I was going to start this blog with commentary on the year that 2020 has been. But for these guys, the shit really hit the fan in dying hours of 2019, as the year took it’s last, gasping, smoke filled breaths.

Remember back at the end of last year, and bringing in the New Year to skies filled with smoke? Endless smoke filled day after day after day. That for the lucky ones (me) that’s it’s as bad as it got. We whinged and whined about how smoky it was. We stayed indoors (hello 2020..), we did jigsaw puzzles, and tried not to breath the yellow/brown haze that we called air. We worried about the effect it was having on our lungs and the lungs of our children. Gyms closed because the air inside was so poor (2020.. dat you?), and people wore face masks outdoors (hmmm, this is sounding familiar…). The community rallied around to help where and how we could, watching from afar.

But imagine standing with your 2 young children and watching your partner drive off to fight the fire that you thought was contained, only to find out that it was raging towards your farm, some 30km away from where you lived - your livelihood, your cattle, your sheds and machinery were all in the path of the oncoming, raging, out of control bushfire. Having no phone reception at the farm, so no idea if he made it there, how intense the blaze was when he got there (though the reports coming through were giving a fair indication of it’s ferocity), what was going to be left standing after it had passed through. And worst of all, because there was no phone reception, not knowing if he was still alive…

The world rallied around, millions of dollars poured in as fundraising - however little to none of that has been seen on the fire ground. Online hubs appear - marketing these fire hit areas and the businesses within them encouraging people to visit the areas if it’s safe enough to do so, or buy from the businesses online. To help bring much needed funds back into the region.

Fast forward 3 months, to March 2020 and we all know what happens next. Thanks Rona. The world gets flipped upside down. The community support and outpouring of grief stops overnight, as we watch the news, and try to come to grips with what this all means. We start to learn new graphs and figures. And the ones that were burnt into our psyche from the fires are pushed out, and replaced with new ones about infection rates and deaths.

We start homeschooling and day drinking… We learn to join a Zoom meeting with mute on (thanks kids) and find any and all local businesses that now home deliver.

Meanwhile, those people that were in the line of fire, literally, were still trying to come to grips with the extent of the damage that was inflicted only a few short months before. The news cycle has moved on, but there are still there. And worse still, after not having any tourists during the summer months because of the bushfires, these communities now can’t have any tourists during autumn, winter and spring, thanks to lockdown.

Meet Kellie, Murray, Gus and Liv. Their farm is situated near Cudgewa in the Upper Murray, and over New Years 2019/2020, during the Black Summer fires, what became known as the Jingellic fire ripped through their valley, started from a lightening strike. Their sheds and machinery survived. Some cattle made it through. Some didn’t. Thankfully Murray survived, as he fought to keep the fire from overrunning everything they owned.

They are hardy souls who picked up the charred pieces and moved on. Still fixing fences. But this is the reality for so many in these fire ravaged areas.

I visited in September 2020. After some good winter rains, the grass is lush and green. The cattle are fat and happy, there are calves in the paddocks. But look up onto the hill, and down the valleys and you realise there is not a tree standing that hasn’t been touched by the fire. There is such a long way still to go.

farming family after the bushfires of 2019

I met them at their property near Cudgewa, we drove around some paddocks, played in the creek, took some photos.

Then I followed Kellie and the kids to their house, about 40 mins away near Bringenbrong - which meant crossing the Vic/NSW border. Until this year, that never meant much at all. But thanks to Gladys B, required a quick stop to get permits checked by the local constabulary, then on up the hill to their house, which looked back over the border crossing.

Kellie makes the most delightful natural bath bombs and soaps. If you want to support small business this Christmas, this is definitely one to jump on board https://www.facebook.com/wolfandwoodnatural. The second part of the shoot involved Kellie, her two kids, 3 cows, a goat, four dogs and a few dozen chickens… We were lucky to end up with any flowers and greenery still on the trestle when we finished! She is also a talented photographer herself over at https://www.facebook.com/wolfsonandwood

Then we ended the day, taking some motherhood photos of Kellie and her gorgeous kids, overlooking the Murray River as day faded into night.

Resiliency is a word bandied about a lot these days. But I don’t think there’s a word that better sums up this little crew of people.