"Mining
the Memories"


Earlier this year, (2005), we visited our number five son at his weekender at Castlemaine. I wanted to attend a "Back to Waanyarra", so we all set off, my wife and I in our car, followed by Simon, Brenda, Alese and Nathaniel in theirs. We had only gone about 10 Klms when Simon pulled me over to tell me we were heading in the wrong direction. We finally arrived at the pioneer memorial cemetery, but there was someting strange about the absense of other people. I furtively consulted my information sheet, how embarrassing, we were exactly one week late.
Regathering my aplomb, I showed them the "Holt" family graves where my G Grandfather Matthew, my G Grandmother Rebecca, and a couple of other members of the family are awaiting the resurrection of the body.
My status as the knowlegable patriach somewhat re-established, I led the little entourage through the trackless bush, past all the myriad of upturned piles of earth and stone left just like that by the early gold seekers to a place I declared to be the site of the old Holt homestead.
The resulting photo is called three generations. I am the youngest son with my second youngest son, with his youngest son. Simon too would have been a yougest son, but a brother named Benjamin appeared 12 years later