GRAIN HARVEST 2021

It’s that time of the year again –

”Harvest”.

 

Just stop a moment,

be quiet,

listen,

and you will hear

the drone of a header,

somewhere,

even if

you can’t see one.

 

Giant grain trucks,

B-doubles,

roar through our little town;

first the strident clatter

of air-brakes

and the revving

of down-changes

as they approach,

then the sigh

of a pause

for the crossroads,

before accelerating out of town

towards the grain terminal

on the railway.

 

Fifty trucks in an hour

at the height

of the carting,

they say,

but it will soon

quieten

and cease altogether

until next harvest.

 

Our little country town of Laura is just 11 kms north of Gladstone, the largest inland grain storage facility in Australia. Normally very quiet, it changes dramatically during grain harvest. 

 

 

THE OLD SADDLERY

It sits on a corner  

in our little town -

old,

built of local stone

with an ornate parapet

embellished with a horse head

and the original ownership

“J F Roennfeldt –

Saddle, Harness and Collar Maker”.

 

On nearby tree trunks

one can find hitching rings 

from days when horses 

were the main means of transport.

 

But times have changed. 

Someone lives in the old saddlery now 

with plans for a delicatessen

and coffee shop nearby.

 

The neigh of horses 

has been replaced 

by the thrum 

of passing motor traffic.

Years ago

the parapet sign 

was covered 

with a new coat of paint

and seemingly forgotten

until a new owner

found and restored it.

 

It is old 

and faded again now. 

I wonder ... 

 

 

DAVE

He was a character

seemingly larger than life -

Dave –

a cattle-man,

tall and lean,

far seeing eyes,

broad brimmed hat

and a distinctive drawl.

A thousand square miles

of red sand, 

spinifex,

desert oak

and mulga scrub

was his kingdom.

 

Some years before,

he had walked

a herd of cattle

twelve hundred miles 

for nine months

to establish it.

 

We knew Dave

as neighbour,

fifty miles away,

not close

but always there

to provide support

or a talk

or coffee

along the track –

always a true bush friend.

 

 A memory of Dave Fogarty from when we lived at Amata 1970 - 72.

 

Sunrise at Mulga Park,

Dave's Cattle Station,

on the way to Amata.