Genesis of biodiversity by design.
Murry Rhodes © 20221002
In the beginning, all was dark, The rains stopped and then the Sun rose up and the day began. A rake in hand, garden snippers in the other it was time to enter the jungle of a wet season of growth and tame the beasts that thrived. Snip Snip Snip, rake rake rake, life was good, it was simple. My back injury had seen me on a walking stick for the past year and other injuries had anchored me into my bus like a hermit crab but now as the dry of twenty-twenty-two was coming my injuries had subsided and I was able to walk. For a short while at least. Life was good life was simple. Snip Snip.
It’s still quite simple although life took a weird and wonderful turn. For the years I’d spent here in the outback turning a hobby of piano playing into a music career I never really had the time to immerse myself in the nature of the wilds. Snip Snip Snip and Rake rake Rake, I was rejoicing that I could walk, rejoicing that I could work again. Snip Snip.
This little one to the left is a Rainbow Pita. Endemic to this region and quite a friendly little bird.
There was another here in this Eden. One who had gained a grant from the government for an art project. Butterflies and Moths was his art installation and he brought with him a heart of gold and a quirky, artsy, folksy, academic intelligence. Ian is his name. As I snip snipped my way through the jungle growth he and his hoard had delicately transformed an old decaying bird cage into a haven or refuge for butterflies and moths and planted some new plants that they love to munch on and other stuff. Rake Rake.
We shook hands and he described his plight. I saw the awesome impact he had on bringing life and beauty into this Eden. Over the weeks I learned he would take people on walks through the jungle and introduce them to the many birds, trees and butterflies of the region and point out the need to bring back those species that had disappeared. Weeds, fires, poisons and progress had pushed many species out and so with the planting of certain plants and weeding of certain weeds, the job ahead was to promote and protect the biodiversity of this region. Snip
I’d totally trimmed back the wet season overgrowth and the gardens were now pretty on the eye and clean for the tourist hoards coming here for their tropical experience of the North. The bulk of my mission was done and then Ian presented me with a new mission. “ I need to make an identification poster of butterflies but I don’t have a clue how to do one” He commented. I said “ No Worries, I’ll do it”.. My live performance days saw me learning how to make gig posters for gigs and so It was right down my alley. Well, that’s what I thought. Snip.
By the time I loaded the first twenty butterflies onto the one document my computer processor started to falter. What I thought would be 40-50 hour job turned into a 200 ++ hour ordeal that was solved by upgrading my computer and learning a few tricks of design. Nonetheless, I said I would do it and I made it my mission to do it. Along the way and during the process I decided to draw up a few nice little drawings. Just little birdy and butterfly ones and a fish one for a little bit of fun. I posted the little images onto my social media and folks responded really well to them and some even wanted shirts and hats with the little images on them so I started down that path to research how to set up a shop. I turned my old music website into something a bit like a blog page but with a shop for my designs. I finished the butterfly identification poster and everyone loved it. Rake Rake.
With the poster finished, i was then asked if I could take up the position of secretary of a special group that had been formed to gain grants for helping promote and protect the biodiversity of the region. I accepted not really knowing what I was in for. I sat in on the first meeting and was officially named the secretary of this group. Intellectuals with passions to make a difference and get things rolling. The group was still in its infancy. You might say that the official constitution was still wet from the stamp inc. Snip Snip.
And so this was the genesis of my birth into biodiversity. Up to this time, my only photography had been done using either video snapshots or my phone’s camera which were nice but from a design perspective, I needed to step up and learn how to use a real camera to take some real photos. So I found a good second-hand one for sale and a couple of cheap entry-level lenses and started tinkering with all the buttons. Within a week I had taken my first few high shutter speed photos that I still love looking at and within two weeks I felt ready to take the camera into the bush and start trying to get some magical photos. How blessed I am to be where I am and to have the time to do all this. I was walking without my walking stick and with a camera in my grasp that I could start capturing images of the life that I was learning about. Snip, Rake
if you haven’t seen the gallery yet then you may enjoy taking a peak. If you see something that would look good on your walls or on a shirt or hat then check out the shopping feature too. If what you want isn’t there then send me a message and ask to match an image to be printed onto an item or a matching set or something. Rake Snip
There’s more to share about this adventure as last weekend we had our very first groupie get-together which was basically a nice walk around for an hour or so and then an hour of planting and labelling plants and identifying weeds. It was great to start to meet the people who care about this sort of stuff as despite their backgrounds they all have something special to offer. Sometimes when Ian isn’t available to take people on the nature walks I’ll put on my shoes and lead the way but what is really wonderful about it is that many of those folks interested in the walks are very keen birders, or botanists or some other biological science guru from whom I gain a lot of great knowledge from. Rake Snip Rake
And so before I close this entry, if you’re reading this and think maybe you’d like to help out or find out more about this group then please do contact me and I can send you some information and put you on the right track. I’ll see if I can put a link at the bottom of this blog. In the meantime enjoy the images and the stories. My background also includes physics and geology and astronomy-type stuff so you may see blogs and images regarding that too.
Last Sunday I was in the wildlife park up the road helping folks clean out their natural stingray ponds with the stingrays still in the pond. Big friendly stingrays they were too. Who knows what adventures are ahead?.. :)
Take care, travel well and stay tuned :)
Cheers
Murry