THE FLOOD EFFECTS PT. 2: PLAGUE OF SNAKES, CROCS, MICE AND EVERYTHING NOT NICE.

As if having your homes submerged isn't enough problem already, the poor residents of affected areas of the flood have been battling more than just water & damages, but also undesirable creatures. Floods in Queensland have also unleashed a 'plague' of pests & dangerous animals like mice, frogs and snakes and worse-crocodiles which have wandered into places & waterways near residential homes and even town areas.

When these animals get out of their normal habitat and get washed into unfamiliar zones, they tend to seek hiding places, which may be in a closet, under a bed, or other spots that could lead to disaster when the unknowing homeowner returns and encounters the frightened animal victim that may then lash out. Spiders do something similar, and Australia certainly has no shortage of poisonous arachnids.

Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter has warned that the flood waters also contained crocodiles.

"There is the risk that we have a number of crocodiles that live in the Fitzroy River," he said. "We do not think they are a risk to public safety if people keep out of the waters but if people do enter the waters, their safety cannot be guaranteed."

The New York Times reports that dozens of snakes have taken over the backyard beer garden of the Fitzroy Hotel Pub in Rockhampton. Owner Tony Higgins said, “I reckon the snakes are using it as a lap pool to get ready for the next stage of their journey."

Yup, you wouldn’t know what’s in the water, you really wouldn’t know. It’s a bad place to be.

THE FLOOD EFFECTS PT. 1: EMPTY SHELVES

Yesterday, when I went out to get some vege's, this was what I saw, amazing and appalling: Empty shelves and empty tables at major supermarkets (that kinda reminds me of what the French students sang for Les Miserables- Empty chairs and empty tables)..this is probably the first time in a long, long time, that the shops have this problem due to the floods. Farmer crops have been affected drastically, even meats were not as plentiful. Quite pathetic to see people fingering through a few stalks of veg left on the shelves. Milk was all sold out, including UHT shelves which were typically well-stocked... So, eventhough GC was unaffected by the flood waters, the inland tsunami that hit Queensland still had its ripple effects much felt here...hopefully, the supplies get back to normal soon.

THE FLOOD OF 'BIBLICAL' PROPORTIONS

Some call this the worst flood in Queensland since 1974- a disaster of biblical proportions. Lots of homes, shops, offices, schools awash and inundated in flood water in many districts of Queensland. Just 2 days ago, Brisbane got hit as well. Here's the clip of just how bad things can get. Man against nature, this is truly one of the best reminders of the fragility of humanity in modern Australia. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes, loved ones, pets, and belongings. In Toowoomba, a district not too far away from here, many people never took flood insurance because they thought they were living in high areas, non-susceptible to flood disasters. So, they were literally caught by surprise and left with virtually nothing. The clip of the cars floating down the river is in Toowomba.

Sad sight .. but then hey, somebody took the opportunity to have some wet 'n' wild fun at the end of the clip!!?? There's the oz spirit for you... ride the waves and the water, dude... coz tomorrow is another day...

EPISODE 48: APPRECIATING THE HERE & NOW

Jordie finally had his friends from school over today to visit and play during the holidays. He was so looking forward to them coming. Their mum brought them to our place today. We'd never met before so we chatted for a bit and got to know each other a little. During the conversation, she revealed to us that her husband was dying of cancer and probably only had a few months to live.

I really felt for this woman -yet she looked so strong. She just had to take what she had and go with it, get the income, manage the household, bring up her kids and make sure her husband gets taken care of. She told us she was glad the boys had their own network of friends to play with to take their mind off the family crisis. You may look at your life, think it stinks, think your problems bigger than others till somebody comes along and flashes a bigger bin of problems and then suddenly, yours seem to shrink to mini proportions.

It dawned on me how short life is. I mean, we go thru life with its motions of things, waking up, grooming, cleaning, cooking, eating, minding our business, getting the kids to school, nod off to bed, and then what?? Certainly, there is more to life than this everyday replay. There comes days when people or situations jar you and wake you out of your normal deadpan mode of comfy predictability and scream out to you, make your life count!! It could be an accident, death of someone you knew, a very unusual incident, or even a stranger just coming into your lives with extraordinary situations like in this case. And then you realise you had been selfishly moaning about your poor tired life and all that moaning energy needs to be channelled outwards because elsewhere, someone is always in worse shape than you.

During the day, one of the boys kept telling me in his straight, serious demeanour, "My dad's gonna die, He's gonna die, you know, by this year, it makes him sad and then it makes me double sad because I know he is gonna die and I'm sad because he's sad about it." SIGH! Wish I had a healing wand to go around zapping everyone back to health, but only God can do that.

But the boys had such a lot of fun together today and you know what, there was no sadness in that. I heard their laughter playing in the tiny drizzle outside with some water guns and light sabres. So, I realised, life may be short, but we make the most of it whatever we have and enjoy the here and now, the fun, the sun, (yes we had heaps of rain and even flooding in some areas of Queensland, really bad but today was nice weather to play outdoors) the food, the friendships, family, and then take everyday as it comes.

We told her that if at any time she needed for the boys to be away should she have a difficult time coping, that they were welcome here. Sure, it is inconvenient, privacy intruded, house messed up, but as Jordie puts it, " Its okay, at least we have fun together." So, yes, I thank God for family, for health, for joy, laughter and the blessings we have each day.