Christmas 2017

2017 Newell Family News

2017 began for us in Geraldton visiting our daughter Janet who was just settling in again after her 7 months in Mauritius. We explored the local desert-like landscapes by foot and kayak, built a movable hen house for her two "frizzle" bantams, and enjoyed the time together.

Most of the year we were "stay-at-homes" with Bob being very busy as President of the Bribie BUG (Bicycle Users Group) and Secretary/Treasurer of the Bribie Island Butterfly House (https://www.bribieislandbutterflyhouse.org). The first half of the year he played builder's labourer and the photos below showed the butterfly house and breeding laboratory in the early stages of construction.

         

It finally opened in June and is attracting many enthusiastic visitors (5000 in the first six months of being open two days a week).

When time permitted there was the usual cycling trips and golf games.

Joyce continued developing Lucky's Labyrinth at the local Arts Centre, adding many rocks, some plants, and new signs, and starting a Tuesday morning meditation group to enjoy the peaceful surroundings (http://bribielabyrinthproject.blogspot.com.au). The peak of her artistic year was an installation 'Reflections on Life and Death' as part of the annual printmaking exhibition. (See following blog). She has also been putting more energy into music, singing in special concerts with several choirs, and playing recorder with the Sunshine Coast Recorder Group, the Bribie Island Orchestra and the Island Celtic Fiddlers group – and is looking forward to attending the week-long Recorder Boutique in Armidale in early January. Her enthusiasm for cycling to more remote corners of the island has been renewed with buying an electric bike (a pedelec that you still have to pedal to get assistance). An additional adventure, internal instead of the more physical ones she has enjoyed in recent years, has been to learn the common and Latin names of about 300 species of Australian birds by connecting them with a specific place using techniques discussed by Lynne Kelly (http://www.lynnekelly.com.au). This has been an exciting journey as somehow using one's memory in this way also increases ones enthusiasm for life in general.

 In May/June we did take four weeks off on a trip to some of the western Queensland rivers and parks to be able to enjoy nature and birdwatching. We visited the Bunya Mountains (left) and Carnarvon Gorge (below right) with friends who then returned while we ventured further west. We continued westwards through Emerald and Jericho where our car Snowy stopped for three days while the local garage mechanic diagnosed, flew in and fitted a new "crankshaft position sensor". Luckily we just happened to be at a great campsite (below) and the mechanic was one of the last two businesses left in Jericho which is declining like so many of Australia's small regional towns.

Finally we continued to Longreach, Lochern NP (below left), Jundah, Welford NP (below right), Windorah, Quilpie, Curriwinya NP, Cunnamulla and Bowra Bird Sanctuary, Bollen and home.

In October/November we found ourselves again in Geraldton helping our daughter Janet move from one rental house in Sunset Beach to another in Bluff Point. The bulk of the heavy furniture moving took only a half day thanks to a platoon of Janet's friends. But of course there was lots of packing, cleaning, moving, more cleaning, unpacking and quite a few small handyman jobs. Janet does like the little old houses with "character", but the new one does have a great position overlooking the Indian Ocean and lots more interesting birds.

Back home there was the Rugby League World Cup to watch (on TV) and the pre-Christmas celebrations which will this year culminate with Christmas Day at Bob's sister's future retirement home in Mount Beppo, between their farm at Toogoolawah and our old house on the Esk-Somerset Dam road.

In December while we face increasingly hot summers, Janet sets off on a winter adventure to Canada to visit Newfoundland where a friend she met in Mauritius lives and Calgary where Joyce's brother lives. She is hoping there will be enough snow for some skiing. She returns in mid-January for a whirlwind 24 hour visit to Bribie on her way back to Geraldton.

After our Christmas at Mount Beppo there will be the New Year and who knows what future for us, Australia and the world. At our age we can only grin and bear it, and only get worried about things that we can personnally do something about – not a lot these days.

Hallelujah!!!

Reflections on Life and Death - the Installation

Reflections on Life and Death - the Installation

My installation at the Bribie Community Arts Centre for 2 weeks in late September expanded beyond the 2 coffins introduced in the previous post to include large (1.8 m diameter),  flambouyant moving sculptural piece, Celebration, and a more peaceful hanging 'All is Well' which contained an element of grief that balanced the joy of Celebration.  My coffin was accompanied by a large hanging of most of my Christmas Cards since I started making them in high school in 1962. 

The following photos give a bit of a taste of the installation, which deeply moved those who were willing to engage with it - and was for me, a fantastic opportunity to see my artistic interpretation of my life's journey  so beautifully displayed.  

Overview Left

Overview Right

My coffin

Coffin for civilisation

  

Celebration

 

All is Well

 

My Christmas Cards

And what is next?  I have reluctantly resigned from the Printmaking group with the feeling that this would be my last exhibition with them - so my artistic endeavors will probably take other directions, as yet unknown!  My coffin lives beside my bed as a reminder that I might die at any time - and I hope to make, and decorate a second coffin for Bob.  My concerns that we might at any time be faced with an abrupt and probably fatal within a relatively short time change of climate continue to grow (https://guymcpherson.com/) as does my focus on living life as fully as possible each day.   My goal is that if I have time to reflect just before my death I will be satisfied that I have lived as fully and responsibly as I could. 

 Hallelujah!

 

And a Celebration!

A kaleidoscope of colour and motion to celebrate

 

the amazing beauty of our world…

Ever changing – reminding us that nothing ever stays the

 same.

A celebration filled with gratitude that we are part of all its 

mystery.

Will this celebration end with my death?

Will it end with the death of our civilisation?

Or will this celebration continue forever?

We create a world filled with golden riches

Which dazzle our eyes and clutter our minds.

We confidently proclaim:

ALL IS WELL

Proud, and drugged by our 'success'

We look beyond our self-centred pleasures.

 

And discover to our horror that our environment is empty and dying,

And our minds and bodies are sickened by poisons created by our golden riches.

Our hearts ponder:

ALL IS WELL?

Confused, frightened and frustrated,

 

We remember the quiet inner space

Where we can explore the eternal mystery of life,

See that everything is connected.

And know that 

 

ALL IS WELL

 

Reflections on Life and Death

This post is being written by Joyce as I am preparing to take part in a group art exhibition by the Printmakers at the Bribie Island Community Art Centre from 8 to 24 September this year.  The theme of the exhibition is Reflections.   The coffins will be part of my contribution to the exhibition.

Reflections on Life and Death

Two Coffins

Two coffins: one for me, and one for our civilisation

Two imminent deaths….two endings….

A reminder that in a short but unknown time all will be over.

Two coffins celebrating that we are NOW alive

And filled with awe and gratitude

For the beauty and the terror of it all.

Hallelujah!

The simple truth is that everything dies – nothing lasts forever. I will die, and the civilisation that we are part of will die.

The biggest question is when. For me, now approaching my 71^st birthday, any day could easily be my last, and my death will almost certainly come within 30 years, probably much sooner. Our civilisation is facing an even earlier death, with rampant, now irreversible climate change, leading to unbearable temperature increases, droughts, and crop failures, making the end likely much sooner, possibly in as little as 5 or 10 years.

And why the coffins?

First to make both approaching deaths more real to me and to others, and to challenge us all to appreciate more fully every day. Hallelujah, an interjection of joyous praise, expresses my joy at the privilege of being alive at this complex. challenging and exciting time.

Secondly, decorating the coffins has helped me clarify what is important to me and to our civilisation, and enhanced my gratitude for life.

Thirdly, I now have the security of knowing that when I die, circumstances permitting, my body will be cradled, transported, and cremated in an object of beauty made with love – for me a final protest to our over-industrialised world.

My Coffin

The top is an attempt to summarise the wisdom I have learned from life.  The sides are the things that have been of greatest importance to me.  The head and foot panels are my two homes.

 

 Coffin for Civilisation

After having made my coffin, I realised I also needed a coffin for our civilisation, to help me prepare for the end of much or all of man's creations.  This coffin is only symbolic, as civilisation, even in death cannot be confined to a single container, in contrast to my own coffin which is made to hold my body, and probably to be cremated with it.. 

The coffin for civilisation will hopefully alert others to the fragility and now very limited life span of our civilisation, in the hope that they can work towards their own personal reconciliation to our fate, and see the beauty, as well as the terror of our ending. Mankind has thoughtlessly destroyed our home in many ways, and we must now reap the consequences of our greed.

 

Similarly to my own coffin, the top summarises my response to the coming death of civilisation in a single word, Hallelujah,  that contains all my awe and wonder at all the beauty and creativity mankind has been able to express in this world, the wonder of being alive - and the amazing way that we are destroying it all - some of which are noted around the outside.  The sides represent many of the ways the earth has supported humanity, including the unseen mysteries which add such richness and meaning to life.

 

If you would like to explore further ideas that consider the possibility of a near-term end to our civilisation in light of current scientific knowledge, a good place to start is https://guymcpherson.com/    Guy is probably one of the most outspoken people from his concerns that most scientists are not clearly putting together all current information on the coming effects of climate change - but he is far from alone.