when the world around seems wasted...

when the world around seems wasted...
find a space of peace...
by trees...
by water... https://t.co/hARqgkP5ao

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) December 20, 2021

soul place...

My timeline needs a cleansing...
Tasmania, my yesterday's soul place, should help...Endless beauty there...
I will be taking memories of that landscape with me always...just the landscape...
My new world ahead offers a new soul place... https://t.co/Htyb1oSdt7 pic.twitter.com/RG9L76g6uq

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) November 30, 2021

progress is a double-edged sword...

Progress is a double-edged sword if it involves tampering with Mother Nature's bounty...
We don't know what we have till it's gone... https://t.co/ZaLdL7iv6n

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) July 26, 2021

seahorse and a diver's watch...

Precious moment...a seahorse and a diver's watch...
Who knows if the seahorse can see its reflection...
Does it really matter?
All that matters is that a sea horse + hairy arm + watch had a chance, magical encounter... https://t.co/YuiTJWzEK6

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) July 3, 2021

dig me a river...

Saturday morning chuckle...This character is a game changer... https://t.co/fwJUb7HNpz

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) March 27, 2021

Merewether Baths...

A most unusual subject and scene for a painting...
Intriguing...
Merewether Baths opened in 1935... https://t.co/9YJMy5hyf5

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) February 23, 2021

aboriginal tunnels for water...

It appears that Australian aboriginals 'channelled and filtered their water, covering it to avoid contamination and evaporation. They also created wells and tunnel reservoirs.' Tunnels accessed groundwater. Ants led them to subterranean reservoirs.https://t.co/bwEyr7yrDL.

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) October 23, 2020

I'm not downplaying their extensive genius in using water . That the conditions of aquifers in Australia were perhaps the reason that there were no extensive dug wells . Many of the ancient people had wells . Their agriculture system was magnificent . Yet the dug wells and wheel?

— zenrainman (@zenrainman) October 23, 2020

True all that. Correlation is not causation. Not disputing any of what you say . Just commenting on a possible link between wells and wheels . Last December I travelled extensively across Oz to find this link. Could not.

— zenrainman (@zenrainman) October 23, 2020

Agree with the construct of 'progress'. One 'suit' does not 'suit' all. 'We didn’t have the wheel. We bypassed it. It didn’t suit our needs...We also lived without the associated range of problems of industry, pollution and heavy labour.' https://t.co/MtgTafTLK3

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) October 23, 2020

Vishwanath Srikantaiah, 53, is a water activist and has been working in the space for over 27 years. Mr. Vishwanath is also a columnist for The Hindu, who writes weekly columns about water preservation. A Civil Engineer, and Urban & Regional Planner by profession, he has worked with HUDCO(Housing and Urban Development Corporation) for 14 years. Vishwanath or popularly known as @zenrainman, started a club while he was in HUDCO. “We started a small group called the rainwater club in 1994. We used to collect documents and information about rainwater harvesting and put it up on public domain.”

MY FINAL COMMENT: The only geographical area and civilization NOT to have extensive dug wells is the original people of Australia. Incidentally they did not have the wheel too. Is the well and the wheel connected? - zenrainman

The hypothetical connection between wells and the wheel is a rather questionable one. What qualifies as a well - naturally found between rocks (surely this must have some value in an arid zone), hand-scooped or dug with tools? The aboriginal concept of a well is often aligned with water tunnels. And, as Aboriginal had no need for a wheel, the whole hypothesis seems to stumble away from any possibility of validity. Further, wells were not even necessary to provide for crops. Perennnial crops, such as kangaroo grass, did not need ploughing and did not generate a loss of topsoil. Just random rain was enough for the crop. No need for irrigation. Finally, what does this hypothesis hope to achieve? One civilisation is more advanced than another? One civilisation progresses faster than another? Surely, comparing water management skills of different societies would have more value, improving modern society's water management understanding. 

FIRST MACHINE: The first known reference to a machine dates to the ancient Near East circa 5000 BC, when it was first used in a simple balance scale, a lever.  In ancient Egypt circa 4400 BC, a foot pedal was used for the earliest horizontal frame loom. In Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) circa 3000 BC, the shadouf, a crane-like device that uses a lever mechanism, was invented for irrigation.  In ancient Egypt technology, workmen used the lever to move and uplift obelisks weighing more than 100 tons. Archimedes referred to the lever in the 3rd C B.C. So a connection between the wheel and water seems even more remote, the closest being a shadouf.

sea stack...

This grizzly, intriguing shape is like a rebirth of an old ship...The intense reflection adds to the dramatic appeal... https://t.co/cGFBjf7wuT

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) September 24, 2020

resilience in action...

Just when you thought, as a locked down Melburnian, you had coped with the vicious storm last night, there is now the 'after shock'... We are going to be a tough, resilient lot, we Melburnians, when all this is over... We'll be able to stand up proud... https://t.co/s5vgogv4Nl pic.twitter.com/0FSfGENv6D

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) August 28, 2020

Even when the going gets tough, there are those who offer some quirky humour to ease the tensions... 

I guess that was too easy too. Now we don't have water either 😭😭

— Megan Lim (@megscl) August 28, 2020

creamy foam...

Seafoam creates a special art... those creamy folds and whipped bubbles...

Image at Dromana beach near Anthony's Nose
2nd August 2014 pic.twitter.com/oyzDhgxBUD

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) July 28, 2020

ragged seas...

Ragged seas beneath restless skies create exciting drama...

My Image 27th May 2015
A view of Dromana pier on Port Phillip Bay pic.twitter.com/BGUamqNGi2

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) July 28, 2020

winter is the time...

Winter is the time for silvered waters to add some sparkle to the day... pic.twitter.com/ZbDJLZhoJX

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) July 12, 2020

This is a view from my back verandah of Port Phillip Bay waters...

Watersheds...

As a lover of water, I am drawn to the Canadian initiative Watersheds... 'Sweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds' is an anthology of 100+ emerging and established poets illuminating the impact of humans on the world’s waterways. #ALECC2020 https://t.co/oaAMKLnXTr via @YouTube

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) July 9, 2020

swirling waters...

and in the frothy
honeycomb
I thought that I could see
the wonder of your eyes
staring back at me https://t.co/9QyGmeQtgZ

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) June 30, 2020

a shy patch of water...

a shy
patch
of water
fleeting
blue beauty #tanka https://t.co/tKp3f1BxgK

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) June 24, 2020

Spent the morning (along with much of Hobart) checking out the disappearing tarn

It’s a rocky hollow on the slopes of kunanyi that only fills up after heavy rain - the colour of the water is unreal! pic.twitter.com/YtxyyKq1fr

— David Hamilton (@davidghamilton1) June 25, 2020

Had to add another post...The colour of the water is like liquid sapphires... Stunning...

on the fringe of waters...

on the fringe
of waters
hubs of living
leave
ephemeral marks #tanka https://t.co/EazL8QaAGY

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) June 9, 2020

the gift of water...

Any gift of water... and there are so many ... is a special gift for us... gifts for our physical, mental and spiritual lives... https://t.co/vJ7a5u0Tzv

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) May 27, 2020

ripples...

streams of ripples
sculpt the waters into
wavy locks#haiku https://t.co/xeQehsVkTO

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) May 27, 2020

Love me some water - so many moods...so many works of art...