On the Alert: Tuesdays of Texture

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
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© irene waters 2017

About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
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18 Responses to On the Alert: Tuesdays of Texture

  1. Sharon Bonin-Pratt says:
    May 2, 2017 at 4:29 pm

    What a beautiful bird – do you know what kind it is? Looks like it might be a woodpecker.

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    • Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist says:
      May 3, 2017 at 9:42 pm

      The bird is a laughing kookaburra which is a carnivorous, eating snakes, mice and insects and the odd fish. Part of the kingifisher family. They used to dive bomb us when I played night tennis as the lights would attract hundreds of insects which became easy prey for the birds. Once they had a large insect they would sit on the net munching it. They put me off my serve more often than my serve put them off the net.

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  2. Sharon Bonin-Pratt says:
    May 2, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    I just finished M.L. Stedman’s The Light between Oceans, and I remember one of the characters talking about kookaburas and thought maybe that’s what this bird is. So I Googled and found out it IS a KOOKABURA! What a pretty bird.

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    • Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist says:
      May 3, 2017 at 9:48 pm

      Did you enjoy The light between the Oceans? It posed some very interesting philosophical questions and like ‘The Dinner’ by Herman Koch I have found the response is very different between those that have had children and those that have not.

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      • Sharon Bonin-Pratt says:
        May 4, 2017 at 3:19 am

        I did like it, and I think Stedman did a great job creating a situation that was complex. Everyone had a part in making the situation that became a tragedy. The story got better as it developed and became less predictable.

        I’m curious about the nature of the differences you’ve seen.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist says:
        May 5, 2017 at 6:26 pm

        The big difference was between right and wrong with parents seeing the lighthouse keepers wife as wrong to the point they were happy at her tragic ending. Those without children could understand why she did it, perhaps had empathy for both mothers.

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  3. Miriam says:
    May 2, 2017 at 4:44 pm

    Good old kookaburras. We often have them visiting our backyard, such gorgeous birds.

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  4. Still the Lucky Few says:
    May 3, 2017 at 2:26 am

    Lots of beautiful texture in this picture! Catching that kookabura (thanks, Sharon!) in that pose is a real coup!

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    • Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist says:
      May 3, 2017 at 9:59 pm

      Yes you often see them on the ground or sitting on fence wires or the like. They are a lovely bird. I’ll never forget having a young one caught in our chicken house and it couldn’t work out how to get out. There were adults all around the outside in trees making noises, trying to get it to come in the right direction. I somehow got it out through the door and the minute it was out all the adults started to laugh. It was as though they were thanking me, they were obviously very happy at regaining their baby.

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  5. Charli Mills says:
    May 3, 2017 at 4:08 am

    Great choice of texture between wood and wing. Lovely bird with a quirky name!

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  6. Paula says:
    May 4, 2017 at 9:53 pm

    This laughing kookaburra looks much more innocent than your description in the comment reply above.

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