Still touring with Frank.

I am nearing home, should get there tomorrow afternoon all being well so in a couple of days I might even be able to do a proper post... who knows??


These photos were taken on Wednesday (its now Friday evening) I visited with 3 0f my cousins near the coast in Victoria, I went from there up into the Victorian high country, our winter snowfields.
As can be seen the day started out very well, pleasantly warm and clear.

As the morning progressed it started to cloud over but was still very pleasant.

When I reached the first snow resort it was still clear but getting worse fast.

This is what it was like at Mt Hotham ski village, probably the best alpine views in Australia are from here but I couldn't see more than 100 metres in front of the car by then so I'll have to collect some photos from elsewhere to post, the overnight minimum temperature on the mountain was -2 degrees Celsius (zero is freezing) so there was a chance of snow.

That seemed to tie in well with this poem... hope you enjoy it.

The Cowboys Prayer

Jake, the rancher, went one day
To fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty. . . .
And the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in,
And gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen . . .
The wind and snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pick-up,
He felt a heavy heart.
From the sound of that ignition,
He knew it wouldn't start.

So Jake did what most of us
Would do if we had been there . . .
He humbly bowed his balding head
And sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time,
He softly cursed his luck,
They found him three days later,
Frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life,
And done his share of roaming,
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked,
It looked just like Wyoming!

Of all the saints in Heaven,
His favorite was St. Peter.
They talked a minute or 2, or maybe it was 3

No one keeps score up in Heaven, time is free.

"I've always heard," Jake said to Pete,
"That God will answer prayer,
But the one time I asked for help,
Well He just plain wasn't there."

"Does God answer prayers of some,
And ignore the prayers of others?
That don't seem exactly square,
I know all men are brothers."

"Or does He randomly reply,
Without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it's the time of day,
The weather or the season?"

"Now I ain't trying to act smart,
It's just the way I feel.
And I was wondering, could you tell me . . .
What the heck's the deal?"

Peter listened very patiently,
And, when Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition,
And he said, "So, you're the one !"

"That day your truck, it wouldn't start,
And you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a bad time,
With hundreds of us trying."

"A thousand angels rushed,
To check the status of your file.
But you know Jake, we hadn't heard
From you in quite a while."

"And, though all prayers are answered,
And, God ain't got no quota,
He didn't recognize your voice,
And, started a truck in Minnesota !!"

Good luck for someone!!!!!!