As a storm rolled in, Mum would gather the clothes off the line. Gum leaves swept up in gusts of wind would hurl around us as we ran in circles. Throwing ourselves to the ground pretending ‘Mum’s tree’ had fallen on us. ‘It’s us vs the world.’ I grew up under a gum tree in Miles, a ‘townie’. I grew up making homes for lady beetles with my sister in the yard while our parents argued inside. I grew up throwing house paint at furniture while my sister flipped and kicked on the trampoline. The reality of my rural upbringing is that I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I was a big sister.