Merry Christmas

To all Birding Aussers, I wish you a happy Christmas and a great New Year. To the birds of the Top End I wish a year that sees a reduction in gamba grass and fire. It’s a forlorn hope given the amount of gamba that I already see springing up around the area. Still, now that the Pew Charities, a formidable US organisation is involved, governments might begin to take it more seriously.

On a lighter note, we’re spending Christmas day with my grand-daughter, Jeanette Birik Burrunali and her husband, Rodney. Maka Jeanette’s father was one of the nearly 30 elders who set aside some of their land in western Arnhem Land so that visiting birdwatchers would be safe from hunters. Rodney, from Elcho Island, was one of those who welcomed visitors to Kudjekbinj, Baby Dreaming.

Rodney danced at his father-in-law’s funeral. Rodney who leads the Elcho Island dancers is as good as any dancer I’ve ever seen.

On the subject of dance I can’t claim to be an expert, although once, as a member of the Australia-USSR Society, I danced (Zorba) with a principal dancer from the Kirov Ballet at the Adelaide Town Hall! Everyone else deserted the dance floor and left us to it as he tossed me over his shoulder, around his waist and between his legs. My astonished friends said as I staggered off the dance floor (do not perform Zorba with a ballet dancer after downing brown Russian vodka!), ‘We never knew you could dance like that!”. My reply? “Neither did I!”

All the best.

Denise

Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow Ph.D.
PO Box 71
Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841
043 8650 835