THE TICKET MACHINE

Today I paid a quick visit to a large Food store to buy a lunch of chicken and Caesar salad. Choosing the salad was easy, there were several containers with Caesar salad written on them and all I had to do was make my choice.
Then I went to buy the hot chicken. Generally, this is a simple task , you just open the server and take out the chicken of your choice, go through the check out, pay for your purchase and away you go. In my case it was away back home to watch the last half of an AFL (Australian Football League) game. Lo and behold when I arrived at the Server I discovered it was locked and barred and yet contained many chickens.I found out later that these chickens had all been ordered for a party. Who does that? Probably people who were watching the same AFL game that we were.
There was nobody waiting at the Deli so I hurriedly went to the ticket machine, tugged on the roll and pulled out a number. Unfortunately I must have tugged too hard and I pulled out five other numbers apart from mine. By this time other customers had begun arriving at the deli counter. The staff were beginning to call out numbers, (numbers which I greedily held in my hand). 'What should I do'? I asked myself. 'Do I quickly dispose of these numbers discreetly?' Then I envisaged the person ahead with number 90 having to wait in line because the five people with numbers in front of her were not presenting at the counter. So I decided not to upset the military procession of the staff as they called out numbers 84 to 89. As calmly as possible I walked along the line and said 'here you are' as I gave out the numbers. A couple thought I was just being generous, the rest thought I was a bit weird and greedy.
Finally, in the fullness of time my number came up and it was my turn. I moved to the counter with my ticket held tightly in my hand. Proof I was not pushing in, I had a legal right to be there. Only to be informed that yes there was indeed an oven full of chickens, however none would ever be mine. They had all been pre-arranged for a party.
Downcast, I left the Store and hurried out to the Car Park and headed home, just me and my Salad.

Nature and Animals

Nath and I and Deez our dog have been walking daily to Black Swan lake in Lakelands where we live. For thousands of years the indigenous Australians travelled and camped in Lakelands which is named after the many swamps and lakes that were in this area. Black Swan Lake Mowyn Kuljak and Paganoni Lake Berong, provided an abundance of food and bush medicine.
The lakes have spiritual significance to aboriginal people. They were believed to be an integral part of the Wagyl dreaming which comprises a track along a chain of lakes extending from Yanchep to Australind. The lakes were formed several thousand years ago as the sea level began to recede.
Two weeks ago we were walking on our usual route. The day was a perfect spring morning, although officially spring didn’t arrive until last week. The azure blue sky was cloudless, and the soft warm breeze brought the pleasant smell of new growth, (unless you are allergic and susceptible to hay fever, then it may not be so welcome). Birds were flying and chirping merrily as if to welcome early spring. We ambled across the bridge and in the distance we could see the traffic heading for the new freeway. It’s a great feeling of freedom to know that every Thursday and Friday you are not part of the human race rushing to work. As we walked along a track which runs parallel with the train that runs from Mandurah to Perth we could hear the mooing of cattle long before we could see them. As we turned the bend in the road by the huge green trees that have been there for hundreds of years we could see a white cow standing by the railway line, next to the wire fence that cuts us off from the railway lines. He saw us coming and gave a long mournful moo, as if to say I’ve been waiting here all night for a train. On the left side of the track there was a farm with cows and their calves. We stopped for a few moments to enjoy this peaceful country scene. The animals looked at us and gave a couple of moos and nods of heads. Others kept on feeding their young and looked contentedly at us, wondering who were these people staring at them. Overhead crows, magpies and other birds were flying close by. We even encountered some dragon flies and the first bees of spring.
Several cows came up close to the fence where we were standing and allowed us to take photos seeming to be preening and smiling for the camera. The cow waiting for the train simply stood and watched our antics. We were thoroughly enjoying our commune with the animals and with nature when we finally decided it was time to continue our morning exercise.
Then Diesel made his move. He is the kind of dog who loves to make new friends, no matter where he is he always thinks he it’s a social situation that he needs to be involved in. When a dog growls him or wants to fight, Diesel looks bemused as if he can’t believe that somehow this dog doesn’t want to be friends with him. As we turned to leave, Diesel who had been watching the animals suddenly noticed the hole in the fence and tried to get under it. Instantly we were almost in the middle of an affray. The cow closest to the fence mooed loudly as the white cow outside the fence started to amble down toward us. In just a few moments all the cows began to moo angrily in response and started coming over to help their mate. One of the cows noticed the hole in the fence and began to lean down as if to come outside and charge Diesel. Poor dog he had no idea what was happening all he wanted to do was play.
We moved rather quickly just in case and were soon far from the lovely quiet country scene which had suddenly turned into something similar to animal farm, when those bad dudes wanted to take it over.