It was April and the aboriginees of a remote Northern Territory area asked their new elder if the coming winter was going to be cold. Since he was an elder in a modern community he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he could not tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless to be on the safe side he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and the members should collect firewood to be prepared.

Being a practical leader, after several days, he called the Bureau of Meterology and asked "Is the coming winter in this area going to be cold?" The answer was that the coming winter was going to be quite cold.

So the elder went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared. A week later he called the Bureau of Meterology again "Does it still look as though it is going to be very cold?" The answer was "Yes it is going to be a very cold winter."

The elder went back to his tribe and told them to collect every scrap of wood they could find. Later he then called the Bureau again and asked "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely" said the mereorologist, "It is looking more and more like it will be one of the coldest winters ever." "How can you be so sure?" asked the elder.

The weatherman replied "There are reports that the Aboriginees are collecting firewood like crazy, and that's a sure sign."