This Day Past

There is no real autumn in the tropics, just a gradual shortening of days. The sun rises further into the east and morning mists give way to sunny days. The channel billed cuckoo’s call is no longer heard, as it has left with its young migrating into Northern Queensland following the flowering fruits it feeds on.
 
In the tropics there is just summer and winter. The summers can be hot, humid and wet with monsoon rains, cyclones and flooding. Not all as dismal as it sounds, the coming storm fronts can put on a lightning display to rival the best of New Years eve fireworks.
This year saw ex cyclone Yasi move down the coast bring heavy rain and a 11mt flood to the river causing slippage of the banks and stripping the mangrove forests bare. Now the first shoots are re-appearing in the Mangrove forests and new plants grow on the silt laden floor.
 
Winter is almost here, this week’s weather brought mirror calm conditions to the river that distract me as I continue to rebuild the damaged lower deck and jetty boardwalk. The afternoon sun settles lower into the west lending a golden glow to the river scene. The lineup of resident yachts anchored along the river are lit starkly white and reflected in the stillness  of the water.
 
The sound of a small outboard motor makes me pause and watch its passage. A small open boat some 14ft long with a short unstayed mast, its tan coloured sails lay furled in the hull. The sailor reclines with one arm over the tiller guiding his boat up the river for the night. It is a sight that is both peaceful and personal, no one else to see this moment but me.
 
At dusk the pure white egrets come along the river heading toward Uhlula Lagoon for the night. Flocks of a hundred birds in perfect V formation fly only inches above the placid water, their wing tips kissing the surface leaving small ringlets to radiate out.
 
A feeling of contentment goes with me as I carry my tools back to the workshop in the dark.
 
This day that’s past I need to treasure