U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Policies
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2025
    • Program Ideas
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • Chess
      • Cooking Solo
      • Demystifying Psychology Course
      • Enjoying the Internet (S2)
      • Family Research Drop In
      • Lifeball >
        • Home
        • Lifeball Videos
      • Sky's the Limit
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair History (British)
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Family Research - Advanced
        • German - Beginners
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
        • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Jane Austen Book Club
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Meditation
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Russian Literature
        • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Wise Guys Book Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Ch
    • A-Ch
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • American History
    • Art Appreciation
    • 'As Time Goes By'
    • Australian Shares and Stock Market
    • Be Connected - Android
    • Be Connected - Tech Advice
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Car Torque
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
  • Co-E
    • Ch - E
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
    • Colour Mixing and Watercolour Techniques - Botanical
    • Come and Learn Croquet
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology - Discussion Group
    • Demystifying Psychology - Perception
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Exploring Writing Children's Books
  • F-Pa
    • F- Pa
    • Family Research
    • Film Discussion
    • French at the Table
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Mahjong
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
  • Ph-W
    • Ph -W
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder
    • Singing for Fun
    • Spanish
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Talks
    • Train Buffs
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide
    • Timetable with Dates
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News Update
    • June Newsletter
    • 'What's On' Calendar 2025
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
    • U3A Murrundindee East
    • U3A Wangaratta
  • Contact

'Lost and found'

23/7/2015

 
It was tea time. Most of the family were in the farm kitchen helping except Lennie, a local school teacher Dad was training up as a professional runner hoping to snare another Stawell distant race winner.  The two kids, Luke five and Marion almost three, had gone with Lennie to the river paddock to check the rabbit traps.   Suddenly Len burst into the kitchen with Luke. “Has Marion come home?” he said with a wild look of a desperate man.   Everyone in the room knew at once she could not come home on her own as the river paddock was some five kilometres down the Police Paddock Road, with other people’s properties in-between.

Godfrey,  known to be fussy about always having shoes on his feet before venturing outside, rushed to the car in his bare feet with me in hot pursuit.  Mother called “I’ll ring George, he’ll know what to do. He knows everyone”.   Our neighbour George Croxford was the local fire chief, ring master and general leader in all things rural.   We reached the river paddock in no time at all leaving the gate open, breaking a golden rule.  Who cared about the cattle?  Our daughter was lost and the sun had gone down.

All the family except mum were there.  Farmers from all over the Goomalibee Rd area had come as if they had been waiting for such a call from George. The police came in their van. People were calling Marion’s name only I noted that I could not hear people twenty metres away only the lap, lap of the river as it moved past its steep bank.  The police van moved off seemingly to Benalla.  ‘Gone to get reinforcements’ I thought and went on calling.

The police van came back “We’ve got a young boy here”.  There was Marion with her short red curls in her brother’s footy jumper!   She had walked away from the river towards a light put in place just the week before at the Forestry Nursery along with a caretaker. I threw my arms around the Police Officer and kissed him.

Apparently while Lennie was checking the traps the two kids were arguing, as they usually did, about who was picking up the stock whip they had brought to play with, when Marion announced she was going home and set off.   What did Luke care - after all he had no comprehension of distance; he was only five and who worries about a nuisance of a little sister. He and Lennie were fine.


Now forty five years later all has changed.  We have seen Lennie win the two mile at Stawell. There are houses where there were paddocks.  George has died along with most who were out that night.   Both children now have grown children of their own.  However the story and the memory stays on in the family, turning up in all sorts of places, such as when family members meet and even in writing classes.

I quit ... I wish!

17/7/2015

 
I wish I could, I really do, but somehow it won’t go away, really go far away and leave me at peace.  I say I am quitting but somehow it is there, nagging to be done and there is no rest until it is attacked.  And what is this dreadful conflict that hangs over me day in day out? What is this horrific burden I carry throughout daily life?  It is not an addiction or anything that is a life and death decision, no, it is the ever present burden of house work. Yes, I know it is a first world problem and I should be pleased I have a roof over my head to worry over, but after fifty-two years of making homes and keeping them clean I’ve had it up to here.

I guess it is the repetitiveness of the tasks involved that gets me down.  No sooner have I dusted the dressing table, the heater or the TV than I notice the next day it needs doing all over again.  Yes I’m good at turning my back on it all, but there comes a time when one must tackle the picture frames and the skirting boards behind the doors.  Then there are the toilets, useful items I’ll admit and by far an improvement on the toilet can down the back yard in its weatherboard enclosure that the night man picked up from the cobbled lane which crisscrossed the streets of Melbourne of my childhood. While it is wonderful to have two now in the home, it is double the work.   Every good keeper of a house knows they need cleaning once a week and that they must have blue stuff, somewhere near the bowl preferably, so a discerning visitor can see proof of cleaning skills.

I have two friends who keep their homes in perfect order.  Everything is neat and tidy, not a thing out of place.  No guilt for them.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they are frightened of visitors however, as I have yet to be offered the casual cupper to make these picture perfect houses untidy.

The one modern house item I really appreciate is the washing machine. I can’t help thinking of my mother struggling with the fire lit copper and using the copper stick to haul the sheets from the copper to the rinsing troughs each time I push the buttons to start the ever reliable wonder horse.

I’ll admit I have quit most repetitive tasks around the house thanks to a supportive and cheerful partner who has taken up the roles of vacuum person, dishwasher and assistant in keeping the shower recess in ship shape order, but I have yet to shake off the burden of responsibility.  

The guilt, oh the guilt, hangs around my shoulders like a wet blanket.  Will I be ever free of guilt when I say I have quit the need to be accountable for household cleanliness and picture book neatness?

I wish, yes I wish …


    'Our Stories'

    Carole's page


    Picture

    Archives

    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015

    Categories

    All
    'Advice'
    A Place Of Importance
    A Test Of Courage - 'Everyday Courage'
    Car Stories
    'Christmas'
    'Cringe'
    'Failure'
    Fairy Stories
    'Faking It'
    'For Better For Worse'
    Friendship Tested
    Grandparents
    'Grandparents And Grandparenting'
    I Quit
    'I Was There'
    Lost And Found
    'Mr Nicksar'
    'My Other Life'
    'New In Town'
    'Shaped By Childhood'
    'Stock And Land'
    'The Year That Made Me'

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2025
Membership Application/Renewal 
​
Semester 1 Program Guide 2025
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2025
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria