Marist Sisters , P . O . Box 237 , Barcaldine , 4275 . August , 2016
Dear Everyone ,
Hello again . So much has happened in the past 10 weeks . Yes , June 22nd was my last post : 10 weeks this Wednesday ! I was really surprised when counting . Double checked a couple of times . And yet , when I look back through my diary it isn ’ t so surprising : not hundreds but some thousands of kilometres , with more than two just in the eight days when Cath and I made our annual trip to the far west . I remember smiling the first time I heard some Primary School teachers talking about the “ hump in the week ”. While we still have four months to go in 2016 with plenty to do , “ people to see and places to go ” as they say , I feel as if I ’ ve definitely made it across the hump in the year !
So what has been happening ? Where has the Prado been apart from its last 10,000 km service early in July ? Actually , it would make for a shorter list to say where it hasn ’ t been . Muttaburra and Tambo – not since their shows – Jundah , Morella ( Mass was cancelled because of rain so I ’ ve only been along the highway ) and Jericho . Actually when Bishop Michael was here we did stop there in the hope of visiting on the way back from Confirmation at Alpha . However , things had changed , as they do , and those whom I thought we might see ( having spoken with them earlier ) were not at home .
Leaving aside property visits ( thank you again for your hospitality – it ’ s always a pleasure to spend time with you in your home ) and thinking chronologically , in the latter part of June and early July my concern was to complete the children ’ s preparation for Bishop Michael ’ s annual visit and celebration of the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist . These were special occasions at Alpha ( July 12th ) and Aramac ( 13th ). I would especially like to congratulate the parents who worked through the programme . While it has been written for this purpose i . e . as a family experience and sharing of faith , I know that the demands of your work as well as community involvement - where volunteers tend to be the same people – make finding the necessary time yet another challenge . Thank you . I ’ m reminded of that TV advert about getting back to the table and spending time talking . You all work together but I think there is something very special in reflecting as a family in the way that this sacramental programme enables you to do . In the next couple of weeks I ’ ll be meeting with those preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation this year and then for Confirmation and Eucharist in 2017 .
As on Bishop Michael ’ s earlier whistle-stop visit to Bedourie for Beau ’ s Confirmation , there was rain at the end of his week-long visit to the Central West with Father Josekutty . Such a blessing and relief for those who received it ! And since then , well you don ’ t need me to tell you about the winter rains which have transformed the country . Anyone travelling out here for the first time or flying over would struggle to have any sense of the prolonged drought . Leaving chronology aside for the moment , in our visits to Bedourie and Boulia since 2007 , Cath and I have never seen the country looking green like this . Where we have been used to seeing hectares of the shiny brown-black gibber stones , we drove through green expanses of more or less flat country , appearing to have been mown . It resembled a wellmanicured expanse of lawn , with here and there a patch of the gibbers showing through .
As you might imagine we had quite a few camera stops along the way , wanting to capture something of its beauty with the wild flowers in their hundreds of thousands . I might attach one or two photos for those receiving this by email . Although so much of the green is herbage rather than grass , we were assured that it is very good for the stock . As also elsewhere , there is hope of better times ahead because of the degree of sub-soil moisture now present . “ Whistle-stop ” was probably not such a good description of Bishop Michael ’ s trip with Fr . Matthew because as well as celebrating Beau ’ s Confirmation at Mass in the clinic ( no Church at Bedourie ), the next day they travelled to Birdsville where Bishop Michael celebrated Mass for the local community before flying , with quite a few touch-downs I believe , to Rockhampton via Brisbane .
Desert Yarns • September 2016 11