Salt
My Great Aunt (right) with her sister, the Western Plains, 1919 One day, when your daughter, Storm, was still young, I walked her to the school bus stop. It was some distance from her farm, but my car had broken down, and I was looking for a way into town. I told Storm a story as we walked. * My Great Aunt, Catherine Victoria Edmonstone, had a garden on the edge of the desert. She was a keen gardener, and observed the passages of the sun with great interest, as all those near the Australian deserts once did. When I was four, she explained to me the organization of the garden. The great vines and ferns along her verandahs kept the house cool on the hottest day. Here I learnt to chase butterflies and pick the strawberries she hid for me to find. Her flowers, daisies and grape vines formed a first great room around her kitchen (in those days, kitchens were separate to the main house, to protect from fire). These were her delight and it was in the nooks and crannies of this roo...
