Day 8–4 November 2019
30 Days of Life — A Feel Think Do Journal Experiment
Quote
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK
UNKNOWN
Quote — THINK
The drought is on my mind today. We are out of water again. We live just on the edge of town so we are not connected to town water. It's on my mind because we have to get another load today. I am laying here wide awake counting the amount of money we have spent on water since 2014, close to thirteen thousand dollars, and there seems to be no end in sight now the entire town is on a count down to day zero, run out day for us all! FUCK
FEEL
Angry. We have been promised town water for six years now. Council takes so long to do anything in this town unless you are a certain large investor. It makes me fucking cranky. How can an entire town go from full capacity in its dams twelve months ago to ‘Day Zero’ looming like Christmas day -a day you really would rather ignore but know is coming anyway….(1)
THINK(1)
How will we keep paying for this, and what happens when there is no water to buy? Do all fifty thousand of us just pack up and move?
DO (1)
Pray for rain, there doesn't seem like much else I can do.
FEEL
Disheartened. We also have a farm that is slowly going down the tube, do we sell it too. Our cattle and sheep are slowly dying, we are buying feed for them too, and slowly the dams are getting lower, no wonder farmers are getting depressed. (2)
THINK (2)
Soon there will be no stock, soon we will run out of meat, soon we will run out of food, water, and money.
DO(2)
I am going to have to put my big girl panties on and write to Scott Morrison myself — like that will achieve anything!
FEEL
Guilty, for being so pessimistic. It is normally not in my nature to think and feel so low, but I can imagine I am not the only one in this mind space right now. I see on social media stories of farms bigger than us that have been in the family for generations going down the tube. Some people are right on the edge, some have already cut their losses and walked away. (3)
THINK (3)
We have been here before in Australia. We have always kept our fighting spirit but for how much longer before they realise it is actually a National crisis — When its soo late?
DO (3)
Go within and find a solution, there is always a solution or so I'm told.
FEEL
Like Wonder woman……. Gear up, armour up, suit up, we are going to have to fight our way through this one and use every resource we have to battle on. It may cost us many thousands by the time we fight to keep our farms to the end, but hey, one day, eventually, it has to rain…. come on mother nature we need you! (4)
THINK (4)
What has been done in the past to get the action done on a large scale? Think Bern Think….. The squeaky wheel gets the most oil!
DO (4)
Go Squeak! Somewhere loudly. I shall use my social media to bring awareness of how desperate we are out here. There has to be someone who will listen. We have been denied funding, apparently, someone somewhere decides who is more desperate than others.
MY FIRST THOUGHT
I am still baffled as to why they have not put underground pipes from the top end where they get substantial rainfall down to us who get little compared to them. The only answer I ever got from a politician on that question was “ The return on investment is too low “ Well sir what about when Australia has no produce to export because all our farms have gone to shit and we have nothing to provide for income, then will it be a good investment? If they had done it ten years ago we would not be sitting here now…… Thirsty!
MY FIRST ANSWER
Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink. I know they use the ocean in some places and take the salt out to use for clean drinking water, but we are so far from the ocean that it is not even an option. Maybe we should all pack up and move to the coast where it is lush and green or cities 3 hours away that are still on level 1 restrictions.
MY INSPIRATION
We are not going down without a fight, we are Aussies after all! WE WILL GO DOWN SWINGING LIKE EVERY OTHER GENERATION BEFORE US HAS DONE. IT’S THE AUSSIE WAY.
MY INSPIRATION — FEEL
Better now I have vented into my journal. I need this space to bitch and moan and whinge where It can be unpacked to clear my head, get back up and keep going, today is a brand new day, and I am going to go out into my back yard and do a rain dance naked, surely mother nature will see that and say, “For god sake girl, I will give you some rain if you go put some clothes back on!” Nobody wants to see a 41-year-old woman who has had 5 kids wobbling round in the back yard naked, bring it down Huey!!!!!!
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