1. Why do some people buy large plots of rural land, fence it and then plant pines (or alternatives) very densely all around the perimeter? I asked someone once and they said it was a windbreak. I thought that was a bit weird, because I don’t think that perimeter planting necessarily relates to wind direction or behaviour. If its for privacy, what needs to be so protected? If it’s a statement about ownership, maybe that’s just a bit sad. None of us really owns the land. If we put our money down, I think we become the CARERS of that land, that space until we hand it on to family or sell to a stranger. Or could we “own” it in some shared way in accordance with Aboriginal values?

That raises another question, of course. While people in history built castles with moats to protect themselves, ordinary people build these massive green fences in rural areas. While in the suburbs, smaller fences say “keep out” or “this is mine” or “I’m doing it for the dog”! Am I a just a spoil sport? Is there a territorial imperative in humans (I think there is)? T

here are many outdated behaviours that are highlighted in the world of man and an occasional review might be a good idea. And as a postscript in my thinking … many areas in the US don’t have fences. Is that because it’s the land of the free and the brave? No correlation, I think.

2. Why do people still plant trees that will grow too tall under powerlines? If the tree is very old, maybe the lines were put in after it was planted. Now, I watch new trees planted under powerlines and I despair. Why don’t the authorities either specify trees that will grow in certain shapes – so we don’t have to hack tall trees into unnatural shapes later on – or put the power under ground. Too expensive, I hear you call … but hacking trees every second year doesn’t come cheap either.

3. Now, this is strange. A number of years ago, cars were predominately silver for quite a while. A new generation of cars came along and they were often black.

We then had mostly white cars and what is fascinating is the sudden appearance of cars dressed now in reds and oranges. It’s really worth watching.

And I laugh because I think we either have a powerful collective will/imagination, or the car makers decide that they will make a larger percentage of new cars a certain colour for a period of time and provide much less of all the other colour options to save money.

I purchased my white car because “that’s all we really have left, luv!” How many people have purchased cars with similar encouragement? And I sold it because (in part) I could never find it in the street because the other cars were all white as well.

So, are we being manipulated so that car makers don’t waste their profits with a few leftover colours, or are there deeply shared fashion themes that drive many of us? Certainly happens in food, clothing, travel etc. Imagine if this is so, how that power might be harnessed for good.

Well, I can’t imagine in the middle of summer of course. It seems that our world has been injected with greedy, immoral grubs in a similar way to the spread of car colours and we are far less powerful than we would like to think . PS I just changed to a glittering orange car. Great for three weeks but now … OMG it’s on again. They are everywhere.

4. If you think this bit of writing is a bit vacuous, then I agree and apologise. I don’t like summer, never did and never will. And as for waiting around to see what bushfires do … it’s seriously affecting my head (and heart). What’s left in my heart goes out to victims past and present, those waiting and watching and all the men and women who work to protect us, make sandwiches, man centres, organise educational meetings and go above and beyond.