Latest From The Australia Permanent Drought

10 Responses to Latest From The Australia Permanent Drought

1. Anything is possible says:

   July 10, 2015 at 7:58 pm

   Written in 1921 :

   SAID HANRAHAN

   “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
   In accents most forlorn,
   Outside the church, ere Mass began,
   One frosty Sunday morn.
   The congregation stood about,
   Coat-collars to the ears,
   And talked of stock, and crops, and drought,
   As it had done for years.
   “It’s lookin’ crook,” said Daniel Croke;
   “Bedad, it’s cruke, me lad,
   For never since the banks went broke
   Has seasons been so bad.”
   “It’s dry, all right,” said young O’Neil,
   With which astute remark
   He squatted down upon his heel
   And chewed a piece of bark.
   And so around the chorus ran
   “It’s keepin’ dry, no doubt.”
   “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
   “Before the year is out.
   “The crops are done; ye’ll have your work
   To save one bag of grain;
   From here way out to Back-o’-Bourke
   They’re singin’ out for rain.
   “They’re singin’ out for rain,” he said,
   “And all the tanks are dry.”
   The congregation scratched its head,
   And gazed around the sky.
   “There won’t be grass, in any case,
   Enough to feed an ass;
   There’s not a blade on Casey’s place
   As I came down to Mass.”
   “If rain don’t come this month,” said Dan,
   And cleared his throat to speak–
   “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
   “If rain don’t come this week.”
   A heavy silence seemed to steal
   On all at this remark;
   And each man squatted on his heel,
   And chewed a piece of bark.
   “We want a inch of rain, we do,”
   O’Neil observed at last;
   But Croke “maintained” we wanted two
   To put the danger past.
   “If we don’t get three inches, man,
   Or four to break this drought,
   We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
   “Before the year is out.”
   In God’s good time down came the rain;
   And all the afternoon
   On iron roof and window-pane
   It drummed a homely tune.
   And through the night it pattered still,
   And lightsome, gladsome elves
   On dripping spout and window-sill
   Kept talking to themselves.
   It pelted, pelted all day long,
   A-singing at its work,
   Till every heart took up the song
   Way out to Back-o’Bourke.
   And every creek a banker ran,
   And dams filled overtop;
   “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
   “If this rain doesn’t stop.”
   And stop it did, in God’s good time;
   And spring came in to fold
   A mantle o’er the hills sublime
   Of green and pink and gold.
   And days went by on dancing feet,
   With harvest-hopes immense,
   And laughing eyes beheld the wheat
   Nid-nodding o’er the fence.
   And, oh, the smiles on every face,
   As happy lad and lass
   Through grass knee-deep on Casey’s place
   Went riding down to Mass.
   While round the church in clothes genteel
   Discoursed the men of mark,
   And each man squatted on his heel,
   And chewed his piece of bark.
   “There’ll be bush-fires for sure, me man,
   There will, without a doubt;
   We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
   “Before the year is out.”
   John O’Brien

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Hanrahan

   Reply
   • gregole says:

     July 11, 2015 at 3:26 am

     Thanks. Tells about all there is to know about “climate”.

     Reply
2. DD More says:

   July 10, 2015 at 9:00 pm

   Come on Man, at least they didn’t spend a couple billion Aussie dollars on sea water distillation plants on projections like this.

   Reply
3. AndyG55 says:

   July 10, 2015 at 10:38 pm

   I live on the NSW coast. I don’t want any more rain right now, thanks you !

   The front nature strip has not had time to dry out since the last rain.
   Its more like a soft wet gooey sponge at the moment.
   The postie got bogged the other day !

   Reply
   • Rico L says:

     July 11, 2015 at 12:19 am

     +1, struggling with the lawnmower in the last few weeks, the grass is just not drying out.

     Reply
     • rah says:

       July 11, 2015 at 1:27 pm

       I’ve been dealing with that problem all through the spring and summer here in central Indiana. Today I will finally get to mow for the first time in eight days. Dry all day and a high of 80 deg. F (27 deg. C) And 8 days of growing in these conditions means 4″+ high grass. And 4″+ high grass means slower mowing and leaving lines of cuttings which require the lawn sweeper to pick up since the way things are going the cuttings will just accumulate if I don’t get them up. So a job that during a typical summer takes 2 1/2 hour job has turned into a 5 hour job.

       Reply
4. Jon says:

   July 11, 2015 at 12:18 am

   I live in Sydney. Bloody cold!
   Maybe I could read an IPCC report and remind myself my experiences (mere “feelings”) do not indicate what is real and I’m actually very hot.
   Maybe then I’ll feel warm, once I’ve convinced myself.

   Reply
5. thejollygreenman says:

   July 11, 2015 at 8:59 am

   Hi Andy, thank you for the information about the rain. Here in the UK the only time they report about Australian weather is when you have a drought or bush fires, lovely picture opportunities for sad dead carcasses of livestock and flames devouring houses. Rain is not really news in the UK.

   Reply
   • AndyG55 says:

     July 11, 2015 at 9:43 am

     Mate, we have ALWAYS had drought and bush fires…

     …. and rain and floods.

     That is the historic AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE..

     and it HASN’T CHANGED !!

     Reply
6. Climatism says:

   July 11, 2015 at 12:14 pm

   Reblogged this on Climatism and commented:
   Fear-mongering and alarmism ~ the ultimate go-to weapon when your ideological cause has no factual, statistical or observable backup.

   Reply