Vandana Ram
The Bend in the River
 
NFS
oil on canvas
40 cm x 50 cm

I live on Wangal land, on Tennant Parade, now part of the Greenway, and my home faces the bend in the river that has flowed for hundreds of years. I am privileged to have lived here for the last thirty years alongside this green corridor with the casuarinas, paperbarks and eucalypts, home to possums and a multitude of birds. Most recently a family of tawny frogmouths nested across the road and stayed until the three young ones grew strong. During these years I have witnessed the river slowly recover – the mangroves have returned and there is much more birdlife – pelicans, ibis, mudlarks, cormorants and occasionally spoonbills. Much is due to the efforts of local community action. The river is now reclaiming its rightful space beyond the concretised embankments and when it floods, the golf course remembers the original wetlands.