Let’s face it, 2026 has been far too interesting, and it doesn’t show any signs of letting up. It’s hard work pretending that the old order hasn’t completely disintegrated, and the new chaos is temporary (just until 2028), that the bushfires and heat waves are completely normal, and it’s okay to treat human beings like cattle. On a micro-level, the chaos is also manifesting. This post was supposed to be about my shiny new water tank, but reality intervened. The poor drivers got up at 4.30am to evade heavy winds, navigated a flat tyre and drove up to the Farm before 9am on Thursday.
With mattresses and dexterity, they unloaded the 33,600 litre tank onto the waiting concrete pad, where the tank *crimped*. When a stainless steel tank crimps, the lining inside the tank tears and the lifespan is measured in months, not decades. So they patiently reloaded the tank, braved the perilous winds and headed back south to Geelong.
We needed to salvage the day. (We need to salvage the year, but we didn’t really feel that our paintbrushes and primer were adequate for that task). We set to work with sandpaper on hand, and started removing rust from our storage container. It’s hard satisfying work. We finished with the rust and started with the paint. You can see the results above.
Unlike the wider world, we have created a new canvas. White uniformity is just temporary, it will give way to grey, which in turn will give way to a diverse explosion of joy. I’m not sure what the explosion of joy looks like, but I know it can’t be done by me alone – if you’ve got ideas or want to join in, get in touch! Community is at the heart of the Stardust Academy, whether you come along or join the journey online.
