Just Bite Down On This Stick

Oh my god. I just found out that Duncan is our designated First Aid Officer. Can you imagine?!! It probably means a quick head shot with the .222, as I have yet to see a first aid kit anywhere apart from my "nurse field station" bag which I keep handy at the bus entrance.

As we are two to three hours from anything resembling medical facilities, we have to call the Flying Doctor for emergencies. I am going to have the number tattooed on my forearm. Nightmare visions of Duncan slapping a filthy cleaning rag over my gushing artery with diesel-soaked hands while reaching for a handy amputating tool from the fishing tackle box, and shouting hysterical Duncan-style reassurances (Oh my god darling you're bleeding to death! I love you! I got you this stick to bite on! You can still bait-cast with your left hand!)

The scarier aspect is the animals. Three days ago poor Smokey got walloped in the head by one of my flexi tent poles - it popped out as I was moving the tent, just as he was walking up to see what I was doing. It was terrible, I thought I had blinded him. His right eye swelled up shut; it was a Sunday and none of the vets in Carnarvon were answering phones. But he is so patient; he let me pry his eyelid open and I could see his pupil was reacting & there was no apparent damage to the eye thank god, and I couldn't feel any broken bones so I decided to just keep an eye on him until the next morning. He was OK the next day and able to open it a bit, so he had a couple of days to sleep it off, obviously sore. Poor Smokey! He is back to his normal self now, climbing the cupboards in our room and checking out all the motel units again.

So it was all a big reminder that we do not have the immediate access to help that we take for granted in the city, and it gives you pause for thought. I want the pets to be safe, but at the same time they love the freedom and stimulation of the place, so I guess my main thought is that it's a risk worth taking - at least we are not near anywhere that does baiting. Honey's biggest risk is probably having a heart attack from all the sausages that Raelene keeps sneaking her out the back of the kitchen.

Well, that's all for today - must go and review my cowboy movies now for tips on how to remove projectiles from the human body using readily available resources such as gunpowder, dull knives and whiskey.