It is the weekend so Sarah and Holly came to visit for a couple of days. I decide not to do much work during that time but soon realised that them being here is a very important part of my understanding of this place, so is also an important part of my work. When they arrived I found myself trying to convey my first week here. Taking them to my "favourite places” was great because it made me realise that I have already developed favourite places in such a short time.
The sharing with loved ones led me to realisations about how I feel being in Falls Creek. Thoughts that must have been murmuring away in my sub conscious all along, finally had reason to become articulated. Sharing the immense joy that I felt being up high on a mountain top on my own in thick clouds, the environment so different to the other extreme environment in which we live.
I asked Holly if she wanted to get up at 5am in the morning and drive up to the top of Mt Mckay and see if it is covered in low clouds. She was so excited. “Can I break off a bit of cloud and take it back to school for show and tell” she asked.
Her desire to grab a bit of cloud and bring it back to show others, seems to me to be a metaphor for my arts practice. Maybe I am trying to go somewhere, high above whatever thoughts I possess myself, to try to grab a bit of “cloud” to bring back and share with others.
We got up at 5am and started a spooky drive up the mountain at about 10km’s per hour, visibility very limited by fog and clouds. We stopped in the middle of the clouds and got out and ran along the track with our mouths open, gulping in the clouds as we went. Clouds for breakfast.
“They taste just kinda like normal, I wonder what rain clouds would taste like? Probably just like having a glass of water.” She said.
We thought about turning back a few times as it was so thick with cloud, but we kept on. Eventually, at the very peak of Mr McKay, it was clear skies, clouds filled the valley below and Holly’s mind was blown.
After they left to go back home for a few days, I finished off the weekend by researching more about the animals here that are on the endangered species list, so I can make work about them with the local schools tomorrow and hopefully together we can break off a bit of cloud to share with others.