Abstract Expressionism

Recently, I had to take our truck to Blackall to pick up much needed supplies. Our truck averages a sedate 90 km an hour.  Birds on the road, on most occasions, can be made aware of impending danger coming their way with a continuous horn honking; unfortunately there are always some not so smart, resulting in dodging roos, and other four legged beasts, throw in some emus for good measure – it’s dodgem time.

So, dear reader, with no doubt a raised eyebrow, you are wondering what the above heading has to do with Yaraka.

Well, if we have any entomologist among our readers they would be interested to know that recently the nights have been blanketed with bugs. Sandflies and mosquitoes are always here after good rain but at the moment they have been joined by the most amazing variety of insects that are known to man. These insects combine on mass around every light source even though that light source might be sealed, screened, enclosed. They get in, so you can imagine the situation around the exposed lights.  The street lights at night are a shrouded moving mass. Lighting in the hotel is kept to a minimum but they still invade. In the morning we vacuum the millions of corpses that have decided to RIP on the hotel floors, fridges and every lighted area.

Now that’s the night time scenario and we now come to the daylight hours and this is where our Abstract Expressionism comes into play.

Driving. Windscreens and all areas related to the front of the vehicle. Insects. Speed. Velocity. Contact.

We all know what it’s like to have bugs collide with windscreens but out here we have an unusual situation where, according to old timers, we are ending winter with more green than ever seen before.  And with the green perennials, woody weeds, colourful wild flowers and every type of other weed there is a banquet for bugs; big bugs, small bugs, grasshoppers, mosquitos and butterflies. This assortment has become a wonderful sumptuous food bowl for birds with numbers increasing wonderfully since the rains of this year.

However ‘bugs’ large and small are just plain stupid, and subject to type, and what they have been chewing on and digesting, create a colourful display on the windscreen that would make Jackson Pollack jealous; yellows, reds, whites,  dark murky colours, light opaque colours  that defy description.  And this artwork on the screen has a new ingredient to it. It sticks like glue and windscreen wipers with powerful windscreen wash do little to remove anything other than spread it around making the artwork sitting in front of you even more interesting.  The adhesion qualities within these well fed bugs is astonishing and even high pressure water machines have difficulty removing them.

And to conclude the bug saga, can anyone explain to me this; if moths, bugs etc are attracted to light why don’t they come out during the day and start heading for the sun?

Post Script.  We now have blue skies and sunshine and the bugs have reduced greatly in numbers.