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| 3rd Quarter: Still some way to go, but the end is in sight. |
As I alluded to in the very beginning, this year's Ramadan sees me in Canberra where among other things I am helping to look after Neta, my 93 year old grandmother.
Being an impertinent younger male, I am often prompted call into question the wisdom of our elders past actions. For example the way land has been managed and exploited in Australia since european settlement or indeed the way in which relations with indigenous peoples have been conducted in general. Yesterday however, something my grandmother said left me gobsmacked and bitterly regretful that she is no longer on the electoral roll.
After a morning stacking wood, I took a small break as is wise to do when pacing yourself during Ramadan. Sitting for a moment by the fire with Neta, we began talking about what life was like during the depression. She told me of how it was almost impossible to find work in the countryside and that was one reason why she and her husband Rueben moved to the city. They lived by incredibly meagre means until the war broke out and work became more plentiful. Rueben finally got a job at a munitions factory and then later with the railways where he was able to start earning an income to provide for Neta and their two children.
Imagining how I might have acted in such circumstances, I asked the obvious question for a young male seeking vestiges of family honour and bravery.
"So why didn't Rueben sign up for the war?"
But Neta didn't hesitate with her response.
"Well, he didn't want to get killed of course. Its as simple as that."
This supremely sensible explanation snapped me out of my dream-world. I had been reminded of the real consequences of war by someone who had actually lived through one. What she followed with though, made me feel like a squabbling infant being chided by a knowing elder and feeling embarrassed at the selfishness of my actions.
"War is a terrible thing", she said, "with all those guns and shooting. I think its just about as low as man can get... with his intelligence - its disgusting. That's what I think. I don't care if they're black, white, brown, blue or brindle - those who want the war should have to fight it. Instead of sending the young lads to get killed. That's probably the wrong way to think, but that's how I think anyway."
