A Princess of Mars

I was supposed to begin setting up internet service so that I could begin teaching, but T and K needed to round up some cows for sale and try to get the cattle fed and watered as the drought continued. I decided that lending a hand with that was more important, so that that took the place of phone calls.

Tim went to get a few supplies while Khiara showed me how to use the mower. Then we loaded up some hay, a molasses block, and a motor bike and returned to the paddock we had first gone to the day before. This time there were cows, but they were skittish. Rather than using the bike which would’ve risked sending them all fleeing into the woods, Tim instead took some hay and left a trail leading into the pen he was trying to get them into. He also attempted communicate with them. (It’s amazing how interested cows get when you moo at them). Then we watched and waited from a distance as over the course of the next half hour or so they began moving into the enclosure. We fanned out in a semicircle behind the cows and began to close in, holding our arms out at our sides to appear bigger. Before long the majority of them were in and Tim closed the gate.

There were some animals that needed to be wormed and some that probably needed to be sold. This was necessary because some of them weren’t likely to survive otherwise. One cow had three or four calves trying to suckle on her and she was too weak to fend them off. One of them was actually hers, but it took some time to deduce which one. Half of the hay was put into the feeder for them and then we sat down and had lunch under a tree. The case was made that some of the cows could be sold and two more calves could be relocated to take the burden off of the other cows. Having resolved to do this, Ian went back for the cattle truck.

I was learning a lot of new terminology. ‘Brahmans, Hereford, weeners, and creamies’ were just a few words associated with kinds of cows. While in the States someone might go to the ranch or have a round up, here people didn’t use the word ranch, but simply farm. Also a muster was what we call a roundup and a pasture was generally called a paddock regardless of size.

It would be a while before Ian returned so, having some time on our hands, Tim gave me a crash course on motorbike operation and let me take it for a ride. He had also brought a shotgun and so we had some target practice and I got to do some shooting. Then we drove back to the second paddock and tried to feed the left-over hay to the other cows there, as well as trying to make them aware of a molasses block we were leaving for them. We noticed one cow with three calves and Khiara told me that the cows will often designate a babysitter to stay with the calves while the mothers go off to graze. It’s here that I should say a few words about this remarkable young woman. But first some context.

Years ago I had seen a picture of Uluru, the great red monolith (technically an inselberg) which is so iconic of Australia and the Outback. It was a screen saver on my work computer. As I looked at it one day I realized that the dirt all around it was red, and it occurred to me that it could almost have been a scene from Mars. This had reminded me of the John Carter movie I had seen years before, and that had reminded me of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book on which it was based. I had first come across this book in 1994 while at college and fallen in love with it. Colonel John Carter had traveled to a place with new kinds of animals, plants, and people. He had encountered new languages, words, and customs. As Australia had long been on my mind, it suddenly occurred to me that going there might be the closest thing I ever get to actually visiting another planet. The fig trees, jacarandas, and magpies had certainly been alien to me when I had finally arrived in this land of red dirt and red (sunburned) people, but there was something else I had wondered about.

One major character I remembered from the book was the title character: Dejah Thoris. She was the Princess of Helium, a city of Barsoom (Mars as we call it). She was extraordinary in her toughness, her fortitude, and her ability; not to mention that she was a native of the planet and an invaluable help in assisting and guiding John Carter himself. I wondered if I might encounter such a person in my own travels.

‘Khiara‘ had been a name I had never heard before, so there was an immediate uniqueness there, but as we mustered for those few days, I began to learn much more about this singular person. She looked like someone who might be concerned about breaking a nail, but she worked on cars, and she could handle a horse as well as she could handle a motorbike. She had a keen empathy for animals and was willing to wade thigh-deep into mud to help them, but she could castrate a calf or tag its ear without flinching. She was quick to offer her view if she saw a better way to do something, but could also follow instructions to the letter. When Tim had had the accident with the trailer, it was she who came to the rescue, keeping a level head although dealing with a storm of feelings within. She could cook as well as she could work, and she was as unafraid of spiders as she was of householders in the ministry. Add to all of this, a sense of humor, adventure, and spirituality and you may have an idea of who this person is. Australia, according to Russell Coight, is a land of contrasts. Khiara seemed very much to be that as well. I was very happy to be able to call her a friend now. (Not to mention that at her instigation, Mo Coight made two more appearances that day.)

When Ian finally returned, we loaded the truck and he took the cows back to Monto. Tim told me that Craig cows have a reputation for being very easy to handle compared to other cows that are bought and sold at market. This is due to the fact the Craigs are gentle but firm with their cattle. Unlike other cows that are often kicked or prodded, these cows don’t mind being handled because they have not been exposed to such violent methods of handling. As a matter of fact, this seemed to be Tim’s method of handling people as well.

I had spoken with another brother who told me that Tim always looks at the long view when he has to say something to someone, particularly his family members. While some people may say things in anger or as the result of a knee jerk response, Tim thinks about what effect the words he chooses or how he says them will have down the line. As a result he’s very long-suffering and patient with people, and willing to listen to suggestions or alternatives. I thought it was a wonderful viewpoint to take and hoped it would one day inform my own approach in dealing with people.

Our final act before leaving was to make sure that cows had water. But to do this we needed to fetch it from a nearby billabong ringed with mud. Khiara was given the job of taking off her shoes and socks and wading thigh deep into the mire to reach the water and pass Tim and I the filled containers to carry up to the trough.

She didn’t complain once.

We went back to the house and a different brother named ‘Ian’ came by with a couch from the dump/salvage shop in Biloela, an hour North. He was 21, but his ‘Aussie Clark Kent’ manner (just a first impression with no real credence) and Superman shirt assured we’d hit it off right away. Why the couch mattress was full of water,  is a mystery that still hasn’t been solved to this day and something we don’t speak about. Tim had said that preparing dinner on the barbecue was my task that night and I had done (I think) a very good job of it until…Mo Coight made an unscheduled appearance and turned the lamb to charcoal for the sake of yet another comedy video.

At least the vegetables escaped unscathed. They were delicious.