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<html><body> <tt> I live in the northern outskirts of this little city - it take me less than<BR> 40 minutes to reach the southern suburbs - and as I write, the sunset<BR> singsong of Mr Magpie, Mrs Galah, Mrs PeeWee and the tuneless laughter of Mr<BR> Kookaburra are all but drowning out the last sloppy, romantic tune of<BR> Judging Amy.<BR> <BR> But this afternoon, just 15 minutes away, I was in a place where there are<BR> no birds left to sing. I visited a friend and my journey took me through<BR> the suburbs that just a fortnight ago were in the mouth of the fire-dragon.<BR> And I just couldn't stop weeping. The beautiful forests still stand tall<BR> but instead of their green cloaks sweeping the ground, their naked fingers<BR> point starkly to the sky, frozen in that awful moment. Some trees have not<BR> even straightened up - they are bent over as though trapped in a perpetual<BR> wind and rigor mortis has set in.<BR> <BR> Street upon street looked like mouths of uncared-for teeth. Every now and<BR> then there were homes still standing, but there were more gaps than houses.<BR> Ruins of what were happy homes now stand abandoned, piles of rubble with any<BR> valuables found already taken away in a little bucket, beribboned with<BR> yellow and black Keep Out tape and sings saying looters will be hung.<BR> Already the crew that cleared Ground Zero have moved in and in four months<BR> all that will be left of 30 years of hard work will be ash-soaked bare<BR> ground.<BR> <BR> There were no animals - 99% of our precious wildlife in the local<BR> Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve has gone - yesterday they found the sole<BR> remaining koala. She is seriously burned, but the rangers have christened<BR> her Lucky and put her in the care of those who can. You have to think that<BR> a similar percentage of the free-roaming wildlife has not survived.<BR> <BR> The images and the smell and the silence will be with me for a very long<BR> time.<BR> <BR> When I came home I started to create some webpages about the appeal for<BR> teddy bears, but I found myself having to include some of the pictures that<BR> I found on the web. I will put the happy pages together during the week as<BR> I start to unpack all the teddies that have arrived already. I keep<BR> thinking of this as the Phoenix Appeal - it has risen out of the ashes.<BR> <BR> There is a link to what I have done so far from the main page of our website<BR> <a href="http://www.palmdps.act.edu.au">http://www.palmdps.act.edu.au</a> but for now I am going to sit outside as<BR> darkness falls from the first clear skies in two weeks and listen to the<BR> serenade.<BR> <BR> Barbara<BR> <BR> Barbara Braxton<BR> Teacher-Librarian<BR> Palmerston District Primary School<BR> PALMERSTON ACT 2913<BR> AUSTRALIA<BR> <BR> T. 61 2 6205 6162<BR> F. 61 2 6205 7242<BR> W. <a href="http://www.palmdps.act.edu.au">http://www.palmdps.act.edu.au</a><BR> E. barbara@austarmetro.com.au<BR> <BR> </tt> <br> <!-- |**|begin egp html banner|**| --> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2> <tr bgcolor=#FFFFCC> <td align=center><font size="-1" color=#003399><b>Yahoo! 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Groups is subject to the <a href="http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/">Yahoo! Terms of Service</a>.</tt> </br> </body></html> -- This email has been verified as Virus free Virus Protection and more available at http://www.plus.net =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archive: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml LM_NET Select/EL-Announce: http://www.cuenet.com/archive/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ven.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-