Falling in love

At the back door

Riddell is a town made whole and hearty by what its residents contribute to the life of the town. Last post, I suggested that we put that to our new residents. As an invitation not a demand, but it raises the question: how does commitment to a place develop?

I didn't always live in Riddells Creek. When I was growing up, our family moved around Melbourne's eastern suburbs. When I was about 12, we lived for a few years in North Box Hill, bordering on Doncaster. To the north, the orchards were being pulled out and new houses and roads were appearing. The neighbourhood boys hung out down the bottom of Belgravia Avenue, around the creek. For us it was wild country. We built cubbies and rafts and staged battles.  We did dangerous, exciting things that our parents never heard about.

I loved that creek. Then we moved to Glenferrie Road, between the train station and Burwood Road, right where the tram pulls up. I lost contact with creeks. I left home, and went on to live in many places around the country. I had children, and a career, saw the country and the wider world. Very slowly, I grew up.

Then I landed beside Sandy Creek.  I bought five acres, a simple brick veneer bungalow, and stretch of shedding that had been a cabinet maker’s workshop. Plus 150 metres of creek. The property came with a lot to be done and the winters lasted too long. It wasn’t perfect, but it was amazing.

With a bit of money from Melbourne Water, I knocked off the blackberry, gorse and pittosporum in the creek, and shifted the balance in favour of the natives. Winters and summers rolled through. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with Sandy Creek.

There’s a strange alchemy in landcare. You start taking responsibility for where you live. You get out in all weathers, weeding and planting and fencing. You walk down to see how things are going. Knowledge and wonder grow, and at some point, love blooms.

But what starts with a hot rush runs to the trickier business of commitment.  I’ve come to know the valley that holds the creek, and the town it runs to, and the catchment of which it’s a part. I have a tribe around me who care about the natural world. The place I live – the country and the people - has made a claim on me.  I find I’m happy to do what I can for the place I live.

Ross Colliver, Riddells Creek Landcare