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Posts Tagged ‘Australian Fires’

Update: Auction For Australia

Posted in Auction, Current Events, tagged , , on January 16, 2020| 2 Comments »

I wanted to include some photos of the devastation taking place in Australia to go along with an update on the current auction of a painting to benefit one of the wildlife rescue organizations there that are doing some truly mighty work. I was heartbroken by the stark horror of so many of the photos and just couldn’t include them. One, that I don’t want to even describe here let alone show, keeps flashing in my mind like a recurring nightmare.

Apocalyptic. That’s the only word that comes to mind.

But even the ones I am displaying, much less graphic than the others, are heartbreaking. The photo of the kookaburra at the top, as it surveys the charred homeland in which it had once thrived, is a powerful and complete statement, one that speaks volumes, not only of the destruction but of the dilemma facing the existing wildlife for their survival in this wasteland for the near future.

A Clearing Comes- Auction for Australian Wildlife

The painting, A Clearing Comes, here on the right, is up for auction with all proceeds going to Wildlife Rescue Australia (WIRES), an organization dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of Australian wildlife. They are facing a Herculean task and need as much assistance as they can get.

My goal for this painting was to get  $1750 for this painting which I would supplement so that this organization would get at least $2000. It’s a tiny drop in the bucket but it is what I have to offer.

But we must remember, many little drops soon fill a bucket.

I want to extend a true Thank You to every one who has participated so far.  You have already made this a successful effort, one that may, in some small way, bring a degree of healing to the affected creatures of that hurting land.

The current high bid is now $1650.

It will be shipped at my expense (along with some other little extras!) to the high bidder. I have set a figure of $1750 as a Buy Now price, at which point that bidder is awarded the painting.

So, there is still a little room to get in on this painting before the auction ends on Saturday, January 18, at 12 noon EST.

I might be tempted, if this auction ends today with a bid of $1750, to find another painting to put up  for auction. It would be great to send even a bit more to our friends in Australia, wouldn’t it?

Thanks for helping out!

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Auction For Australian Wildlife

Posted in Auction, Current Events, Favorite Things, tagged , , , , , , on January 15, 2020| 4 Comments »

I have written a little in the last week or so about the wildfires that are devastating the landscape, people and wildlife of Australia. It’s on a scale that I don’t think we can really envision. I saw the diagram above that allowed you to move a circle the approximate size of the acreage  that has burned in Australia over a map so that you can see how it would affect an area that you might recognize.

The image above is from an area that encompasses my home, extending all the way to NYC, covering all of the Pocono Mountains along with most of the Endless Mountains and the Catskills, most of central and eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey, down to Philadelphia and into Delaware. If you’re familiar with this area, you know that it’s a substantial area.

Imagine, one day as you drive to NYC, that everything is suddenly gone. Every tree burned and every inch of ground scorched. The once verdant valleys that extend off of the highways for miles and miles in all directions stripped of all life. And not for just a short stretch of highway but for the entire drive.

Hour after hour of a suddenly empty, barren landscape extending as far as you can see.

There are no animals. There is nothing– no food nor shelter–there for those that may have somehow survived. And nowhere to go.

That’s pretty much the scenario that is taking place in Australia.

They are saying that perhaps a billion and a half creatures have perished in the fire. That is an incomprehensible figure, one that makes any effort to help seem so small, so insignificant.

But that is what it takes to recover from such a great blow– one small step to begin. Instead of wringing our hands and saying that there’s nothing we can do, we can do one small thing. A lot of people doing seemingly small things suddenly becomes a large and effective thing.

I don’t have many resources but what I can do, my small step, is to auction off a painting and direct the funds to a wildlife charity in Australia that is deeply involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of the affected wildlife in Australia. My research has led me to the organization, Wildlife Rescue Australia or WIRES as they are known. They are largest wildlife rescue organization in Australia. Though they are especially suited to this mission, they are in need of all the assistance they can get. This will require years and much effort to restore the environment and animals to this land.

The painting I am auctioning is below. It is titled A Clearing Comes and is a piece that is a favorite of mine, one that I had to convince myself to part with. I also think it’s one whose message and feel is relevant to this circumstance. I see the crow in the dead tree as being symbolic of the wildlife enduring the devastation. The sky, while dark and portentous, is clearing and the Red Tree and the richly colored fields in the distance represent a better, more hopeful future.

The painting is on paper and is matted under glass in my standard hand stained 16″ by 20″ frame. It has a value of $1600. The bidding starts at $500, please. I will end the auction at once if there is a bid reaching a maximum $1750. You can bid in the comments section or, if you desire privacy, you can email your bid ( please put AUCTION in the subject line) to info@gcmyers.com. I will ship the painting at my expense and will include a few additional doodads and geegaws to the winning bidder. Unless someone bids the maximum $1750, the bidding ends Saturday, January 18, at 12 noon EST. I will provide proof of all funds being donated to the winning bidder, as well.

I will post updates throughout the next few days.

So, if you can, take a step and help in some small way.

9:45 AM Update: There is a bid for $500.

10:15 AM Update: Current bid is now $1000.

A Clearing Comes- Auction for Australian Wildlife

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The Wombat

Posted in Current Events, tagged , , on January 14, 2020| 4 Comments »

This recent photo of a wombat rescued in Australian fires has went viral on social media over the past few days along with a story that the creatures were seen shepherding other animals into their vast burrows to avoid the firestorm. Unfortunately, the shepherding part has been ruled out as wombats are extremely short-sighted, their vision focusing on finding available food immediately in front of them.

It was simply a baseless but hopeful rumor.

But while the shepherding behavior has not been witnessed, the sharing of the burrow has been noted in a number of cases. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it’s like a scene from the Fantastic Mr. Fox down there. The animals are not having dinner parties and passing around canapes while their wombat host makes toasts. Most likely, it is the sheer size of the burrows that allows a diverse group of animals to share them without infringing on each other’s space too much. They often cover areas stretching well over 300 feet in length with multiple entrances and enough depth and ventilation to shield a large number of critters.

The wombat host may not even have to see his guests. Sounds like a perfect situation.

But the thing that most people comment on is the sheer size of the wombat in the photo, some thinking it is a doctored image. I had no idea of the size of a wombat. I thought they were like the size of a Corgi, small and stout. Maybe twenty or twenty five pounds.

Nope, they are fairly big, coming in at between 45 and 77 pounds on average. That’s an armful.

Another Couple of interesting wombat facts:

While they are generally slow moving, they can scoot along at about 25 mph when threatened. That is surprisingly fast. It reminds me of the first time I saw our late and beloved Jemma, a rescued Corgi, take off running. Again, surprisingly fast.

Their poop comes out in the shape of cubes. Yes, in cubes. Think about that.

Their rear ends are very tough (probably from creating those cubes!) being comprised mainly of cartilage. They use their rumps as defensive shields against their predators, so that when retreating to a tunnel it is the only part of them that is exposed. They will sometimes allow a predator to force its head above the wombat’s back then crush it against the tunnel walls with their powerful legs. Or they use those same powerful legs to donkey kick at it.

They live until about 15 years of age in the wild and from 20-30 years in captivity.

A group of them is called a wisdom. A wisdom of wombats. What a lovely sound.

They are pretty fascinating creatures. Unfortunately, their world and, by extension, the wombat itself, is in jeopardy from the devastating fires that are ravaging Australia.

Like I wrote the other day, we can’t do much by ourselves, a half a world away. But we can try. I am going to be putting a painting up for auction within the next day with all proceeds going to WIRES, a well respected Australian wildlife rescue organization that is doing yeoman’s work during this fire. There is much to be done to rescue and rehabilitate the affected animals but even more to be done in providing them a world –food, water and shelter– in which they can thrive in the aftermath.

Keep an eye out for the auction.

 

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This Bitter Earth

Posted in Current Events, Music, tagged , , , , , on January 12, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The Australian wildfires are still raging. Sheer devastation. Well over 18 millions acres (think about it as every single inch of Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts being burnt to the ground) up in flames along with dozens of lives, thousands of homes and a staggering amount of wildlife. The current estimate that the number of animals and birds is that well over a billion creatures have perished. Those that survive face a grim future with an environment that will take years to rebound.

That is, if it ever can.

It’s heartbreaking. No, it’s more than that. Heartbreaking seems almost too trivial a word for the holocaust taking place. It’s more like a jagged rip in the very fiber of our souls. As helpless as we feel here on the other side of the globe, as hopeless as it seems from such a distance, we must not turn away.

Their horror may well be the future for many of us.

We have been warned for decades that this time was fast approaching but hubris and greed made us ignore and even scoff at the suggestion that we were destroying the environment that had once been so hospitable to us.

I don’t know what the answers are for climate change or even how to properly help our animal and human friends in Australia. But I know I can’t ignore the problem, can’t just shrug and say that my time here is short now that I am well into middle age and that it’s a problem for those younger than me. It’s that sort of ignorance and carelessness that allowed this to happen in the first place.

I am looking for answers, even if they are small. I can’t save Australia with my small donation but maybe it can help one small displaced creature, plant a tree or two or do anything to alleviate the pain caused by our treatment of this earth.

I hope you will look for answers as well.

This Sunday morning music is a song from the great Dinah Washington from back in 1960 called This Bitter Earth. I am also including a version of the song that combines her original vocals with a musical piece from contemporary composer Max Richter, On the Nature of Daylight, which is  a piece of music that I have played here before. The two combine to create a powerful statement that is fitting for this subject and this time.

I hope you’ll listen to both. And don’t turn away. Do even one small thing to help someone on this bitter earth.

 

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