I have been preparing to go back to Marysville for the first time. 

I rang the Healesville police to find out if the Black Spur is open as it is the most direct route to Marysville from Melbourne. Which it is - so the drive this time will be direct as opposed to the last time I went back in to the Shire of Murrindindi. The Black Spur being open is a bit scary because the Black Spur was so beautiful the last time I saw it. The Spur marked the end of the city and the start of the my holiday and relief from my everyday life in a dirty grey, polluted city. The Spur was burnt out in the fires and I am worried about seeing the damage the fires have done to the place. The place was transcendent it was, so beautiful, so tall, so green, it smelt so good. The Black Spur was a slice of heaven for me I can still see the light falling through the Mountain Ash and on to the Tree ferns. I can still hear the Bell birds and feel the cool fresh air on my skin - stunning.

The trip will mean that I have to confront a loss. I lost everything I had with me that day that I had brought with me to Marysville, in particular I lost all my Masters work. I will be facing a changed reality and looking at what I ran from.

Talking about running, I watched a 4CORNERS documentary on the ABC last week, the link is on my Blog's front page under links. In the documentary made by a professional team the work included social media files in this case footage filmed by someone on the Marysville oval on February the 7th 2009 using a low resolution digital tool a phone camera I suspect and in this hand held footage, I saw myself -  that is my car on the oval and I saw myself drive off when we were told to evacuate. I for some reason don't want to look more closely at the footage and see if I can follow my movements. Seeing the car was confronting enough at this point.

Seeing my Red Volvo - Ketchup was a sad and confronting thing and seeing myself in this way has directly affected my memory of that day. It was fortuitous  that Dean Keep gave us a presentation on the digitization of memory. As last week I was confronted by that very digitization of my memory. A personal document generated by someone  unknown to me on the oval was broadcast on National television and as as such I saw myself and my actions on my own television in my living room but in someone else's story. This was very different from the memories in my mind. And for the first time I saw what the Oval and Marysville was like 15 minutes after I saw the fire jump the Mountains and head towards us. 

Social Media has had a direct relationship with the fires and continues to do so. It is helping me share and connect to others affected by the fires.

I have added a email I sent to the Marysville Newsletter Editor to tell them I am coming up to interview people. I have included this communication as it reflects the issues of scale and geography that I have looked to Tonnies

for understanding and direction and it is in social media and media tools that we can see examples of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft interacting and in flux as both cultures, communities and individuals utilise these technological tools

From:  Rusalka Maria JohnstonTo:   Cc:   Bcc:  Rusalka Maria JohnstonDate:  05/05/09  03:46 pmSubject:  Marysville visit after getting through Black Saturday and SundayAttachments:    

Dear Delice,
I am writing to you as I was staying in Maryville on Saturday the 7th of February at 54 Sunds 
Road Rd. I was staying for the weekend at a place called Mon Amour when late in the afternoon some locals came and took the two horses on the property away and took them to the oval to save them from the fires. At the time l spoke with them and they told me to leave the place. Without their words I would have not gone to the oval and escaped the fire. 

I firstly went to the oval with my dog Mack and then I fled to Eildon Holiday Resort and I ended up in Alex the next day. On that Saturday and Sunday I met a lot of people and talked to a lot of people caught up in the fires. I spoke with many locals on the oval in Marysville that day in part because I was alone in Marysville with my dog. I have decided to make a documentary about my experience but more importantly about the experiences of other people from Marysville and more.

I came up to Marysville to give my deposition but the town was still a coroner's site and closed. Now I want to come up this weekend and talk to people and take pictures. I do not want to impose nor do I want to disrupt the town but rather I want to capture the re-growth and the regeneration of the Marysville. 

I wanted to know if you would consider speaking to me or contribute to the documentary in some way and if you know of other people who would feel Ok about talking with me if so could you please forward this email to them.

I am coming up to Marysville this Saturday the 9th of May with my younger sister Bianca and dog Mack. My contact details are M: 0423 017 210. My other email account is razjohnston@bigpond.com

If you have any questions or advice for me please contact me. 

PS. I wrote an article about my experience on Black Saturday and Sunday and if you would like a copy this document I will gladly send it to you.

Yours truly,
Raz Johnston
My contact details are M: 0423 017 210. My other email account is razjohnston@bigpond.com

If you have any questions or advice for me please contact me. 

PS. I wrote an article about my experience on Black Saturday and Sunday and if you would like a copy this document I will gladly send it to you.

Yours truly,
Raz Johnston