Sunday, July 14, 2019

NORTH QUEENSLAND HERO UNABLE TO SUSTAIN MUCH MORE PAIN

It is sad to report that Townsville's  Giant of  Sustainability-Billy Bombax - looks as if he is  about   to hand  in  his chips and could be clear felled , a  popular Queensland pastime . The black canker that has been  eating away at him, resulting in the amputation  of several limbs, appears unstoppable . Viewed from the above angle, he looks like  a  confused  circus elephant  waving his  trunk about for a handful of Kingaroy  peanuts or a CWA scone  .  An  earlier photograph of his  afflicted  black  , below,  included three limbs  which have since  been  cut  off  .
The latest snap taken at the weekend   during a visit  to  Anderson Botanic  Gardens  illustrated  Billy's  sad  situation .  
Somehow, the plight of the great  arborial  warrior, intended  to be  an inspiration to schoolchildren to help save the planet,   has escaped   the attention of the Townsville  media .
Stoic  Billy  still  has  stiff , slightly droopy   upper  lip ,despite cuts.

 It seems  no  reporters stroll  in the   parks or  venture near  the  waterfront  . As a  result  , they  miss out on many, many stories , as our Shipping Reporter  repeatedly   points out  . No reporter  has noticed  that  a huge portrait of Australia's  first  Catholic  saint overlooking one of the city's main streets  is fading  away ,  that  public clocks  tell the wrong time  , that  care and  maintenance  of   war  memorials  is   neglected  in  the   city
   
Not far  from poor  old  BB  is  the  above   bower bird nest containing   an  assortment of  plastic  bits and  pieces  inside and  out . They are not so colourful  as usual, probably due to all the mud spread about the  suburbs during the  flood earlier  this  year .