< Back
Date
The days stretch on. Clouds inch over the skyline and the trees hardly sway; they are holding their breath. Everybody, everything, is in wait.
I sit at my window and look. I squint my eyes, focusing in on the horizon, as if concentration itself will transport me to another place - any other place.
I wonder what the world thinks. Does it know? When kookaburras cackle, flying over half-empty streets; when the wombats burrow into the soil, seeking refuge from the cold; when the bandicoots search for insects in the middle of the night; when the crickets' chirp sounds alone; do they know what is happening to us?
I know one thing for sure - we have to take something positive from this. When we emerge from our homes, when everyday life returns to us, we cannot allow ourselves to forget what we've learned. How we saw nature begin to replenish in the absence of human interference; how small, common interactions became our lifelines; how our loved ones became even more dear to us. These lessons must settle in our souls.
I hope essential workers get the recognition they deserve for keeping our society functioning. The teachers, the medical workers, the grocery store employees, the police, the firefighters, right down to the garbage collectors; they all risked their own lives for us. I hope we learn to value each and every member of our workforce.
Most of all, when we look back on this time, I hope we remember all that we've learnt.
I hope it changes us.
I sit at my window and look. I squint my eyes, focusing in on the horizon, as if concentration itself will transport me to another place - any other place.
I wonder what the world thinks. Does it know? When kookaburras cackle, flying over half-empty streets; when the wombats burrow into the soil, seeking refuge from the cold; when the bandicoots search for insects in the middle of the night; when the crickets' chirp sounds alone; do they know what is happening to us?
I know one thing for sure - we have to take something positive from this. When we emerge from our homes, when everyday life returns to us, we cannot allow ourselves to forget what we've learned. How we saw nature begin to replenish in the absence of human interference; how small, common interactions became our lifelines; how our loved ones became even more dear to us. These lessons must settle in our souls.
I hope essential workers get the recognition they deserve for keeping our society functioning. The teachers, the medical workers, the grocery store employees, the police, the firefighters, right down to the garbage collectors; they all risked their own lives for us. I hope we learn to value each and every member of our workforce.
Most of all, when we look back on this time, I hope we remember all that we've learnt.
I hope it changes us.