Life and Death

On a farm, as in life, all things are circular. As the tide goes out the starts of saplings are seen rising out of the mud in the banks along the inlet. Between the new growths stands the dead. Young saplings stunted by the coming of the tide and deadly doses of salt. The dead outnumber the living five to one. What once were green fresh shoots now resemble rotting rope, made taught by years of resin and sea spray, Algae and other unsightly debris have collected around their bases, slowly increasing in size as it gathers about once young stems and eventually covering them completely. The small sand crabs that live in the banks of the inlet feed off the banquet left behind by the outgoing tide.

The two ducklings in the care of the drake and their mums are no longer with us. Perhaps a weasel or a stoat got into them or perhaps the house cat with his long legs and watchful eye. Despite showing little to no interest in the Little Wing he is still a predatory animal full of instinct, and grace under pressure. The morning found him lying contently by the chicken house. Maybe a dinner of duck has put him in the mood for poultry. Unfortunately for his diet there are no chicks of yet.

The children take the news in stride. This isn’t the first time death has come to their farm. Days before we arrived Little Wing’s brethren were all but wiped out in one full swoop by the drake. The two now lost ducklings were the only siblings to survive, but apparently not for long. Cattle come and go as well. A walk around the property reveals final resting places for adults and calves. Standing over them like sentinels magpies suddenly take flight, a curse on my presence in their raucous cries. They take cover in the near by gorse—a grey green bush that when left to its own devices can grow to the size of a large house. Covered with spiny needles their only soft feature is the pale yellow flowers that peak out as shy muscles looking for a morsel to eat. What would be but an ordinary flower on an ordinary plant becomes a symbol of good in the otherwise seemingly unholy on this god-awful plant.

What New Zealand lacks in dangerous and predatory animals it makes up for in plant life.

January 17, 2007