Squeals of delight

Not a fit day out there; the hot dry winds of summer have once again delivered the kind of scorching heat that has plagued us day after day this summer. Bush fires continue to rage as the grim list of lives and properties lost grows daily. The most recent, a C-130 fire tanker and its crew of volunteers from overseas weighs heavily on the nation as the politics of climate change falters. Is it too late or can Australia lead the world in climate recovery? It feels unlikely on this relentlessly hot day.

That debate couldn't be further from the minds of the four expectant young swimmers who have come a long way to cool down in this small backyard pool. Loud but comfortable, they squeal with delight as music blares and their hoots drift away on the hot wind. They are all under ten years old with no thoughts of climate, fossil fuels or the environment. They are suddenly cool as the 42 degree celsius day makes way for a refreshing reprieve of seahorses, swimming races and bombing each other.

Eventually they are coaxed out of the pool with the prospect of a traditional Aussie favourite feast; the simple sausage sizzle. These two words are all it takes to start a stampede of swimmers as they rush to gobble up their beef chipolata sausages in fresh bread rolls with their choice of sauces (tomato, BBQ - even a little mustard if you want to be fancy). All washed down with ice cold blackcurrant juice and bowls of fresh grapes, they drift away to play an old fashioned game of checkers under ceiling fans on the broad verandah. Checkers is about as quaint a game as you might find and something pulled out of the cupboard on a whim a while ago. It is now the go-to game for those moments when it's too hot outside to play and modern devices have been put away for a rest. The four year old is quite a strategist to the point where her uncle has now started teaching her chess and thinks she has the concentration to master that too.

My plan is to listen to the scientists and read more of the research to educate beyond the evening weather persons whose grasp of meteorology is limited, far too often focussed on El Niño or La Niña weather systems. I am interested to know more about the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) pushing heat and dust down from the red centre and the impact of even a one degree increase in sea temperatures and how that affects Australia.

In the meantime, here's to the simple life with hopes that future generations of Aussie kids can continue to enjoy simple pleasures. Our city kids have no understanding of the horrors experienced by the country kids living on the bush fire fronts or those who were forced to flee to the beach as flames approached. They see snippets of news, they breathe choking smoke and modify outside play as this unprecedented summer continues only to be interrupted by a classic thunder storm 12 hours later. Such a nostalgic sound to hear rain belting down on a Colourbond roof but as the storm lashes us with lightning and thunder, I can't help wondering whether this lightning will spark another fire and hoping that the rain is falling where it can do some good.