Recovering

This past weekend was our twelve month wedding anniversary. We had a great time revisiting Walhalla, a gold mining town not so far from our home towns. Crazy to think we could be stuck in such a remote location, no phones or internet, and yet be less than an hour from where we both grew up. A very special place.

Ewin spent a bit of the time getting in some stream fishing practice. Despite the promise of the wonderful tastes of fresh trout, they all went back in again..

As it was a weekend, the Walhalla Goldfields Railway was in operation. A terrific journey through a stunning part of the world - our backyard.

It also rained on the train journey, which did remind us very much of our rain soaked wedding day and the train journey from that.

Instead of driving south down the Stringers Creek valley back towards Rawson and Erica, we headed north towards Aberfeldy River. Along the way we came across some amazing views, punctuated by the various stages of recovery from the numerous bushfires that have hit the region in recent history.

From memory, this includes 2003, 2006 and even a fire that formed part of the recent Apocalpse of 2009.

This got me thinking about recovery. Trauma affects us all in many ways, with varying degrees of destruction and sometimes with long lasting effects.

Sometimes the situation gives us the opportunity to reassess where we are in the world, enabling you to return to your core strengths and build on from that.

But sometimes the real impacts may not be seen for some time.

And sometimes the impacts may overwhelm you totally.

Or change the way you approach life.

But at the end of the day, whatever the path that is laid out before you and the scars that you may carry along the way, always remember that you still can make a lasting impression on the world.

I hope I can remember this too.