tour de tassie

we've been away in Tassie..
green island dreaming.
wet gum trees,
puddles in paddocks.
long and winding roads..


from the notepad-

Nive River
Tungatina Power Station
Highland Lakes
Bronte Park
Lake Binney
Brady's Lake
Bronte Lagoon
Lake Echo
Dee Lagoon
Osterley
Laughing Jack Lagoon
Brown Marsh Creek
Clarence River
The Wall in the Wilderness
Little Naveire River
Franklin and Gordon Wild Rivers National Park
Coates Creek
King William Creek

rain glorious rain!

Mt Arrowsmith
Gifford's Creek
Surprise Valley
Squire's Creek
Taffy's Creek
Mt Gill
Franklin River
Frenchman's Cap
Stonehaven Creek
Double Barrel Creek
Donnaghy's Hill
Collingwood River (wide and flowing)
Cool Creek
Scarlett Creek
Wildlife Dusk to Dawn (warning to motorists)
pink heath

___________________________Bees_____________________________(on a bar across a road)

Cardigan Creek
Patrolman's Creek
Snake Creek
Raglan Creek
Victoria Park
road winds like green snake inside the bush
(i think of Keira Knightley's Atonement dress.. the folds of)
Nelson Creek
Nelson River
Valley Creek
steam rising off the road/



more to follow

winter magic..

and the poppies are back on the mantlepiece once again..
just lovely!

for june 22..

i do not write
i do not write
i do not write
because the time's not right..

yesterday my sister's birthday..

i tell one person at school that it is her birthday and across a crowded table at morning tea she says "treasure her memories all day.."

i do..

night..

yes yes, it's so late.. the house is still.. PC in bed.. Dan just home from a movie.. "not bad" he says then his phone rings and he's off to his room leaving me alone in the kitchen.. footy's over.. I fell asleep in middle of the third quarter.. knew the Demons had no chance of pulling the game back from such a long long way..the best part of the night had been the thin black magic man who leapt and ran and fell in front of goal and booted the ball in sideways!!!.. he made his mark and they danced in their seats, his girlfriend up on her feet and his mum and dad and grandmother sitting there in one long line of Northern Territory colour smiling and taking him in and taking it in, the whole thing in, again.
and that was it for me, I lay back in a corner of the sofa and took the evening in like that..
and now in the kitchen at the table once again and with one click I'm back on a page of poetry.. an a to z of poets to be precise..though I never am I do not think..precise.. but here it is and here I am.. Heaney in Mossbawn Sunlight, even Dahl reading Little Red Riding Hood in a way that only a sly old fox could .. and both are good.. really good..and I mark them as favourites with the orange star at the side of the screen then something makes me look again and I find the name Ciaran Carson and knowing nothing click on this and Belfast Confetti comes up and Snow and I listen in awe here in the tick tock still of a kitchen in Gippsland and know as i know my fingers are finding these letters on the keyboard.. i've found another Irish mine..

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/trackListing.do?poetId=29

best part..

I was just watching a behind the scenes doco on the making of the movie Benjamin Button and the woman who played his mother said this-

"the best part of life is loving as much as you can while you're still living."

how good is that!

littleboywriting..

Teaching is full of marvellous moments.. take these-

by J.........
25.5.09
Today I lost my tooth. But I lost it doon the dran. I tried to get it aut but I kouldnt get it aut. I cried and cried and 2 big gols helpdt me to get it. But it was goon. Pepol said fget abot it. But I said I krnt. Pepol said Just think that you still have your tooth. So I tried and I did it. I was so prod of my saf.

1st.6.09
On Sunday I played footy. My Dad said write a letter to my sune wen he is 16 becos he will be rede to play for Carlton on tv. I love Carlton so much. I love woching Krusu on taley. I love woching Judd play and Fvola. I love Judd so much. Cats are dowing the best this yeur. If Carlton sday on the top 8 we will be in the Grand Fials.
I played footy and my dad said "you have inprovd" Footy is like the besdis thing in my liyf.

report thoughts...

For the last three weeks on my days off I've been writing reports. When I wake in the night more often than not I'm thinking of those litle kids working away at school..

In Victoria now, the report model that all schools are obliged to follow goes like this..
what the student has achieved...
areas for improvement/future learning....
what the school will do to support the student's learning.....
what you can do at home to help your child's progress...

For all the limitations there are in following a prescriptive format, in the end all I can do is try my best. One by one I go down the list.. Because I teach part-time I write 13 reports.. half the class of 27 - one of the boys is away for the term, travelling in Western Australia with his family.

Maybe it's because I've managed to finish over a week before the deadline or maybe it's the fact that somehow I've just put down what I know about each child, tonight I feel relieved. (My great fear every semester is that I won't know what to say...)

I slide the cursor up and down the screen and discover there's one more..

Frances finds it hard to run about or even hold a pencil so weak is her muscle tone.. She speaks softly too and in the busyness of the class it's extraordinarily hard to make out what she says. But I know she's happy.. the others take care of her.. pull out her chair, find her books, write letters for her, carry her lunchbox to her table. look after her on the playground.

Frances has settled into grade one very well. She has a gentle, friendly nature and is well liked by her peers. She brings out the best in everyone...


The last report I realise is a model of hope for the class..

sister on a string..

all I can say about this photograph is that there's a story attached to it.. I wish I could tell it here right now but the time's not right..
one day it will be..