A land of “sweeping plains” is a well-known line from the second verse of My Country, the iconic Australian poem written by Dorothea Mackellar in 1908 while she was living in England.
As a child growing up in Australia back in the day, every one of us had to learn this poem by heart and recite it on command. Yeah, those were the days… not! I doubt if many children would even know either the poem or the poet who wrote this.
Yet, it embodies what Australia was and is to this day. I personally feel that it’s a juxtaposition of modern cities with their urban sprawl set against a rural backdrop which can at times be harsh and unrelenting. I’ve always thought of Australia as a place of feast or famine with little in between.
During my teens and early twenties, I spent countless hours working on farms—harvesting crops, baling hay, and tackling all kinds of hands-on tasks. Much of that time was spent alone with my thoughts, surrounded by wide open spaces and the rhythm of rural life. I still carry vivid memories of those scorching summer days, working with farm equipment or tending to the animals—sheep, cows, bulls, and horses—on the 5,000-hectare property where I worked.
I remember looking out across the sweeping plains while driving the harvester just before sunset and felt as though I was the last person on earth. It always felt desolate and remote especially under a cloudless sky and a shimmering mirage on the horizon…
There was also a beauty in the arid sweeping plains in front of me. Perhaps it was the colours and the sharp contrast between the land and sky that gave it a form of beautiful luminescence. Even when I was living in Canada it was easy to conjure up those images in my mind, which was particularly useful during a long cold, and grey winter.
Australia truly is a country of feast or famine. What I mean by this is that you seemingly are inundated with flood waters or in the midst of a drought with often little in between.
As an example this April and May here in Brisbane we’ve had more than twice the average rainfall while in Victoria where I grew up they’ve only had less than 20% of the average rainfall. This translates into drought conditions, with expected water restrictions being talked about already.
Yeah, in Australia you either have too little or too much of either extreme. During drought conditions the sweeping plains turns into a dry and desolate furnace, with dying livestock and bare ground. Whereas during flood conditions these same sweeping plains turn into inland seas that drown livestock and ruin farm machinery.
I can’t even imagine the heartbreak that this must cause for our farmers and you really have to wonder is it all worth it. It just seems so much of a struggle, even during the time I worked on farms it was a tough and unrelenting life.
That being said I have fond memories of my summers working on farms, perhaps I’m romantacizing my time all those years ago, but it certainly gave me time to think and ponder the world. It also brought home the fact that I needed an education so that I could trade in the physical work and move to a knowledge centric career.
Fortunately, for me I was able to make the transition, but not before I was able to understand the value of hard, physical labour and the lessons I learned on the farm. Over the years farms have become far more mechanised, but I imagine that there remains a strong physical element to the work.
I suppose you’re wondering what lessons I learned on the farm.
First and foremost is irrespective of the task you have to roll up your sleeves and do the work, cos no one is going to do it for you. There is no subsitute for your effort and hard work.
Another important lesson I learned is that it is important to take a break to recharge your batteries. It is impossible to work ten-hours straight without losing momentum and your effectiveness. My boss on the farm was a big believer in taking a 5 min break every hour to rebuild your energy before going again.
I carried this into my management consulting career as well and endeavoured to help coach others on the value of this simple workplace technique.
Working on a farm also helped me understand the value of long term planning, even though I may have been focused on harvesting at that moment, I also knew what the core priorities were for the coming months to ensure the farm kept at optimal performance. This also included contingency planning in case of bush fires, flooding rains or any other emergency situation. We each had a task to perform and knew our roles inside out.
What came with the image of sweeping plains was calloused hands, cuts and scrapes from barbed wire fences and machinery plus a lot of sunburn. Those were the days when we didn’t understand the dangers of sun exposure on our skin, not that I could have afforded sunscreen…
These etched memories were an important part of who I am today and proud of this phase of my life.
Until next week.
Ciao!
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