Nature Archives - INSPIRING MAX

Blue Mountains – Australia

February 22, 2015 inspiringmax

What’s your dream tourist destination — either a place you’ve been and loved, or a place you’d love to visit? What about it speaks to you?

The beautiful Blue Mountains are located 60 kilometres from my home in Sydney. For this reason I don’t take my annual holidays there but like to visit for a weekend getaway with my husband. I love the peace and ruggedness of the area that includes rare and endangered flora and fauna. Blue Mountains are also home to some of Australia’s greatest writers and photographers due to the serenity and beauty of the area. People find it truly inspiring.

The mountains get their name from the colour they appear to be when the sunlight mixes with the oil from the eucalyptus trees that cover the area. There are 91 species of eucalyptus trees here—13% of the global total. This is one of the many reasons that in 2000 UNESCO appointed the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site—14th in Australia. This area encompasses 7 amazing and individual National Parks some of which I have not yet explored—Blue Mountains National Park, Wollemi National Park, Yengo National Park, Nattai National Park, Kanangra-Boyd National Park, Gardens of Stone National Park and Thirlmere Lakes National Park.

The above photos are from our last visit and are from the Mt Wilson area—six weeks after devastating bush fires had raged through. We were excited to see that new life was emerging. Internationally Australia is known for its beautiful beaches but just as important is its natural bush land very different to other parts of the world. If you ever get the chance come and spend a few days exploring any part of our beautiful Blue Mountains—they are so large you won’t be able to cover it all—do so as you will be greatly rewarded.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/tourist-trap/

Clone Myself – Never

February 17, 2015 inspiringmax

If you could clone yourself, how would you split up your responsibilities?

My life is fairly balanced now—I don’t want a clone. I have spent fifty years trusting my own decisions. I am not about to give over any of my responsibility to a duplicated version of myself. Yes, there are parts of my life I do not like—commuting to work—however, changing this, changes my whole life. I wouldn’t even give this job to my clone as what I do on the train makes up who I am—writing, reading and sleeping.

If I am running short of time to do the things I want—I realise it is time to reassess and prioritse what is important to me. I believe you can have time to do anything if it is important enough to you. I wrote a third of my book on my daily commute. Although now, editing doesn’t work as well on the train.

Now I am looking at ways to make sure I get enough exercise in each week. I haven’t come up with a definitive plan yet but handing this responsibility over to a clone is not going to get it done the best way for me.

The other problem, of course is cloning is an identical copy of my DNA—not of everything I do. My clone would be the age of my daughter unless I was cloned at birth, but would live its own life—like Dolly the sheep—cloned in 1997. For now I will focus on rearranging my time to get what I need done and leave the scientists to worry about the cloning.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/clone-wars/

Water

February 16, 2015 inspiringmax

Today I begin Writing 201, which over the next two weeks will teach me how to write poetry. This certainly will take me out of my comfort zone—but you have to be in it to win it. Here is my first attempt at Haiku, a Japanese poem of three lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second 7 syllables and the last line 5 syllables again.

As it is my first poem since the third grade I am pleased with my baseline—looking forward to see how many new tricks this old dog can learn.

Water

I am a swimmer

Who cannot find any water

So said my daughter

Weekly Photo Challenge: Symmetry

February 15, 2015 inspiringmax

This week, share an image of symmetry.

I was attracted to this sculpture close to my house first by the striking red colour and secondly by its symmetry. It stood out from a distance along the path.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/symmetry/

Back To Childhood

February 11, 2015 inspiringmax

Tell us about a sensation — a taste, a smell, a piece of music — that transports you back to childhood.

In today’s world there are many new smells. At times, they converge together and in some ways diffuse into each other. When I was growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s things were different. In many ways, life was simpler but with a lot less opportunity. Smells were stronger and often less environmentally friendly. So which smells do I remember from my childhood. There are many—some memories are good, the others not so much, but they are still mine.

Fresh salty sea air made complete by the smell of seaweed—growing up we lived in coastal Australia. We were never far from the beach and many holidays were spent there. They were fun times. Today as I no longer live by the ocean I receive a pleasant surprise when I return. One of my earliest blog posts, Calm Action is on my latest trip to the beach as an adult.
Cherry medicine smell—made to taste like cherry to make it easier for kids to swallow medicine. I am still unable to drink Dr Pepper as it instantly takes me back to my childhood and the not so pleasant taste of this medicine—my husband is the same and our kids think we a making it up.
Mud—our house was on slope and not landscaped, so every time it rained we had a lot of mud, clay-like solid mud. It had a particular smell and was slippery when wet.
Fairy floss—as a child this had a much stronger smell than the pre-packed fairy floss you can buy today. I found that similar smell in the freshly spun fairy floss we found being sold on the street in China.
Aniseed lollies—I was the only child in my family who liked these licorice flavoured lollies, so I could guarantee they were not stolen. On the odd occasion as an adult I have bought these lollies I have been disappointed as the smell and flavour is not as strong as it used to be.
Eucalyptus smell of the Australian bush—growing up I spent many hours going for bush walks with my family exploring. It has a unique smell and these days unfortunately it is only on weekends away that I get to re-experience my memories. Although I do live in an area filled with individual gum trees—the Australian bush is different.
Mothballs—back in the day clothes were packed up at the end of the season and stored to make room in the wardrobe for the next seasons clothes. To stop moths and silverfish eating holes in the clothes, two or three balls made of naphthalene were added to the storage container. These had a strong smell and when it came time to change the clothes back again for the next season, it took a long time for the clothes to lose the smell.
Epoxy resin—as a child my father made many things as he is creative and talented. I loved it when he worked with epoxy resin—I loved the smell and how quickly it worked. I am sure it wasn’t good for me but as it wasn’t an everyday occurrence it wasn’t a problem.

I have enjoyed remembering my childhood smells. I will keep this post as a work in progress continue to add smells as they come back to me. If you are from a similar era—what smell do you remember? I would love to hear about them.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-transporter/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Depth

January 31, 2015January 31, 2015 inspiringmax

Whether visually or emotionally, this week let’s dig (or dive) deep.

This amazing old dead tree has been turned into a work of art. It’s home is the Australian Botanical Garden Mount Annan and it adds depth and character to an otherwise ordinary field. Painting the tree bright blue allows it to be special and blend into the skyline at the same time. The animals and birds can still use it for shelter also helping to sustain the environment.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/depth/

Fire Beware

January 30, 2015 inspiringmax

Your home is on fire. Grab five items (assume all people and animals are safe). What did you grab?

In the Sydney bush fires of 1994 I had to do consider this in real life. All main highways into Sydney were cut off by bush fires and we lived on the northern end of the city. We overlooked a major bush gully that hadn’t had a bush fire through in 30 years so officials were very worried about what would happen if it caught alight.

My life has changed greatly since 1994 so what I would pack today is different to what I packed them although core items are the same. In 2015 my choices are:

Formal documents that are difficult/unable to be replaced including passports, insurances, special awards, medical information.
Camera bag which includes the USB’s of digital photos.
My handbag which contains mobile phone, wallet, keys and other everyday essentials.
My prepacked overnight bag containing a change of clothes, toiletries and sleeping device to make a difficult situation easier.
My laptop and associated hard drives which hopefully will give me access to everything I want.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/burning-down-the-house/

Working The Soil

January 27, 2015 inspiringmax

Write down the first words that comes to mind when we say . . .

. . . home.

. . . soil.

. . . rain.

Use those words in the title of your post.

I have lived in many homes with poor to medium quality soil. And while rain makes things grow it is not the only element required. Without care and nutrients, the soil is not fertilised and plants don’t grow. When we have live in the property long enough, we are usually able to work the soil adding mulch, worms, fertiliser, nutrients and better quality soil, to make the original soil grow plants.

The other option with poor soil is to change the type of plants required. When we lived in country New South Wales, the soil held a lot of salt, so we needed to plant salt-resistant plants—Australian natives—there was no choice. Everything else would die. They also don’t need a lot of rain, which is another problem out west. However, as there are many Australian natives to choose from, outsiders never knew there was a problem with the soil. All the gardens looked beautiful, despite the problems.

When we aren’t happy with the soil of our life or home—we have options.

Adapt
Change
Work

Whatever we choose—nothing will improve, if we choose to do nothing.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/free-association/

Celebrating Australia—Songs

January 25, 2015 inspiringmax

This long weekend Australians celebrate our nation’s birthday. The 26th January was chosen from the date from which we were settled—January 26th, 1788. Over the years we have developed into a multicultural nation. Because of this the 26th January,sees people from all nations gather to celebrate being and living in Australia. Today I would like to share with you three songs that make me proud to be Australian. They stir emotion in me wherever I am.

John Williamson is an Australian icon and this song reminds me of my time living in country New South Wales connecting with the land and its people.

This song describes the development of our multicultural nation. I remember it being acted out as a play when my children were in kindergarten and it was even more powerful.

I can still remember clearly 30 years ago when we were arriving back to Sydney from a South Pacific cruise, how stirring it was when “I still call Australia home” played through the air—bringing a smile to everyone’s face.

Connecting With Naure

January 20, 2015 inspiringmax

Tell us about the last experience you had that left you feeling fresh, energized, and rejuvenated. What was it that had such a positive effect on you?

I love spending time with nature. It energises me, makes me forget my troubles and grounds me. Nature is everywhere. Living in the city doesn’t mean I can’t connect. There are many ways within 15 minutes from my house or work place I can connect with nature. These include:

Walking barefoot on green grass anywhere
Enjoying the flowers in a local park
Sydney Harbour
Wetlands
Swimming in the harbour beaches and pools
Parramatta river
Mindfully walk around the neighbourhood looking and listening for wildlife

If I wanted a day out I could travel to the beach, bush or the mountains. Both of these are favourites of mine and I enjoy both in all seasons. In one of my early posts I discuss getting back to the beach for the first time in many years in late autumn.

Other ways I like to energise myself is to get amongst mother nature herself. I love watching sunrises and sunsets, playing in the rain, watching thunder storms particularly over the ocean and recently in Ottawa walking in the snow storms. So when I feel I need for a little or big pick me up, I connect with nature, energise myself and get on with the day.