Bushfires

The reason why I haven't posted about the tragic Victoria bushfires up until now, is that I really try to keep this blog about Ella only and the reality is that she seems to be immune to the drama and horror of it all.

I have watched the news with her or sat next to her reading the paper on several occasions during the past week and she must have seen my distress at listening to/watching some of those stories. The only reaction I heard from her was her casually remarking "bushfires" on seeing the images of fires and scorched landscapes on tv, before diverting her focus to whatever she was doing.

I should be glad about her not being affected, but I kind of wish she would show more empathy...

Of course I try not to give too much detail, but I have told her the facts: there were massive fires, lots of houses were destroyed, and people died. I am glad she does not know the horrible details about how some of these people died nor understands the trauma that the ones that barely escaped suffered.

I did recently (it was around Australia Day) tell her about the 2003 Canberra bushfires and when we saw and smelt the smoke from the coastal fires soon after, she got quite scared until I explained the fire was far away and that it was ok because we could not see flames. Let's just hope that the fires do stay far away (not just from us of course - also from others' properties) and that she won't panic next time we see/smell smoke as that is a regular phenomenon in any place in South-Eastern Australia.