touch the mountains
ok, so no more emo attention seeking blogs (ok, trav?:P).
isnt it wonderful how three little words can effect you so strangely. excpecially when they are meant, and you know that. :) i think we should all say them more often. "i love you". friendship love, romantic love. two different loves, each as wonderful in their own ways. *smiles*
went out to correnderk reserve this morning, for my aboriginal studies subject. correnderk is out in healsville, and it used to be a large, prosperous aboriginal mission/reserve back in its time. for those of you who dont know what the missions/reserves were, they were basically where the governement chucked all the "full blooded" aboriginal people in to live. way back in the late 1800's. this probably wasnt the smartest thing the government did, as indigenous people have such a connection with the land. particulary the land where they are from. so when they are moved off their own land, they lose a part (a large part) of their identity.
anyway, so correnderk closed in 1920 ish and all the land was sold off, except for about a quarter of an acre, which was a cemetery. the land around there is such fertile land, green, lush. prime farming country. and the only reason they left that was because no one wanted to buy a cemetery where approximatly 300 indigenous people are buried.
it was green when we went out there. the grass soft and lush. the magpies singing, the cows moo'ing. and students, mostly, being quiet.
there were beautiful red gums growing in the area, the long grass showed the faint paths. the large marble headstong of william barak. the last tribal leader of the wurundgeri (sic?) people (the indigenous people who's land goes along the yarra river. whos land the house im sitting in is on).
my lecturer had his mother there, aunty dot peters. who is an elder of the wurrundgeri people now. her mum was born and raised on the reserve. so she talked to us about it a bit.
she mentioned the saying "touch the mountains". her grandmother used to say it when they asked if it was going to rain that day. apparently when its going to rain the mountains appear close enough so you can touch them. its a really beautiful saying, i thought. :)
while there, i really wanted to just sit at her feet and listen to all the stories and things she has in her mind. sometimes i wish i were really passionate about something, passionate enough to do something about it. like she did. i am interested, always interested in those who have amazing stories to tell. and their charachter just shows through their words. the pain written in their eyes.
old people are really amazing, when you think about it. they are funny looking, in a good way. there was this old guy who had such a white bushy moustache and no beard. and long ears. and big noses, and wrinkles. white hair and saggy bits and wrinkles. how truely beautiful :)
i went shopping this afternoon, as my class finished an hour and a half before it was supposed to. i have decided that i like buying gifts for people. :). i just wish i knew what to buy people though. walking around trying to figure out what to get dad for fathers day. i got my sister a serving bowl and some socks. and some other people some other fun things. when they get them, i hope they enjoy them :).
