Story by LindyP
I am accustomed to sights and sounds where I live-the early morning kookaburras, cockatoos, butcher birds, people moving around and the occasional testosterone fuelled driver roaring past my door.
I often amusingly compare this sound to one of my favourite animals beating his chest as he stomps through the undergrowth with authority and pride —Look at me -I am important- don’t mess with me –I am big –I am strong !
But the sounds that woke me one morning made me shudder –heavy machinery, deafening and ominous.
Outside, men in hard hats and fluorescent jackets were high up in tree tops wielding chainsaws . The noise was horrendous as they hacked and then mulched their way through eleven magnificent gum trees.
A week later they had finished their grisly work , leaving eleven stumps ,desolate, silent. I felt drained and heartbroken.
These trees had been nearly one hundred years old, reaching high up into the sky a hundred feet or more, and home to galahs, parrots and black cockatoos . One of my favourite times of day was dusk, when sitting outside (with my glass of red), I would listen and enjoy their ‘going to bed ‘ sounds , chattering at first to each other about their day ,where they had been , what they had seen , where they had foraged . Then the sounds would turn to a long chorus of ‘goodnight ‘ sounds , sounds they had made in those trees for many years.
A few days later after attending a function at a local venue I stepped out with other patrons at dusk ,into the car park, and was bombarded with a cacophony of noise —corellas were high up in gum trees , calling and shrieking out their day’s activities . It was magnificent and unharmonious -so many birds in so many trees .
I stood in the failing light, aching with the moment , craning my neck as I watched and listened , missing my birds and trees , wondering how others could complain about the noise , the mess on their cars, the nightmare of it all, and how the council should ‘do something’ .
I decided to return the next night and experience it all over again.
When I got home it was dark-I looked across to a galah alone on a tree stump, sitting so close to where I stood I could have reached out and touched his loneliness —–he was calling out his night sounds.
lindyp
sandshoe said:
I experienced your story as gripping, shocking, and beautiful, Lindy. A treasure. Effortless writing it is so pure. xx
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vivienne29 said:
A happy story with a sad ending. Dreadful. Was there any known reason for demolishing the trees.
Well written Lindy.
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lindyp said:
Thank you Vivienne-the trees were a hazard apparently !
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algernon1 said:
What were they a hazard to lindy, Not the power lines I hope. If its the cars underneath then surely that’s the owners problem for parking there. Why would they cut down 100 year old trees for. I’d sooner have the birds and the possums.
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Big M said:
Nice work, LindyP. Yes, our bird life in Newcastle may be keeping me sane! We have a similar range of species: parrots, sulphur crested cockatoos, magpies (don’t they like to strut around?), kookaburras (one’s calling outside my study as I write), white faced herons (noisy buggers when raising young), pink galahs, the occasional tawny frog mouth, and families of ducks who believe the roads and footpaths belong to them.
Don’t understand the council chopping out trees just because birds might sit in them and defaecate on cars below? Will they cut down the telegraph poles and street lights, too?
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lindyp said:
Yes Big M it certainly makes you wonder -the trees that were chopped were not the same ones as over the cars , but my guess is they will go too –
Love the sound of your environment -good for the soul.
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helvityni said:
Lindy, I always sleep with a window open, even in the Winter here in Southern Highlands. Sometimes I wake up to the sounds of the birds ,very early in the morning… I always enjoy their happy chatter, I listen to it for awhile, smile and go back to sleep…
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lindyp said:
That is beautiful Helvi – I can very much relate to that-I do exactly the same thing when I wake early in the morning and hear the kookaburra-it’s such a joyous sound I smile then turn over and nod off again .
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gerard oosterman said:
Lovely and from the heart.. Good story Lindyp.
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lindyp said:
Thank you for your kind words Gerard
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