The ground we stand on

Just as a diversion, I spent last week in Victoria's Western District, just below the Grampians. The drought is as severe in the west as it is elsewhere in Victoria. We were staying in a sheep farm and they were down to hand feeding the sheep. I walked along the paddocks quite a lot.

We were braced for hot dry weather, but inexplicably it rained steadily for three days. You can see the contrast on the ground from the days before and after just one day of rain. It's amazing how quickly the grass came up.

Unfortunately, this could prove a real problem for the farmer. He told me that if the rain is not followed up, then the grass is likely to get burnt off by the sun. And this means all their clover seed will have been wasted as it will have sprouted too early.

This showed me how complicated the relationship between the land and our existence on it has become.