The Future

Observations by Pete

Greetings from Umbakumba, well it’s Thursday arvo and the school is empty, the only students here are Jake and Jesse. The rest of the community are attending a funeral.

Kerrie and I are onto the mixes, currently mixing Umbakumba Beautiful. It truly is beautiful here…you feel like you are at lands end, the only thing between you and Queensland is the Gulf of Carpentaria.

We have been here all week and have started the last six weeks of the tour. I reckon another 40 songs and we can head south and plant the summer vegies and sit down to reflect on another 6 month tour to the NT.

In the last 6 years we have covered a lot of area, seen a lot of our magnificent country and spent time with 1000’s of young aboriginal children. We are still in awe as we watch their young smiling faces as they see the music come to life with their stories. That is one thing I will never tire of, purity in the moment, when all that has gone before is forgotten and the future is writing itself in their songs.

How long can you keep it up is a question that people ask me all the time. I usually answer depending on my own reserves of energy at the time. Just like anyone who’s working flat out and has little time to pause and consider the future, I wouldn’t have a clue.

What do you do with your life? Go quietly and say, well that was interesting and now we sit and pat ourselves on the back? Nothing wrong with that I s’pose but how exciting would it be to see life in a different way. The old one day at a time cliché comes to mind, but that’s how I live it. We are so interested in what we will do in the future; do we miss the future we planned years ago? I hear people’s plans, schemes and dreams all the time. It seems to be a favourite topic up here, so what’s next for you?”

Life’s too long to do what you hate don’t ya reckon.

So now when I think of the future I’m loving the fact I have the time to ponder such things. To even have a life where a change or new start or fresh ideas and ways to live is possible is an inestimable gift.

Now onto the subject of dinner, because the town is closed for a funeral, so is the shop. In the pantry are five packs of instant noodles, 6 chocolate chip cookies and a fritz sandwich between Kerrie, Jake, Jesse and myself. Wish you were here to share in our bounteous feast!

 

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