A DESERT WEAVING.

“IN HONOUR OF PIPPA”

I named Pippa Miss Universe when I first met her in the desert. She was dressed in white, her slender frame she carried with elegance. Her high cheekbones and polite conversation delivered with an exotic accent suggested ladylike tendencies of a European nature. Only later did I learn that she was of German extraction from Dorrigo. Our connection was casual, but deepened dramatically when we worked together on a project that I called “the bus incident”.

We had said our goodbyes to the Finke River Camp. A bus had arrived to take us back to the Alice. Unfortunately, the river sand was soft and the bus bogged down deep into the earth.

The desert sisters formed a circle and started a chanting. They were chanting a “bubble” around the bus so that it would move. This was too much for some of the party. They realized that no amount of song wishes would move a bus. Why would it? Physical strength and practical knowhow was needed. About eight sisters extracted themselves from the circle and started working. They piled stones under the wheels of the bus, building a solid path for the bus to try to back up on. Pippa was one of these people. We worked like navies till the bus moved.

Pippa and I were invited to ride back with one of the tour men, Ron, in a jeep. One the way we stopped at Simpson’s Creek, and Ron “painted up” Pippa and myself with the ochre from the surrounding clay pans. It was a joyous connection for Pippa and myself. I didn’t wash the ochre off till morning.

The next time I felt Pippa’s spirit was at the Memorial Gathering held at Ulli’s home. I remember the photo displayed on a sideboard, surrounded by candles, offerings, and friends. In this photo, Pippa lay in state, encased in white, eyes closed by death. She was just like Miss Universe, a queen in heaven, God bless her.

Virginia Jean Gow

27/09/10