Anniverery whinge time

7.2.2010
Today is the one-year anniversary of the big fires that claimed so many lives and destroyed our home and business. Memorial services and community parties are organised in the affected communities but we are not in party mood and have only the dogs to mourn. As a special privilege to myself I will allow myself one day of whinging.

Firstly we are sore. Edd’s dislocated shoulder is a lot better and he can now use his left arm but his collar bone is still bulging out above his shoulder line and he rarely gets a comfortable nights sleep. My hands are injured. On my left hand the first and second finger joints got damaged whilst struggling to cope with heavy materials and I fell a couple of weeks ago and the ring finger on my right hand was damaged so that the top digit bent alarmingly towards my thumb. After a week it was just as bad so I went to the doctor and had it X-rayed.

The doctor wrote on my notes that he wanted” a non urgent appointment “ for a weeks time but eventually I phoned and got hold of one of the nurses who said that the X-rays were inconclusive but indicated a possible break and tendon damage. Now this might be non urgent to some people but not me! I decided to do just what I would do for an animal so I straightened the finger as much as possible and then cut the ends off a small sample bottle to make a finger brace and hold everything in alignment. It might work, and at least all the redness has gone. I can even pad the brace with comfrey leaves, which are growing well this wet year.

I also have a prolapse and Edd has a massively swollen knee joint and bad leg. In other words we are struggling with physical problems acquired whilst trying to sort out the mess here. I imagine that people who tried to dig friends and family out of the rubble in the Haiti earthquakes got similar damage. At the time minor injuries are easy to over look. Now camping can be fun but after a year of living in a small cramped room with no proper bathroom and a toilet some distance away down muddy banks one would much prefer to deal with wounds next year in something closer to the average western home.

There is little reason to feel sorry for ones self. Most of our neighbours who lost their homes are even worse off. Some are now struggling with serious diseases, some did not get enough insurance to rebuild and some are still not in a mental space where they can discuss whether to return and rebuild or not. Meanwhile, and wait for it…this is my real whinge, community members who did not loose their houses are spouting inane platitudes on radio and in the local papers. They discuss the recovery of the community and how amazing one of the local sports club was to continue to compete whilst neighbours were isolated without even the simplest basic need as drinking water.

There are wonderful people who, knowing that farming families might still stay and care for their stock, drove around to check how everyone was doing. Beni and Jo still keep checking and have been a massive support but not many of the self appointed spoke persons have ever spoken with victim families unless it has been to complain about the un aesthetic nature of our portable homes or the dust on the roads caused by trucks bringing in building materials!