for years now I have ached to tell the story of my country
my place in the landscape
the forest in which I breathe.
named Avalon some 30 years ago after the myth of the isle that appears in and out side of reality.
also named andelain by my partner
and called jellybean road by the children and friends.
I have wanted to sing the twisted curling limbs of the ancient angophoras with their nesting hollows and rough barked trunks scored by the claws of goanna and possum.
I have wanted to capture the dawn chorus in a bottle and spray its full melodic symphony into the halls of parliamentary power, into the barracks of uniforms and guns, into the open hearts and minds of our pre schoolers.
I have longed to distill the essence of wild violet and fungi, of milk thistle and wombat berry meandering sprawling their fecundity around the base of stringy bark, bloodwood, black wattle and she-oak.
Earth has called me to respond, to listen and weave her story into the fabric of social reality
so that none may ever again forget her, so that no human may ever again be in any doubt
about ‘the one place’ that is our home.
I write the story of the mist spider spinning finely wrought mist so that my morning walk in the forest is layered with sparkling webs spinning rainbows in the rising sun.
as I stop and sit with the morning I am entranced with the dance of the mist maidens over the still sleeping hills.
I write the joy of the frog chorus that greets the rain
and I like to tell the story of the baby wombat brought up into adult hood by my daughter
and then released to live its wild and busy life in our forest.
This my place is earth, this forest this home.
It is a cauldron of possibilities,
a hearth of family and love;
a dreaming of harmony
and a creative exploration of life within sacred lore.
the faerie embassy 
So brilliant. The Earth is your muse and unlike so many you actually hear what she is saying.
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thank you debra
and then of course we hear the pain as well as the beauty…
sandra
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So nice, and the last line so powerful. I remember visiting here before, but I think it’s been a long time since my last visit, so nice to be back.
Best,
Silvia.
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thank you silvia and welcome back
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Sandra, you have written one of the most beautiful lines I have read in recent times. “I have wanted to capture the dawn chorus in a bottle and spray its full melodic symphony into the halls of parliamentary power, into the barracks of uniforms and guns, into the open hearts and minds of our pre schoolers.”
How powerful the spray would be as its power impacts humanity. If we could only bottle your sentiments … Peace.
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sometimes I make an essence like the flower essences -last year a young man was returning to his country and sad about going so I placed a bowl of sacred spring water under our largest angophora tree and left it there to capture the life of the forest …
bottled it and he took it with him. myth or madness who knows but I am not one to underestimate the power of mother earth.
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Thank you Sandra for your tribute to Mother Earth. How blessed you are to experience this in the way that you do and blessed too in your beautifully and poetically wrought words while writing this. The magic comes alive again in me – because of your expression. Thank you!
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the words have been given to me from our culture and I arrange them into these stories – I cannot say it is the earth speaking thru me and yet what are we if not a vessel for the entire cosmos to relate thru us- if I can bring the magic alive in peoples hearts and minds then I am fulfilling somewhat of my mission here .
thank you susan very much for your support
opening myself up to the blogging community was so scary and now I am feeling more confident
sandra
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i love this piece, it really spoke to me. it is written with such heart. x
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heart to heart we speak my love
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