A Rainforest to Play In

"The gully is really steep, and the rocks are really slippery. Are you sure they won't get hurt?"

"Nah, they climb better than me."

"Do you want me to keep an eye on them?"

"Stay on this side of the big flat rock. Don't get too close...no, that sounded wrong. I don't mean that you would bother the kids, but it's important that children grow up with some personal time in the forest."

"Its something too many children lack these days."

"I have removed all the nastier pest weed species from around the creek, but everything else here, the good and the bad, is for them to discover and wonder about."

"No wonder you haven't cut down anything, even though some of those trees are of a good size for the mill. It surprised me, to be honest, since you are a forester."

"This isn't the type that I harvest. There's only enough rainforest here for the children. Not ourselves."

A conversation and photograph taken from my friend's residence in Beerwah, Queensland, Australia. Although he grows a handful of fruit trees, most of his land is a long stretch of rainforest in a gully with water clean enough to drink directly, towering old growth trees and rock formations, and the endless calls of birds and other wildlife.

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