wet season

mt stuart in the rain

on a night like this everyone stood in their doorways, looking out, looking up. the pregnant clouds were dumping swimming pools-worth of rain straight down. puddles were forming around houses, lakes too. people stuck their hands out in it, their faces, some even danced about. eventually, with more of the same, each person closed his door and headed for bed. each lay there, smiling inwardly, listening to the rhythm on his roof. one thought of her clothes still on the line, getting an extra rinsing.

on a day like this she walked through the clumps of eucalyptus gums, past the paperbarks and crocodile infested waters. she marvelled at baby koalas, patted grey kangaroos, and stood in awe of the mud-covered water buffalo as he emerged from his pond. what she most enjoyed on her morning visit to Billabong Sanctuary was the sultry rain that fell, the plump, warm drops that drizzled down, later, as she enjoyed tea on the open verandah the steady shower turned to a bucketing that sent people rushing for cover. the red-tailed black cockatoo had his crest slicked down with the rain. his attempts to fluff his crest back up were futile. glorious rain!