02-01-2025: The Common

Lou had a men’s breakfast at the Anglican church this morning so we were on our own. Across the street from Lou is a nature reserve called the Common. This public space has a 1.5km loop walking trail through the bush and I’ve wanted to visit since we’ve been here. This morning is our chance, nice weather and not too hot.

Before we left Lou’s, we tried to get Banjo to go out into what we call the compound, the side screened in porch and fenced in yard. He refused to go. He’s never happy when Lou goes away and he just wanted to lie in the lounge chair. When I tried to give him a little nudge, he actually snapped at me. We decided to leave him in the house and leave him be.

Christine wasn’t too keen on going, but she came along. We should have brought a bottle of water with us because she was thirsty and had a dry mouth. Her alternative was to chew some gum and after that, she enjoyed the walk.

The path winds its way down through a grassy woodlot to a very picturesque view of the Cudgegong River and a paddock of cattle. It’s a lovely spot.

And here we are on our walk through the Common. It started off chilly, but very quickly we warmed up and had our jumpers (what the Aussies call a sweater) around our waists.

I am fascinated by gum trees, eucalypts. There are over 700 species of this really interesting flowering tree. One of the reasons I love walking through the bush is the smell of eucalyptus that permeates the air. The area we were walking through was ravaged by bushfire in 2020 and many of the trees in the Common are dead from fire or have very blackened trunks. Many were badly burned, but are still alive. It is nice to see the regeneration of the bush. For thousands, even millions, of years, the eucalypts have been ravaged by fire, but the species finds a way to keep going. Some species actually need fire for regeneration through epicormic buds. Epicormic buds lie dormant beneath the bark, their growth suppressed by hormones from active shoots higher up the plant. Under certain conditions, they grow into active shoots, such as when damage occurs to higher parts of the plant like when fire ravages the bush. The epicormic shoots look really funny poking out from the trunk making it seems as though the tree is fuzzy.

The other thing that fascinates me about gum trees is that all eucalypts grow new bark each year. Many gum trees grow so fast that they need to get rid of their bark to make room for rapid growth. The dead bark may be shed in large slabs, in ribbons or in small flakes. This makes bush walks so interesting because of all the variations in the trees and in their bark. It’s like walking through an art gallery of bark paintings. It adds color, texture, and patterns in the bush.

Here are some more photos around the Common.

I took a very long nap in the afternoon on Saturday. I guess I needed to catch up on sleep.

Later in the evening, Angela stopped in to say goodbye. She is going into hospital in Sydney for a hip replacement next Wednesday and will then go to rehab, so we won’t see her again. It was really sweet of her to want to say goodbye. She gave Christine and me holy stickers of Sister Mary MacKillop, an Australian saint canonized in 2010. Sister Mary lived from 1842 to 1909. She co-founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart whose members were known as the Josephites. Their work involved running schools in southern Australia and New South Wales for impoverished children. She was also an early reporter of clergy sexual abuse, often enraging church hierarchy and getting her excommunicated for a period of time.

It was a very thoughtful thing for Angela to present to us.

We thoroughly enjoyed meeting Angela and spending time with her. She is a very funny, opinionated, and lovely woman. She and Lou spar a bit about things, especially related to church matters, but they have a great relationship and are there for each other when the need arises.