January 11, 2013

BROWN COUNTRY

When I was around seven, our family moved house and states, and our books were displayed with easy access in our new Queensland home. I came across an old book of my Mum's that I think she'd owned in school. I don't remember all its contents, except for the poem, 'My Country' by Dorothea Mackellar. Being of an enthusiastic reading age, and as with many new books, I picked it up I began to read it out load, asking my Mum to help me with tricky words along the way. 

Then, I'm not sure if for a class 'show and tell,' or just out of my own interest, I learnt the poem and began to recite it around our home. At that stage it was a collection of words that sounded nice together, I knew it was about Australia as I associated the text with what I'd seen and beyond into what I imagined about this great big land.

Last week when we drove home from Canberra we stopped along the road, around half-way through our journey. The sun was still a little over an hour from setting, and the last of the daily golden light breathed warmth over an un-harvested wheat field. It was double gold. We stood outside our car, surrounded by this golden horizon, blue and yellow danced together, a perfect colour spectrum. And I felt like Mackellar stood there once too, or somewhere much like it.

This is a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, the blue skies are pitiless, and the horizons as far as can see.

3 comments:

  1. I LOVE these . what stunning scenery. gosh you make me want to visit australia now!!!

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  2. Such beautifully orchestrated words, Elizabeth. Stunning images, too. Are you feeling more confident after the Nursery?
    xo

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    1. Thanks Lisa! So much more!
      I'm also planning around with film a little bit, and experiencing better results. Properly understanding how it all works has made me so excited. If it wasn't for the assignments I've been doing this week, I think I'd be out taking photos!

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