Saturday, July 7, 2012

Who needs a gun...

...When you've got a Cruiser?

I was asked by my "brother" to give a ride to him and his family from Barunga to a neighbouring community.  It was dark out, and the community was about a half an hour down the road.
  Driving in the evening/twilight time in the Northern Territory is not always a good idea.  It's during that time, and during the night, when the wallabies and kangaroos come out of the bush to eat, and sit by the road.  However, since I have driven many times at night here, I was okay with it.
  On my way home from the community, a kangaroo jumped out of the bush, and smacked the side of the Cruiser.  It wasn't a large kangaroo, so there wasn't damage to the car, but my thought was, "I wonder if I killed it?"  So, I hopped out, and there it lay, "finished".  I thought about just driving away and forgetting about it, but then I remember how many times indigenous friends from up here have said, "We hit a kangaroo, and so we chucked it onto the roof, took it home and cooked it up!"  The kangaroo wasn't mangled, just "finished".  So, I chucked it onto our roof, and drove the 15 remaining minutes back to Barunga.
  As I was driving past my "Nana's" camp, I told them what had happened, and asked if they wanted the kangaroo.  They told me yes, and thank you!
  We unexpectedly ran out of bread today so I drove over to the shop to pick up some more, but it was closed.  I was about to drive home and simply tell Cheri I had no bread, but then I thought of Nana Jocelyn.

I went over to her house, and she asked me what I had come for.  I explained that we ran out of  bread, and asked if she had any.  She came back with 2 loaves of bread!  She also told me that they had cut up the kangaroo, and were going to cook it today or tomorrow.
  We are deepening our relationships with folks.  When I asked for the bread, and she gave it, she said, "I know I can ask you for things too."

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