floods, more lizards and a catch up

I've been feeling quite overwhelmed of late. 

 

The rains came a few weeks back and they turned Biblical — non-stop torrential downpours which caused major flooding from the Sunshine Coast (including Hinterlands and Inland areas) down to South East Queensland. I'm so grateful to live in an area where we have been safe from flooding despite having a creek at the end of our street. There were a lot of road closures, our region included, due to flooding over the roads. Sadly, so many homes went under with people being rescued from flooded homes and rooftops. In a span of just three days, we received 80% of our annual rainfall which, for a sub-tropical area when not in drought, is a lot! Sadly, 11 lives were lost due to the floods. Not all, but some were due to attempts to drive across flooded roads and then being washed away. People don't account for the strength of the current, not to mention the fact that, once the water or moisture gets into their car's distributor, it dies and they're stuck in rising waters. It's heartbreaking to think that some of those deaths were avoidable.

The rains eventually cleared and moved down through New South Wales where it wreaked havoc with floods and loss of life there too.  A major clean up is in progress now. We have more rain on the forecast but not another deluge, I hope. 

We've had major flood events like this in 1974, 1996, 2011, and 2013. We've had significant flash floods in the years in-between too but the thing I notice is that we've had more major flood events in the span of 10 years whereas, previously, it was decades between major flood events. Add to that our biblical bushfire event through 2019/2020. Bush-fires here are seasonal due to our extreme heat but I believe global climate change is making them more extreme. I know that La Niña has played a role this time with the torrential rains but scientists have also stated the event has been a lot worse than would have been expected.  Some scientists say that it will eventually get so hot here that living on the surface will become unbearable and we will end up moving underground, like in Coober Pedy in northern South Australia where summer temps can get to 52.7°C/127°F. Most of the town is underground. 

 

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During the torrential rains, I had a fall — slipped in the water the doggies dripped after having a drink...didn't see it. My legs went out from under me and I came crashing down onto my butt and hips. I couldn't put my hands out to help as I was carrying stuff. For hours, from the mid-back down and my hips felt frozen with weird sensations, if that makes sense. I wasn't in pain but it was extreme discomfort, pain came later. So I did see the doctor who ordered X-rays and an Ultrasound of my right hip. I kinda knew there would be no fractures as I wasn't in severe pain. I was most concerned about my hip tendons after having tendon surgery in 2019 and the symptoms were much the same as when I tore the tendons. Unfortunately, ultrasounds aren't great for picking up tendon tears. Last time, one U/S said there was no tear yet an MRI clearly showed there was. Anyway, this U/S said 'no tear' but there is Bursitis and inflammation —same as when I had the torn tendons. The plan is to give it a couple of weeks. Do some Physio. If it hasn't helped, my doctor will refer me back to Orthopaedics. I hope that won't be necessary.

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After the rains eased, Aaron (son) found a teeny-weeny baby Eastern Bearded Dragon lizard in the large drain we have in the back yard. He must have become trapped and then exhausted himself trying to get out. We thought he was dead at first until I spotted a slight movement in his eyelid. We immediately went into rescue mode. Aaron set up a more suitable environment and we popped to the pet shop to buy heat bulbs and UVB bulbs, and crickets. Reptiles use thermoregulation to manage their body temperatures. This means they rely heavily on external factors, heat from the sun, and cools spots in the shade, so we had to replicate that artificially.

He was about 4" in length so possibly only 2 to 3 weeks old. He was eating the crickets and enjoying the warmth, and recovered very well. Sorry the pics are a little blurry. It was hard to focus in on him as he was so tiny.

 

 

Australia has very strict laws when it comes to their wildlife. It is illegal to take an animal from the wild and keep it as a pet. The next morning, we dropped this precious baby into our local vet who would then have contacted Wildlife Carers in the area and they will care for and rehabilitate him. 

The lizard story doesn't end there so stay tuned for more in an upcoming post. 

This is the problem after being away from my blog for a month. I have so much to talk about. 

 

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On a more unsettling topic, I'm sure you are all in shock and disgusted with the events happening in the Ukraine — as am I. Putin is downright insane and dangerous! This war was unprovoked. My heart goes out to the Ukrainian people and my thoughts and prayers are with them. I pray that Putin doesn't succeed. He has made sure that a lot of Russians are being fed fake news. He is telling many lies to his people and they believe him. Remind you of someone else? I've read where Russian soldiers are shocked that they are meeting with resistance because they thought they were on a peace-keeping mission and would be welcomed. More of Putin's lies. I wish there was more that the rest of world could do to help the Ukraine, apart from the Sanctions. Thank goodness, neighbouring countries are taking in the refugees fleeing this horrible and unjustifiable war. It's heart-wrenching! Where will it all end? Scary thoughts...

 

On the home-front, our Prime Minister has committed to setting up a nuclear submarine base in either Newcastle, Port Kembla, or Brisbane (where I live). Scott Morrison said it is to support the future nuclear submarine fleet in partnership with the US. Our relations with China haven't been the best since we agreed, along with other nations, that there needed to be an investigation into how Coronavirus started in Wuhan. China turned very nasty. Our Prime Minister believes that Russia and China are aligning to reshape the international order. More scary thoughts...

So finally I will end this post. Is that a shout of joy I hear from the Peanut Gallery?

I will post again soon. 

Love, Light and Peace