Two Types of Wild Life
Michele Lockwood
I grew up in New York in the very early ‘80s. The J train ran past my bedroom window overlooking Jamaica Avenue between the Cypress Hills and Elderts Lane stops. It was completely covered with spray painted tags and big car-long mural style pieces. As a kid, watching those trains go past my window and riding them clutching my mom’s hand made a lasting impression on me. The colors, forms and imagination of those painted cars were visually entrancing, but they were also moving messages that travelled through all five boroughs communicating a fight against the system, lawlessness and havoc that encapsulated the gritty essence of New York at that time.
For the last 20 years I’ve lived on a property in rural Australia far away from vandalism (not gonna discuss environmental vandalism here). I live with animals all around me – snakes slithering in my roof, frogs in the toilet and birds walking in the front door. Last night was warm and balmy, I went outside to see if I could spot any critters and found this beautiful carpet python (Morelia spilota) curled up amongst some paint cans stashed around the side of my house. Seeing these two contrasting elements together made me think of where I’ve been and where I am now and how I’ve lived two very different wild lives.
Michele Lockwood was once a child from the concrete jungle of NYC, but is now an Environmental Scientist thriving in the subtropical wilds of Northern NSW, Australia. She is an advocate for Australian wildlife while remaining connected to her urban roots.