Can you see the moon tonight? It’s pretty fab. The other day I was looking up and the moon had this super eerie apocalyptic glow around it; I'm glad that’s gone. I wonder if the night sky looks the same in India or Russia, I mean of course it doesn't because it's a different sky, but I wonder if you can tell whether it's a Russian or Indian sky. Perhaps there is something that gives it away, some sort of familiarity or some identifiable quality that lets you know where you are. When I look up at an Australian sky it’s vast and wild. But when I look up at an English sky I feel sort of protected it's somehow cozier and more forgiving. I suppose the nature of the antipodean, its vastness, distance and enormity is in some way reflected in the sky. I guess the ambiance of the surrounding environment manipulates your observation of up above. The outback, the bush, epitomizes the wild and vast. It’s frightening and dangerous, incredibly beautiful but fucking scary and you can see that in the sky. If you get lost in the Australian bush it can be terminal, it often is. However if you get lost in the woods in England you can just keep walking and eventually you will meet a town or road, its so much more forgiving. I got lost in English woods once it was quite beautiful really (it started to snow), although looking back I was pretty freaked out. Have you ever heard of a muntjac? It’s sounds a bit dirty but it's actually a midget dear. They're really weird looking animals; anyway I encountered one on my adventure in the Hertfordshire woods when I got lost. Before I saw it I heard it. I thought there must have been some brutal slaughtering taking place. They sound awful! They bark but it sounds like a long painful cry mixed with a hiccough. As odd as they are they're sort of sweet, in a demented kind of way. Anyway this muntjac ended up following me for a good hour and when I finally began to find my way back, after four hours of being lost, I felt as though this awkward animal had become my totem animal and my protector, obviously I would have preferred to feel a kin to a more glamorous and glorious animal, however the muntjac will do just fine. A little while ago I met an extraordinary man on the street. He was an indigenous elder and standing on the corner of Bourke and Swanston we talked for what felt like forever. He explained to me that he is never held down, or held back by anything, he spoke of his spirit and how it didn't belong to him but to the land. He told me that he could just walk into the bush and 'get lost', however he doesn't get lost because he understands and respects the land and by understanding and respecting, in turn, the land protects him and guides him. I wonder if he sees, when he looks at the sky, something wild and vast or something forgiving and protective, I think he would probably see it all, wild, vast, forgiving and protective. Actually I don’t know what he would see, I bet you its beautiful though – I think regardless of how you see it, it’s always going to be sublime.
I can’t see the moon anymore, so I think I will head to bedfordshire.
Good night,
Lex
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