Banjo, billabongs and a fast trigger finger
Dash, the Little Woman and I were driving home from ‘helping out’ with the steers at the yards the other day, when a little Aussie jingle came to my mind… you may know it?
…
Once a jolly swagman
Camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree…
And he sang as he watched
And waited til his billy boiled
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me…
…
It was not that I saw any unkempt men with rolled up bedding thrown loftily over their shoulders, lurking around a camp fire, and we are too far east to boast any Coolibah trees here at Granite Glen … but perhaps Banjo Paterson’s famous lyrics were inspired by the following sight.
This, friends, is a billabong. Well, it’s pretty close to a billabong. Technically, a road holds this water in place, rather than it being a purely natural water hole. But it looks pretty darned close to a billabong to me. And for the sake of the romance of the bush, and keeping in sync with the title of this post, we shall call it a Billabong.
(And you thought it was a brand of surf shorts, or an ice-block didn’t you? Go on, you’re amongst friends here. Admit it…)
I love this little nook of Granite Glen… it waits just over a rise in the road. It reflects the beauty of the day, laced with lily pads and hosting some spectacular wildlife. It makes me smile.
We stopped for a moment, allowing the ankle-biters to explore the fringes of the water, dipping their toes (so to speak) in Mother Nature’s looking glass… because you never know…
You never know what you might find if you stay really still and quiet…
Really, really still.
Luckily I have a reasonably fast trigger finger. In a Nikon kinda way.
‘Cause Mother Nature’s beasts can be flighty. And my kids are not renowned for being still. Or quiet.
If you know what I mean…
9 Comments
jeanie
Aww – now that made me smile!
Pencil Writer
Thanks you for the education! I remember singing that little ditty in elementary school–and at various times since. Don’t know if I ever knew what a billabong was before. I remember someone explaining that a “billy” was a can or pot for boiling water, cooking beans or something of the sort.
But, what pray tell, does the phrase waltzing Matilda mean. I heard something about that, too, but–well the old memory banks–you know. Hard to make some withdrawls these days.
Love the pictures! The little water fowl and the dragon fly! That is the reddest dragon fly I’ve ever seen! What lovely beauties you enjoy “down under”! Thanks for sharing.
Mama DB
I am learning more about you down-under folk every day.
I’m going to incorporate “billabong” in normal conversation with someone, at some point, today.
Great pictures!!!
debby
My son has a fondness for billabong tees. Now I have a fondness for the serenity of billabongs.
Alison
Mighty impressive trigger finger.
Great pics 🙂
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
I just need to clarify that Aussies – as a rule – don’t go around talking about billabongs. At least not in this neck of the woods – the accepted title here is usually ‘water hole’. Billabong is taken from an aboriginal word, and I think it evokes a much nicer image. But everyone would laugh at me if I started saying: “Let’s muster the cattle to the billabong” for instance. They’d think my hat had fallen off and I’d had too much sun. So I’ll just say it to you instead.
Love
BB
debby
Over here, they’d just think I was nuts.
HCG Drops
I enjoy your site. My thanks for writing that. I will check again to read more and inform my friends about your writing.
Tyler
The Pictures on your site are amazing… one talented photographer!
Tyler´s last blog post ..Banjo Components and Build: The Power of the Twang