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The weather could have been made to order as the Abbot and I stood ankle deep in pasture, feeling well-satisfied with what we saw. I had just turned over four thousand first cross ewes into a new paddock, and they were heavy in lamb. It had been a season that would have made any farmer happy. I was quite unaware of how it had happened, but I found myself talking about my childhood on Arrawatta.
“Aden, the stories you have told me about those days are quite enthralling. I so admire your wonderful connection with the land. I wish we had it. I think that is one of the white community’s problems, a lack of belonging and of continuity.” I found it extraordinary that Father David should draw a parallel between my recollections of my childhood and our cloistered life.
“There are so many les
