January 27th, 2020Kyle’s Rant

(Warning: This rant is very typical of a mainstream news program, doomsday, end of the world stuff up front, followed by a cute animal or human to brighten your day.)

IT’S been a scary few months with the bushfires wreaking havoc across the country, those poor people left homeless and scarred, and those awful images bandied across the TV screen, featuring our poor defenceless indigenous animals left dead and singed by the disaster.

You could be forgiven for thinking the end of the earth is upon us with the climate change catastrophes around the world dominating our news feeds and our screens. And on a local level the weather: huge rocks of hail thrown violently from the sky followed by dust storms and topped off with heavy rain falls, and it’s back to winter again. WTF. It seems to me the weather gods are bloody pissed off with what we humans have done to their planet.

Then throw in iguanas dropping from trees in Florida because of the unseasonal cold snap and the introduction of the coronavirus, a cataclysmic apocalyptic virus which by the time this piece goes to print will probably have swallowed up the best of humankind. Mind you, there are some that I would like to offer a free trip cooped up in a plane into the hot zone in China like that dill on his way to being impeached, the orange-haired buffoon from America. I would happily offer him a one-way ticket in economy near the toilets on Air China.

Then there has been my own health struggle which has dogged me for a couple of weeks. It all stemmed from a rather hastily-scoffed chef’s treat from the BBQ – I was just checking the sausage was cooked. The next day I was off to the dentist for a clean when she spotted a lesion in my throat. I mentioned it to wifey (think Henny Penny) and after a rather emotional couple of weeks thinking I had throat cancer, I was given a clean bill of health by the Ballarat specialist. But let me tell you the worry is very wearing.

Finally, as promised, the end of this rant gets lighter. I was privileged to be asked to shoot a calendar fundraiser at Hepburn House, see page 29. How amazing to see the enthusiasm of the staff and the subject as we recreated a scene from the movie American Beauty. Then it was off to the Kyneton Croquet Club. This was such a treat to be invited into the rooms after the shoot for a cup of tea, a biscuit and a chat with these great people. Things seem to get so busy and we forget with all the helter-skelter going on around the place, we actually need to slow down and appreciate the smaller things in life. Calming rant over…