Attending a ‘Bush for Life’ Workshop
While on leave from my teaching career
Determined to learn about bush care
My calling as a ‘greenie’ was near.
I found out it wasn’t about tree planting
Or roaming the hills to collect seeds
It concerned fighting the bush’s main foe
Tracking down and destroying weeds.
I was impressed with the bush’s plight
And as bad as the situation looked
I decided I could make a difference
By the end of the session I was hooked.
Four kilometres west of Saddleworth
My wife and I toured a heritage site
There were native shrubs of many types
A bushwalker’s afternoon delight.
Sue and I trudged through tracts of scrub
Where in places the foliage was dense
We viewed evidence of native fauna
And some trees that were really immense.
I was asked if we would care for the place
Using Round Up and common sense
I said I was already sold on the idea
From the moment I climbed the fence.
Our main target was feral olive trees
Which had invaded the site from all sides
The task looked pretty onerous
But I was prepared give it a try.
So, as the summer break began
We armed ourselves to the gills
With herbicide, gloves and secateurs
Hats, sunscreen and cordless drills.
Being January, it was already warm
As we strode out on a Saturday morn
Peering through brush for any olive plants
That were concealed in the light of the dawn.
My wife let out a dreadful scream
So I dashed through prickles to find her
I imagined a snake or a broken ankle
She’d just ambled through the web of a spider.
We located numerous small olives
Which I treated on hand and knee
Having finished the task I’d slowly rise
Bumping my scone on the branch of a tree.
We both noted the prevalence of insects
Especially the large nests of bull ants
Which I only noticed for the first time
As they crawled up the legs of my pants.
As we attacked some more large olives
The drill would roar back to life
Into each hole I’d squirt the poison
That was supplied by my patient wife.
In places the scrub got very thick
And we had to walk in single file
I would occasionally flick back a branch
Briefly erasing my wife’s smile.
We quietly spied on some kangaroos
As they rested on a leafy knoll
We also glimpsed a rabbit scurry by
(Sue’s foot had fallen in its hole).
We were now extremely weary
But we pondered how much we’d done
So, despite all the dust we’d eaten
We were thinking we’d had some fun.
Yes, despite our arms being scratched to shreds
We departed the site with sorrow
We decided that after recharging our batteries
We’d kill some more olives tomorrow.
