Dam

As with every blockie out there in the Top End, my nemesis in the Wet season is weeds. Sida, hyptus, senna, flannel weed, amongst others. So, instead of pulling down that old, dilapidated fence that runs through the guts of the property I’m spraying weeds on the weekend. And each weekend I feel like I’ve made only the tiniest dent.
However, the Wet season also brings about full dams and wildflowers so after finishing off a tank of spray I decided to go for a swim in one of my now full dams. The water was lovely and warm, if I could ignore the stagnant smell. And the lilies were flowering again (they look like little, white, ostrich feathers coming out of a crown) if I could ignore the grass that constantly entangled me. There were some lovely birds to watch, if I could ignore the mites in the water that wouldn’t stop biting me. Where the hell did these mites come from? And how the hell did the ducks put up with it? The ducks I’ve found very difficult to identify! Four days out and I’m still itchy from the water dwelling mites.
With the dams now dubbed “unfit to swim in” I’ve had to resign myself to the fact that if, when I can afford it, I want somewhere to swim on the block there has to be a swimming pool. Therefore, there will probably never be a swimming pool and before you say “Get a blow-up pool!” it would not be a job done properly and therefore a job not going to be done at all.
Between the biting mites and the excruciatingly painful shoulders as a cross result of swimming and Ross River I have learned my lesson: No leisure time on the block. It has consequences.

Though the picture shows the water level to be quite low the dam is currently quite full thanks to the Christmas monsoon.