers, and obnoxious, technology dependent teens whose values I can not comprehend it was a great relief to make a human connection. There are times when I am kind of envious of his lifestyle and I know I am taking the easier softer way.
It can't be easy being on the streets but it is one way to avoid certain kinds of corruption. In this age of human induced Global Warming, when interest in the growth of our shares continues to take precedence over the renewal of our forests. When we are ruled by economic prophecy; slaves to corporate propaganda and bound by the fear of rising interest rates or the price we pay for fuel, there are far less noble positions one could take in this world than to be unemployed and voluntarily cleaning up other peoples mess.

Peace....

No comments: