A Dusty Wednesday

We have been enjoying some lovely summer weather in central New South Wales over the past few weeks. I love that the days are getting warmer but for the first time since coming to Australia I am desperately anxious for some rain. The Lachlan River is about to run dry. Water for the mine is in short supply. Our grass is drying up already. And many people are predicting this will be the hottest and driest summer in recent history. Considering it is only September (barely even spring!) things are not looking good.

Almost as if to perfectly illustrate the severity of the situation, the area was hit by a tremendous dust storm and some wild weather on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. According to cbc.ca some of the worst dust storms in 70 years rolled through eastern Australia. This satellite image from NASA clearly shows the extent of the storms:

Completely unaware and thinking we were doing ourselves a favour by leaving the windows in the house open on Tuesday night, I awoke to this on Wednesday morning:

The drive to work was eerie.

The dust storm not only coated the outside of our house but also made its way into every crack and crevice inside. It took me most of my day off today to get the dust under control. What a mess!

A Fine Day for a Country Show

This weekend Forbes saw its 134th annual show come and go. The country show is a big deal here in central west New South Wales and every little town has there own. The shows originally began as livestock judging competitions but are now much more. On Saturday we saw everything under the sun including horse jumping, vintage tractors, chainsaw competitions, sheep herding, amusement park rides and baking competitions. It was a beautiful day for a show!

Little lambies!

Surely the highlight of the show… winners of the sausage roll baking competition.

Beautiful flowers.

Prize-winning wool. Weird.

Tractors on display.

Summer is definitely on its way. We had our first 30+ degree day of the season and I am already in heaven!

Jackson’s Science Fair Project

Now this is a great story.

A 7th grader from Franklin Tennessee has chosen Oceanship as the subject of his science fair project this year. His project is titled ‘The Power of One’ and he is attempting to prove that it only takes one person to help a band like Oceanship gain popular success. The results have been tremendous so far.

Become a fan of Jackson’s project on Facebook and join in the movement!
Jackson’s Science Fair Project: The Power of One

From Jackson…
My name is Jackson. I am in 7th grade and am hoping to win this year’s Science Fair Project. The title of my project is The Power of One.

We got a CD in our mailbox recently. We thought it was just because my Dad manages musicians (Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, etc.) Demos don’t usually get heard by my Dad because he’s just too busy. But, when we got this CD from a band called “OCEANSHIP”, since my Dad was out of town, my Mom decided to listen to it. She loved it and showed it to my brother and I. We too thought it was awesome!! I actually go to sleep to it at night and listen to it every day in the car.

My Mom has been talking a lot about how all it takes is one person to make big things happen. This is very hard for me to believe and we’ve been disagreeing. I don’t think at my age, too many people are going to listen to me or think that I have very good taste.

So, we decided to use this as my Science Fair project this year. I want to see if just by me putting this page together and sending it to my friends, I can actually help make this band successful.

All I ask is that you at least check them out. If you like them, buy a song or even the album. They are easy to find on itunes!!

If you have the time, it would help me if you could then post a comment on my wall if you “liked” it and/or if you purchased a song or the album. This will help me be able to track the effect I have had on the OCEANSHIP’s success.

You can also add a link to this page and/or add my playlist to your page. Whenever you can, be sure to mention that you heard about them from me or one of my friends and family. Thank you and wish me luck. I really do wonder if a kid like me could really make a difference. Jackson