22 November 2020 Flying Foxes or Just Big Bats!

A beautiful late spring day so we took a little walk in Parramatta to see the colony of flying foxes - gray-headed bats which live in the park.  They sleep and spend time together in the trees during the day and then at dusk, take off to find food.  But  they also will move about to get drinks and try interacting with each other.  As warm as it was, we wondered why they weren't found hidden more in shady branches.  But we learned that they take off to the river to drink and then use the rest of the water dripping on their bodies to cool themselves. 

These are the largest bats found in Australia. Their size is impressive as they are about 9-11 inches and can have a wing-span up to about 3 feet.  I laughed at their noisy sleeping and vocal screeching sounds. According to information provided, the colony is about 15,000!  The trees are loaded with the gray-headed, orange necked critters.  I still didn't want to get too close or stand under the trees though. 

Nearby is the Parramatta Female Factory historic site.  This was one of thirteen female factories where convict women and children were sent.  The factories were multi-purpose as they housed those convicted of crimes committed after arrival in New South Wales and also served as a hospital, lunatic asylum, and workhouse.  This factory at Parramatta later served as an institution for the mentally ill, then a Roman Catholic orphanage, and finally a Girls Industrial school.   

The grounds were not especially well-cared for.  One building now seemed to house some arts centers.  A man came out, saw me taking pictures and told me I was recording evil.  That was a bit shocking, but I have to admit, it is a rather strange, even haunting place with boarded up empty buildings.

There is still a psychiatric center and hospital which has the Factory as part of its grounds.  

Finally, another Christmas nativity to add to my collection. This is decidedly a true Australian keepsake.  Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus are all represented by cuddly koalas. The two kookaburras stand in as shepherds watching over a herd of echindas.  The wise men are a kangaroo, a platypus, and a wombat all decked out in traditional akura bush hats.  And of course, they arrive on an emu instead of a camel though camels are found in Australia too.  The stable has a tin roof with the star represented by the South Cross constellation.  I get a lot of enjoyment just looking at it every day on the file outside my legal cubicle.  

                                                  

We join with our family and friends in listing the many things we are grateful for not just this week but always. And chief among them is the opportunity to be serving here as volunteer missionaries to help in any way that we can.  We celebrate this season of thanks and have hearts full of gratitude for our children, grandchildren, siblings, friends and colleagues, our health, a faith that has directed our lives, and for our eternal marriage of 45 years.