It's felt inappropriate to blog this week - to post about anything other than the bushfires while so many people in Victoria are suffering. And it's been easy to put off because, as for so many other people, there hasn't been much room in my head for anything else. Almost everybody, it seems, knows at least one person who's been directly affected by the horrors of this tragedy. In a state of five million people, there don't seem to be many degrees of separation. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody.
However, it's important to move forward, so this will be the post that bridges those two places.
Over 300 lives lost.
7000 people displaced.
1830 homes destroyed.
However, within a few days - and at a time of economic hardship - one hundred million dollars donated to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire appeal alone; numerous examples of the generosity of the human spirit in the face of adversity; so many, many people risking their lives to save others.
I take my hat off to all the members of the emergency services, and particularly to the volunteers who comprise the CFA (Country Fire Authority) and the SES (State Emergency Sevices). Thank you.
