Let horses drown??? Never!

Storytime...

I’m sitting here with a GIANT pile of dishes behind me and a kitchen bench covered in pots and pans and who knows what else.

Technically I should attend to that before heading off to work.

But there is a story I want to share with you.

And it followed me into my dreams last night and I woke up with an urgency to share it with you.

So the mess behind me will have to wait.

The context is that I went along to a super small gathering for a friend yesterday. (Hence the messy kitchen, as I brought a lot of food with me)

(Yes I can only cook for a village even if only a handful of people are going to eat)

Incredibly, my friend didn’t have music playing during the gathering. Which meant that we were able to TALK. (Hallelujah)

(I come away from most catch ups feeling robbed of good conversation because of the music.) (But that’s a whole other topic)

There was a woman there, who is probably about twenty years older than me. Maybe a bit less. It’s hard to know. But I assume late sixties.We had spoken earlier and

she has obviously lived a very big life. She was having a conversation with a man next to me about being crushed by a truck.

So I jumped in and asked if she could repeat the story for me.

Turns out, that in her twenties she had worked at a cattle station as a jillaroo (which for those of you who don’t know is the female version of a jackaroo...which is someone who helps with cattle and maintenance on a farm).

One day she was helping with moving two horses in a truck from a paddock. When they arrived at the last gate it was locked. So the man driving the six ton truck went to get the keys from the farm house. The young woman was standing by the gate and realised that the truck had begun to roll. And it was going to roll into the dam!!

So she ran around to the driver’s side of the truck to pull the handbrake, but the door was locked!

And just then the truck moved enough to crush her against the gate post!!!

At this point, the man who was listening to the story exclaims:

“I would have just let the truck roll into the dam!”

Which is EXACTLY what I was thinking.

And the woman says:

“And let those horses drown???? Never!”

It turns out that she spent the next six months in a hospital, had eight surgeries and has lived with excruciating pain, still feeling the consequences decades later.

As someone who has had spine surgery and has experienced a tiny amount of what she has survived, what she said next is still echoing in my body and I’m sure why her story followed

me into my dreams last night.

“I WOULD DO IT ALL AGAIN IN A HEARTBEAT TO SAVE THOSE HORSES.”

And then she stopped for a moment, as if to check in with herself if that was really true.

“Yes, I DEFINITELY would. Those horses were worth every bit of pain.”

And it’s hard to explain this, because it wasn’t so much the words she said...but HOW she said them.

She spoke with such conviction.

She was so earnest.

Her words came from the core of her being.

It’s rare that I ever hear someone speak like that.

So this morning I woke up after dreaming about driving a car without brakes and the handbrake not budging, and the first thought I had was:

What price are you willing to pay?

If we really believe that life is valuable, what are we willing to pay to save lives?

Horses. Humans.

What are we willing to sacrifice to save their lives?

It’s something I’ve been wrestling with for nearly three years now.

Those of us opposing a genocide...if it’s not costing us anything...are we ACTUALLY opposing it?

Is feeling something strongly good enough?

I keep hearing that eighty something percent of Australians oppose what Israel is doing in Gaza.

Eighty percent!!!

Every time I hear it, I say bullshit.

Because eighty something percent of Australians are not on the streets protesting.

And eighty something percent of Australians are not giving money to families trying to cling on to life in Gaza.

I mean, eighty something percent of Australians are not even willing to write to their MP demanding sanctions.

IF WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT LIFE IS VALUABLE...IT HAS TO COST US SOMETHING.

Anything.

Money.

Time.

Energy.

Hopefully not a crushed body and six months in a hospital.

But this woman said she would do it all again, to save TWO horses.

What am I willing to give to save lives in Gaza?

We are almost three years into a genocide. And those who have been sacrificing their money, time and energy are tired. And of course they refuse to even admit that, because nothing

compares with the price those in Gaza are paying from sunrise to sunrise for over a thousand days.

New people are needed to step in.

It’s as simple as moving past the discomfort and showing up at the October 11 rallies.

Or giving money to those providing food and water for families in Gaza (and soon warm clothes as the thought of another winter in Gaza is terrifying)

I really hope my words land softly. This is not about shaming or criticising. I need to hear this message just as much as everyone else.

One day all this will be over.

Sigh.

It’s hard to believe that.

But it really will.

And we will be asked what we did to help.

We can all do something.

Money.

Time.

Energy.

And now I must rush off to work...

If you want to give:

PARA: wonderful organisation

And if you prefer not giving through a link. This is PayID and 100% goes to help 12 women in Gaza. My friend Greta has been tirelessly raising money week after week.

PayID: starfishkeeper@hotmail.com

(My kitchen window is bringing me so much joy, so I’m sharing it with you instead of the pile of dishes)