A friend of mine is currently in Vancouver - on my strong recommendation as a place to visit in North America - and is loving it! Yay! Anyway, I was reminiscing about the city and noticed something curious (which I have noticed before, but maybe not commented upon here). When I think about being there, I can only remember the traffic driving on the left side of the road (as it does in Australia). No matter how I try, I can't remember the traffic being on the right side!
This has happened before. While I can remember the odd feeling of being on the 'wrong' side of the road while being driven around in the Netherlands, when I visualise the trips we took my brain puts the car on the left side of the road, driver sitting on the right.
I guess that shows just how plastic memory can be. Odd.
27 March 2011
16 March 2011
MIDSOMER MURDERS, RACISM AND THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE
so, midsomer murders is not racist (and homophobic) by default or by accident. it's racist (and homophobic) by design. click for article.
this is depressing, but also unsurprising to me as someone who has watched almost every episode of the show. most of the people i know who watch midsomer murders have commented on the overwhelming whiteness of it . i mean, i can remember maybe two people of colour (both women) in the whole thing? a writer in a competition who didn't have a speaking part, and a barrister/QC who did a great job but was "wrong" about the defendant. and as for queers - he compared it to incest and blackmail, but i note is not mentioned in the linked article - i am also unsurprised. i've often been amused by how many gays there are in the villages of midsomer - even though most of them end up dead/charged with murder.
i'm posting this here because i think it's a great demonstration of how "the countryside" in england is actively constructed as a white (straight) space. i've noted this before with regard to walking, and it's something that continues to frustrate/intrigue me (i guess that the intrigue might be more a sign of privilege, though, since i'm not having to contend with racism on a personal level when i go out walking). the construction of the countryside in this fashion is not only material in terms of who has the time, energy, money, transport, family inheritance to get there and/or live there - it is also a product of popular culture and representation. if you don't see PoC/BME people in the english countryside in films, on TV, in books, in travel writing, then that is a space that's being constructed as white, unwelcoming, a space that such people are not meant to occupy, and this is so for white and PoC/BME viewers and readers.
often when such things are pointed out, people (often the privileged ones - white if we're talking about issues of race and ethnicity, straight if we're talking about issues of sexuality, male if we're discussing sexism, cis if we're discussing trans stuff) will claim that this is just "a reflection of reality" - that "those sort of people" simply aren't there, that's why they're not represented. and that's why this story is so interesting and important - it demonstrates absolutely that this is not just a reflection of reality, but rather a deliberate construction.
it's a fantasy that has very real effects. consistently portraying "the countryside" as a white space (or as a straight space) means that non-white (non-straight) viewers/readers have fewer options for relating to that space, are less able to envisage themselves as being welcome in that space, and are maybe less likely to actually go out into that space. in this way, i think true-may's claim that midsomer is "the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way" is not just about a nostalgic (?) attempt to (re)write the countryside as white-on-screen (straight-on-screen), it's about actually trying to keep non-white (non-straight) people out of the countryside.
i also want to note that the producers of midsomer murders have obviously been pursuing this racist/homophobic agenda for the entire length of the series, but true-may wasn't suspended until he made it explicit. it's an interesting situation. him making that agenda public doesn't change the 'actual' content of the series up to now (though it does change people's readings of that content, which probably amounts to the same thing). so why didn't ITV do something about it before? the racism (and homophobia) of midsomer murders is so very, very clear without true-may's comments. that it takes an interview like this for anything to be done about it is indicative of how acceptable racism actually is - so long as it's passive (they're just not there, rather than being evil), unspoken (nobody mentions it onscreen), weasel-out-of-able (it's a reflection of reality). [ETA: i guess what i'm trying to say here is that, before true-may's comments, it was probably pretty easy for a lot of (white) people to think the whiteness of midsomer murders was accidental or incidental. but that kind of "accident" can only happen and/or go unremarked or unrebuked in a racist society.]
i've typed this all up before breakfast, and i'm quite hungry so i'll leave it there.
do you have any thoughts on the matter?
ETA: charlie brooker has something to say.
Brian True-May, the producer and co-creator of ITV1 drama series Midsomer Murders, has been suspended by production company All3Media following controversial comments made about the show in the latest issue of Radio Times.
True-May told RT, "We don't have ethnic minorities involved. Because it wouldn't be the English village with them. It just wouldn't work. Suddenly we might be in Slough… And if you went in to Slough you wouldn't see a white face there. We're the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way."
this is depressing, but also unsurprising to me as someone who has watched almost every episode of the show. most of the people i know who watch midsomer murders have commented on the overwhelming whiteness of it . i mean, i can remember maybe two people of colour (both women) in the whole thing? a writer in a competition who didn't have a speaking part, and a barrister/QC who did a great job but was "wrong" about the defendant. and as for queers - he compared it to incest and blackmail, but i note is not mentioned in the linked article - i am also unsurprised. i've often been amused by how many gays there are in the villages of midsomer - even though most of them end up dead/charged with murder.
i'm posting this here because i think it's a great demonstration of how "the countryside" in england is actively constructed as a white (straight) space. i've noted this before with regard to walking, and it's something that continues to frustrate/intrigue me (i guess that the intrigue might be more a sign of privilege, though, since i'm not having to contend with racism on a personal level when i go out walking). the construction of the countryside in this fashion is not only material in terms of who has the time, energy, money, transport, family inheritance to get there and/or live there - it is also a product of popular culture and representation. if you don't see PoC/BME people in the english countryside in films, on TV, in books, in travel writing, then that is a space that's being constructed as white, unwelcoming, a space that such people are not meant to occupy, and this is so for white and PoC/BME viewers and readers.
often when such things are pointed out, people (often the privileged ones - white if we're talking about issues of race and ethnicity, straight if we're talking about issues of sexuality, male if we're discussing sexism, cis if we're discussing trans stuff) will claim that this is just "a reflection of reality" - that "those sort of people" simply aren't there, that's why they're not represented. and that's why this story is so interesting and important - it demonstrates absolutely that this is not just a reflection of reality, but rather a deliberate construction.
"I'm trying to make something that appeals to a certain audience, which seems to succeed," said True-May. "And I don't want to change it."
it's a fantasy that has very real effects. consistently portraying "the countryside" as a white space (or as a straight space) means that non-white (non-straight) viewers/readers have fewer options for relating to that space, are less able to envisage themselves as being welcome in that space, and are maybe less likely to actually go out into that space. in this way, i think true-may's claim that midsomer is "the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way" is not just about a nostalgic (?) attempt to (re)write the countryside as white-on-screen (straight-on-screen), it's about actually trying to keep non-white (non-straight) people out of the countryside.
i also want to note that the producers of midsomer murders have obviously been pursuing this racist/homophobic agenda for the entire length of the series, but true-may wasn't suspended until he made it explicit. it's an interesting situation. him making that agenda public doesn't change the 'actual' content of the series up to now (though it does change people's readings of that content, which probably amounts to the same thing). so why didn't ITV do something about it before? the racism (and homophobia) of midsomer murders is so very, very clear without true-may's comments. that it takes an interview like this for anything to be done about it is indicative of how acceptable racism actually is - so long as it's passive (they're just not there, rather than being evil), unspoken (nobody mentions it onscreen), weasel-out-of-able (it's a reflection of reality). [ETA: i guess what i'm trying to say here is that, before true-may's comments, it was probably pretty easy for a lot of (white) people to think the whiteness of midsomer murders was accidental or incidental. but that kind of "accident" can only happen and/or go unremarked or unrebuked in a racist society.]
i've typed this all up before breakfast, and i'm quite hungry so i'll leave it there.
do you have any thoughts on the matter?
ETA: charlie brooker has something to say.
4 March 2011
REALITY BLOGGING
Is it possible to be addicted to someone else's life? I have never been a soap opera watcher, I have never read serials in magazines or papers, I have never listened to long-running radio shows, I have (almost) never been a fan of reality TV like Big Brother . . . but I am seriously hooked on Wondering Wanderers!
WW is the blog of a white, middle-class family (Mum, Dad, two kids) who have just set off in a campervan for a year of WWOOFing around the UK. It has so much of the stuff I love: practical discussions about planning, clearing, getting things together, packing; discussions about the communication skills needed to keep things going; a dream and a vision; fun . . . it pushes all my buttons*! Every day I check (twice!) for updates, to see how they're going, what they've done, how their van is holding up, if their tenants have moved into their house, what their hosts will be like. It's so fun to feel like I'm on the adventure with them.
Maybe you'll be into it, too? (I suggest starting from the beginning to get the full story - and to make it all last longer!)
* Apart from some of those political and activist-y ones I discussed in an earlier post. But hey, you can't have everything.
WW is the blog of a white, middle-class family (Mum, Dad, two kids) who have just set off in a campervan for a year of WWOOFing around the UK. It has so much of the stuff I love: practical discussions about planning, clearing, getting things together, packing; discussions about the communication skills needed to keep things going; a dream and a vision; fun . . . it pushes all my buttons*! Every day I check (twice!) for updates, to see how they're going, what they've done, how their van is holding up, if their tenants have moved into their house, what their hosts will be like. It's so fun to feel like I'm on the adventure with them.
Maybe you'll be into it, too? (I suggest starting from the beginning to get the full story - and to make it all last longer!)
* Apart from some of those political and activist-y ones I discussed in an earlier post. But hey, you can't have everything.
28 February 2011
18KM WALK: MARIBYRNONG RIVER – BRIMBANK PARK – WESTERN RING ROAD – STEELE CREEK: 20TH JAN 2011
(Wow, this is a bit late!)
Here is a map of the walk.
Here are all the photos we took.
We met E at Essendon station (unplanned) and took the 903 bus to the start of the walk. The plan was to walk up to Brimbank Park, do a loop back to (near) the start, then head downstream around the large curve in the river to catch the 903 bus back to Essendon at Steele Creek.
We headed down the side of the valley to the river on one of the unofficial tracks, through shoulder-high grasses, past huge purple thistle flowers and the occasional wild/feral fennel bush.
Once down at the river, it was easy to see how high the recent floodwaters had come, and also to imagine how fast it must have been flowing. Large branches had been swept onto the path, and bushes had been tipped on their sides. The path was also damaged (though no longer wet), with water channels creating small ditches along its length. We walked under the Maribyrnong River Viaduct/Quarter Mile Bridge and had to take a picture of the kissing gate below – so plastered with leaves and twigs that it looked deliberately thatched!
Check out that concrete, Dad!
It was kind of unsurprising, then, when we met a ranger underneath the ring road, who told us that the path was actually closed (we hadn’t seen any signs) due to flood damage. “We can’t guarantee the safety of any of the trees or the path,” she told us, and strongly advised us against coming back that way . . . which was exactly what we’d planned to do! Luckily, there is a higher path to Brimbank Park from Western Ring Road (which we’d intended to use on our return trip), so we took that over the top of the valley walls and were treated to excellent views out towards Mt Macedon.
It was pretty cool to see up close some of the geological features that are so obvious when you take a plane out of or into Melbourne (and we saw A LOT of planes!). Around those north-western areas it’s clear that the high parts are not hills – it’s a plain, and the watercourses have cut huge valleys out of it.
Once down in Brimbank Park, we had a wander around and decided to treat ourselves to an iced coffee (or iced chocolate in D’s case) at the café. It was perfect weather to sit under the high verandah and consult Google Maps on E’s phone. We couldn’t cross the river to Horseshoe Bend because both the fords were underwater, so we decided we’d walk back to the Western Ring Road, follow the path around to Steele Creek, and have lunch there. From there, we’d decide on our next move.
Flood damage and picnic tables
For a little way the Western Ring Road Trail was surprisingly pleasant, but after we crossed Keilor Park Drive it was pretty grim walking to the Calder Freeway, sandwiched between the ring road and various industrial estates and warehouses.
It was a relief to get into suburban streets and then finally descend into the greenery of Steele Creek. We walked a little way from the freeway noise, then downed our bags to sit in the shade, reapply sunscreen and eat lunch.
Consulting the map again, we decided to head down to what Google calls Niddrie Lake, but which seems to be known as Valley Lake on the ground. After trying to follow Google’s map (incorrect), we decided to simply scramble down the side of the hill through an undeveloped plot of land in order to get to the lake. We hypothesised that this used to be an enormous quarry (internet searches tell me we were right). It is quite a bizarre place: a newly landscaped lake with a great big sculpture of a person sitting on a ladder gazing east through a pair of binoculars; huge quarry walls; recently planted trees and unestablished ‘wetland’; patchy development of new McMansion-style estate homes, some perching almost too close to quarry walls for comfort! It will be interesting to go back in ten years to see how the trees have matured and the lake and wetland have become more established.
Although the map said otherwise, we were able to follow Steele Creek right down to Rosehill Road and then to Buckley Street (though we had to do a bit of rockhopping to get to the path on the east side of the creek). Although it was hot, a cool breeze kept it from being stifling, and there were lots of small birds, moths and butterflies flitting about to keep us distracted.
We climbed the path near Buckley Street to get the view over the explosives factory and down to the city, and we sat on a shady bench to enjoy the scenery and drink a cup of tea. From there, it was back to Buckley St and the (wonderfully airconditioned!) 903 bus. Despite not being allowed to do the walk we’d planned, we had a good time exploring totally new places – plus we ended up exactly where our original walk would have taken us!
In conclusion: I wouldn’t be keen to walk the Western Ring Road Trail again, but it worked for us as a link between Brimbank Park and Steele Creek (would probably be less obnoxious to ride it on a bike). We probably all got a touch sunburnt - we were pretty careful, but there really wasn’t much shade on the path. We hadn’t walked with E before, but we all seemed to strike the same pace, and be comfortable with the distance. All in all, a good day!
Here is a map of the walk.
Here are all the photos we took.
We met E at Essendon station (unplanned) and took the 903 bus to the start of the walk. The plan was to walk up to Brimbank Park, do a loop back to (near) the start, then head downstream around the large curve in the river to catch the 903 bus back to Essendon at Steele Creek.
We headed down the side of the valley to the river on one of the unofficial tracks, through shoulder-high grasses, past huge purple thistle flowers and the occasional wild/feral fennel bush.
Once down at the river, it was easy to see how high the recent floodwaters had come, and also to imagine how fast it must have been flowing. Large branches had been swept onto the path, and bushes had been tipped on their sides. The path was also damaged (though no longer wet), with water channels creating small ditches along its length. We walked under the Maribyrnong River Viaduct/Quarter Mile Bridge and had to take a picture of the kissing gate below – so plastered with leaves and twigs that it looked deliberately thatched!
Check out that concrete, Dad!
It was kind of unsurprising, then, when we met a ranger underneath the ring road, who told us that the path was actually closed (we hadn’t seen any signs) due to flood damage. “We can’t guarantee the safety of any of the trees or the path,” she told us, and strongly advised us against coming back that way . . . which was exactly what we’d planned to do! Luckily, there is a higher path to Brimbank Park from Western Ring Road (which we’d intended to use on our return trip), so we took that over the top of the valley walls and were treated to excellent views out towards Mt Macedon.
It was pretty cool to see up close some of the geological features that are so obvious when you take a plane out of or into Melbourne (and we saw A LOT of planes!). Around those north-western areas it’s clear that the high parts are not hills – it’s a plain, and the watercourses have cut huge valleys out of it.
Once down in Brimbank Park, we had a wander around and decided to treat ourselves to an iced coffee (or iced chocolate in D’s case) at the café. It was perfect weather to sit under the high verandah and consult Google Maps on E’s phone. We couldn’t cross the river to Horseshoe Bend because both the fords were underwater, so we decided we’d walk back to the Western Ring Road, follow the path around to Steele Creek, and have lunch there. From there, we’d decide on our next move.
Flood damage and picnic tables
For a little way the Western Ring Road Trail was surprisingly pleasant, but after we crossed Keilor Park Drive it was pretty grim walking to the Calder Freeway, sandwiched between the ring road and various industrial estates and warehouses.
It was a relief to get into suburban streets and then finally descend into the greenery of Steele Creek. We walked a little way from the freeway noise, then downed our bags to sit in the shade, reapply sunscreen and eat lunch.
Consulting the map again, we decided to head down to what Google calls Niddrie Lake, but which seems to be known as Valley Lake on the ground. After trying to follow Google’s map (incorrect), we decided to simply scramble down the side of the hill through an undeveloped plot of land in order to get to the lake. We hypothesised that this used to be an enormous quarry (internet searches tell me we were right). It is quite a bizarre place: a newly landscaped lake with a great big sculpture of a person sitting on a ladder gazing east through a pair of binoculars; huge quarry walls; recently planted trees and unestablished ‘wetland’; patchy development of new McMansion-style estate homes, some perching almost too close to quarry walls for comfort! It will be interesting to go back in ten years to see how the trees have matured and the lake and wetland have become more established.
Although the map said otherwise, we were able to follow Steele Creek right down to Rosehill Road and then to Buckley Street (though we had to do a bit of rockhopping to get to the path on the east side of the creek). Although it was hot, a cool breeze kept it from being stifling, and there were lots of small birds, moths and butterflies flitting about to keep us distracted.
We climbed the path near Buckley Street to get the view over the explosives factory and down to the city, and we sat on a shady bench to enjoy the scenery and drink a cup of tea. From there, it was back to Buckley St and the (wonderfully airconditioned!) 903 bus. Despite not being allowed to do the walk we’d planned, we had a good time exploring totally new places – plus we ended up exactly where our original walk would have taken us!
In conclusion: I wouldn’t be keen to walk the Western Ring Road Trail again, but it worked for us as a link between Brimbank Park and Steele Creek (would probably be less obnoxious to ride it on a bike). We probably all got a touch sunburnt - we were pretty careful, but there really wasn’t much shade on the path. We hadn’t walked with E before, but we all seemed to strike the same pace, and be comfortable with the distance. All in all, a good day!
20 February 2011
DREAMING IS PART OF PREPARATION
We have plans for the rest of the year. Clearly defined plans for now, next week, much fuzzier plans for November, December. This change of focus (to continue with the imagery) is punctuated by a few signposts and events, some more flexible than others. Things to do, in vague order: "mum's birthday in April", "apply for a visa", "my birthday in June", "save some money", "finish painting the house" (we finally started painting the hallway yesterday!), "dad's birthday in August", "finish and submit this dissertation", "prepare to leave the country" . . . then: "arrive in the UK", "D's mum's birthday in October", "go for a walking holiday", "go WWOOFing", "find work and somewhere to live".
*
Possibly in preparation, possibly as a way of escaping the world of dissertation in my head, I have become a little addicted to reading the blogs of individuals and families who are travelling or changing their lives or merely trying to live in sustainable, green, eco-friendly ways. There are things about these blogs that I really appreciate - discussions of the practicalities of living this way, the ups and downs of a changing/travelling lifestyle, the feelings of freedom and of connecting with people and environment, the philosophies that drive people (some more fully thought-out than others).
One thing I've noticed, however, is that few of these bloggers spend time considering their own privileges: how they feel financially secure enough to take off for a year of WWOOFing and wandering; how their whiteness and heterosexuality means they encounter little harassment on the streets of the towns they pass through; how the exchange rate and their dollars or euros or pounds means they are incredibly rich in comparison to the people they are living with; how they don't have to negotiate being trans or being physically disabled or chronically ill when thinking about accommodation or work or travel. Sure, these things are sometimes mentioned in passing (and some financial aspects in more detail), but it seems that most political, ethical and philosophical thought is reserved for discussions of sustainability, environmental impact, green living.
In some respects this is completely understandable, but at the same time it makes it difficult for me to feel like I can be part of this imagined community - in some respects I am invisible, things that are of everyday practical importance to me are irrelevant, my kind of activism and ethics seems out of place. It reminds me a bit of discussions I've read about racism and classism in vegan/sustainable living communities. I start thinking, is it important for me to ask people to interrogate their own beliefs when they argue that we shouldn't need social networking sites, we should talk to our neighbours, to real people? Apart from enjoying the irony of blogging such thoughts, I feel like saying this devalues the immense importance of online connections to those of us who are marginalised by heteronormative, cisnormative, white privileging, ableist, capitalist, nationalist society. At the most basic, it is hard to talk to your neighbours when you are not sure if they will physically assault you because of who you are. Online networking allows us to find other people like us with less physical danger (if, of course, our domestic spaces are not ones of violence, and if we have access to a computer and the internet).
And I think, do the people who say living off grid is their ultimate goal understand how privileged they are to not need specialist foods, medicines, equipment to live their lives? I will probably never be able to live a life that is free from entanglement with international pharmaceutical industry (see Michelle O'Brien's essay "tracing this body: transsexuality, pharmaceuticals & capitalism" for more on that).
Do the people who want to live with mum and dad and two young kids on a totally isolated farm spare a thought for how they are going to provide freedom for their kids when they get older? I'm sure that these thoughts are there - the bloggers I read are not as irresponsible as all that. And of course, there are pros and cons to all lifestyle choices. But as a person who lived in an isolated house for the first 18 years of my life, relying on my parents to drive me if I wanted to go anywhere or see anyone . . . it can be alienating, suffocating. As a queer teenager, the country offered me very little in the way of support - and this is despite my parents being accepting, despite having queer family friends, despite knowing a couple of other queer kids, despite knowing that it was fundamentally OK to be queer. In some ways I am glad I didn't know/feel/identify as trans when I was a teenager, because I don't know how I would have dealt with that. [N.B. I would ask a different set of questions of parents who plan to live in towns and cities - there is no decision that's 'right' for everyone.]
But! I have gone off track. What I wanted to say is that this style of thinking is very seductive. The images of self-sufficiency and good honest work carry immense nostalgia - for me, some of this is bound up with my parents' own project of self-sufficiency, their (hippie) ethics, my dad's nostalgia for his grandfather's farm in New Zealand . . . it stretches way back. The possibility of living a low-impact life in the countryside gives off powerful feel-good vibes. The idea of being part of this back-to-basics, respect-the-environment community has its appeal. Perhaps my dreaming is in preparation for doing something similar one day.
But it's not as simple as following your dreams. In as much as we are following our dreams in moving to the UK (etc.), I want to be a bit more reflective regarding the political meanings, circumstances and implications of our decisions.
*
Possibly in preparation, possibly as a way of escaping the world of dissertation in my head, I have become a little addicted to reading the blogs of individuals and families who are travelling or changing their lives or merely trying to live in sustainable, green, eco-friendly ways. There are things about these blogs that I really appreciate - discussions of the practicalities of living this way, the ups and downs of a changing/travelling lifestyle, the feelings of freedom and of connecting with people and environment, the philosophies that drive people (some more fully thought-out than others).
One thing I've noticed, however, is that few of these bloggers spend time considering their own privileges: how they feel financially secure enough to take off for a year of WWOOFing and wandering; how their whiteness and heterosexuality means they encounter little harassment on the streets of the towns they pass through; how the exchange rate and their dollars or euros or pounds means they are incredibly rich in comparison to the people they are living with; how they don't have to negotiate being trans or being physically disabled or chronically ill when thinking about accommodation or work or travel. Sure, these things are sometimes mentioned in passing (and some financial aspects in more detail), but it seems that most political, ethical and philosophical thought is reserved for discussions of sustainability, environmental impact, green living.
In some respects this is completely understandable, but at the same time it makes it difficult for me to feel like I can be part of this imagined community - in some respects I am invisible, things that are of everyday practical importance to me are irrelevant, my kind of activism and ethics seems out of place. It reminds me a bit of discussions I've read about racism and classism in vegan/sustainable living communities. I start thinking, is it important for me to ask people to interrogate their own beliefs when they argue that we shouldn't need social networking sites, we should talk to our neighbours, to real people? Apart from enjoying the irony of blogging such thoughts, I feel like saying this devalues the immense importance of online connections to those of us who are marginalised by heteronormative, cisnormative, white privileging, ableist, capitalist, nationalist society. At the most basic, it is hard to talk to your neighbours when you are not sure if they will physically assault you because of who you are. Online networking allows us to find other people like us with less physical danger (if, of course, our domestic spaces are not ones of violence, and if we have access to a computer and the internet).
And I think, do the people who say living off grid is their ultimate goal understand how privileged they are to not need specialist foods, medicines, equipment to live their lives? I will probably never be able to live a life that is free from entanglement with international pharmaceutical industry (see Michelle O'Brien's essay "tracing this body: transsexuality, pharmaceuticals & capitalism" for more on that).
Do the people who want to live with mum and dad and two young kids on a totally isolated farm spare a thought for how they are going to provide freedom for their kids when they get older? I'm sure that these thoughts are there - the bloggers I read are not as irresponsible as all that. And of course, there are pros and cons to all lifestyle choices. But as a person who lived in an isolated house for the first 18 years of my life, relying on my parents to drive me if I wanted to go anywhere or see anyone . . . it can be alienating, suffocating. As a queer teenager, the country offered me very little in the way of support - and this is despite my parents being accepting, despite having queer family friends, despite knowing a couple of other queer kids, despite knowing that it was fundamentally OK to be queer. In some ways I am glad I didn't know/feel/identify as trans when I was a teenager, because I don't know how I would have dealt with that. [N.B. I would ask a different set of questions of parents who plan to live in towns and cities - there is no decision that's 'right' for everyone.]
But! I have gone off track. What I wanted to say is that this style of thinking is very seductive. The images of self-sufficiency and good honest work carry immense nostalgia - for me, some of this is bound up with my parents' own project of self-sufficiency, their (hippie) ethics, my dad's nostalgia for his grandfather's farm in New Zealand . . . it stretches way back. The possibility of living a low-impact life in the countryside gives off powerful feel-good vibes. The idea of being part of this back-to-basics, respect-the-environment community has its appeal. Perhaps my dreaming is in preparation for doing something similar one day.
But it's not as simple as following your dreams. In as much as we are following our dreams in moving to the UK (etc.), I want to be a bit more reflective regarding the political meanings, circumstances and implications of our decisions.
12 February 2011
OH! AND I FORGOT TO SAY ABOUT THE FIRES
I'm very glad that my folks' place is still standing after the fires in East Gippsland. Here are a few photos taken by them on the road between Orbost and Lakes.
BELATED JANUARY POSTS
So... long time, no write! I blame a number of things. First and foremost, I've stepped up my dissertation-writing a notch and therefore have less time to blog, walk, upload photos, or blog about walking and photos! Second, now that I'm not doing a significant challenge like 2010km in 2010, I'm just not walking as much. My challenge this year is to get out of the house every day (minimum walk: 500m!), which I've managed so far! Third... *handwave*. You know: life, laziness, stuff and things. Hopefully I'll blog about a couple of walks over the next week or so.
First, though, some pictures from the first few days of January, when we went to stay with my folks. (You can read more about most of them by clicking on the image - it will take you through to the Flickr page.)
First sunrise of the year:
First dinner of the year:
Small things and details walking in the bush out the back of their place:
Protea in the garden:
Photos from a great bushbash we did to find old, overgrown tracks and a random abandoned bridge in the State Forest:
Around the house:
Peeps!
There you are! It was a wonderful, relaxing start to the year.
First, though, some pictures from the first few days of January, when we went to stay with my folks. (You can read more about most of them by clicking on the image - it will take you through to the Flickr page.)
First sunrise of the year:
First dinner of the year:
Small things and details walking in the bush out the back of their place:
Protea in the garden:
Photos from a great bushbash we did to find old, overgrown tracks and a random abandoned bridge in the State Forest:
Around the house:
Peeps!
There you are! It was a wonderful, relaxing start to the year.
9 January 2011
FUTURES
(I love the way that futures hover, unmanageably big, beautiful and slightly out of reach, like a kite, but inevitably there’s the process of trying to catch at it, to tug down a string to let it become at least mildly real)
~ Wildly Parenthetical's words
There will be more discussions of futures on this blog in 2011, I think, as we start attaching the strings of bureaucracy and reality to our kite-like fancies of moving to the UK in September(ish).
Conversely, the knowledge that "this will probably be our last summer/autumn/winter in Melbourne for a few years" makes me all the more determined to immerse myself in the wonder of the present, to let it seep into my pores. Perhaps there is part of a desire to carry an embodied memory of this home with us wherever we go, like prune-y skin after a bath.
*
D's Australian citizenship ceremony is on January 26th. After that, I will start collecting paperwork in earnest for my UK visa application.
31 December 2010
HEALESVILLE - DONNELLY'S WEIR - MT ST LEONARD - MAROONDAH RESERVOIR
almost exactly a month ago we went out o healesville for a couple of nights. we went to the sanctuary for an afternoon (it was fab) and walked down to our b&b (rescuing a poor, orphaned blackbird chick on the way), then the next day did a 26km walk up to the top of mt st leonard and back via the reservoir. this post is just our walk in photos, not much commentary. you can see all the photos from the day here and a map here. it was a great day, and i'd totally go up the mountain again, despite how steep and exhausting it was in places!
us at the start!
morning view from the b&b
the mountain we're heading towards
db crossing an unexpected ford!
there was lots of evidence of the fires
thysanotus uberosus or common fringe-lily
path, shadow and regrowth
alas, it was only men with heavy machinery. but we shipped them anyway!
it got very steep towards the end, but it doesn't translate in the photo!
at one point, near the top of the hill, the vegetation suddenly changed, with long green grasses and ferns suddenly springing up below the trees.
view!
the view towards the city!
time for lunch and a nap
omg, db is the cutest thing i have EVER SEEN. :O :O :O
heading back down - this was the fire access road/firebreak along the ridge
more of the track
CREEPY BABY TREE. D:
back at donnelly's weir - i'm in ur water supply, melbs!
map of the bicentennial national trail (mainly for horses) - we've walked the first 8km of it! ;)
so random - an aqueduct in the middle of the bush
maroondah reservoir and dam from the lookout
from the dam wall
the reservoir park would be lovely for a picnic
valve houses (or SO THEY SAY) with boobs on top.
d contemplates the dam wall
juvenile crimson rosella, coming to steal your nuts!
sunset from the b&b
the climb up mt st leonard was much steeper and much slower than we expected, and as a result we had to ration our water (we are usually much more careful bringing extra water, and this was a timely reminder to continue being careful!) until we got back to civilisation. the views from the top were totally worth the climb, though. when we were up the lookout tower, a couple of walkers joined us having done part of a circular walk from down near the ford. maybe we'll try it next time we're out there, if we're feeling fit (they said it was quite a scramble in places). maroondah reservoir park also seems like a lovely place for a picnic and some short walks for those less keen on spending a day out getting sweaty and exhausted!
us at the start!
morning view from the b&b
the mountain we're heading towards
db crossing an unexpected ford!
there was lots of evidence of the fires
thysanotus uberosus or common fringe-lily
path, shadow and regrowth
alas, it was only men with heavy machinery. but we shipped them anyway!
it got very steep towards the end, but it doesn't translate in the photo!
at one point, near the top of the hill, the vegetation suddenly changed, with long green grasses and ferns suddenly springing up below the trees.
view!
the view towards the city!
time for lunch and a nap
omg, db is the cutest thing i have EVER SEEN. :O :O :O
heading back down - this was the fire access road/firebreak along the ridge
more of the track
CREEPY BABY TREE. D:
back at donnelly's weir - i'm in ur water supply, melbs!
map of the bicentennial national trail (mainly for horses) - we've walked the first 8km of it! ;)
so random - an aqueduct in the middle of the bush
maroondah reservoir and dam from the lookout
from the dam wall
the reservoir park would be lovely for a picnic
valve houses (or SO THEY SAY) with boobs on top.
d contemplates the dam wall
juvenile crimson rosella, coming to steal your nuts!
sunset from the b&b
the climb up mt st leonard was much steeper and much slower than we expected, and as a result we had to ration our water (we are usually much more careful bringing extra water, and this was a timely reminder to continue being careful!) until we got back to civilisation. the views from the top were totally worth the climb, though. when we were up the lookout tower, a couple of walkers joined us having done part of a circular walk from down near the ford. maybe we'll try it next time we're out there, if we're feeling fit (they said it was quite a scramble in places). maroondah reservoir park also seems like a lovely place for a picnic and some short walks for those less keen on spending a day out getting sweaty and exhausted!
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