Helping out

As we pass the pear tree on our usual daily walk to Paradise Gully Road Bean stops to  help tidy up the ground underneath. 

The windfalls are subject to the slow attentions of wasps and blackbirds. And the very swift attention of the fruit-eating dog. She picks them up gingerly between her front teeth and throws the pear up in the air to rid it of unwanted wasps, and then she gets down to the serious business of eating. 

I have tried one or two, but they are a tasteless variety. This does not deter the Bean-dog.

It is ANZAC Day today: a public holiday on which we remember those who have been to war to enable us to enjoy this life of peace. It seems more important than ever to commemorate them, and to hope that those who make the decisions recall that in war there are ultimately no winners. And that the sacrifices are far greater than anybody can possibly imagine before it starts.