Weather...

1. 
   

Our February
came and went,
and every single day was sunny and hot.
I rose in the dark most mornings,

and watched the sun rise as I walked.

Cirrus clouds usually mean rain in three days,
but not this February.

The heat of the sun slowly changed the green of our land

to brown

and gold.

My new neighbours are from England
and they cannot believe every day since their arrival has been sunny and calm.

Farmers are worried, and feed supplements to their animals,
 and gardeners are busy watering their gardens.  
They call this weather a drought,
and watch the sky for rain.
Despite all this it has been the best season for roses, cucumbers
fat juicy tomatoes.

Everyone else calls it a perfect summer
and heads for the beaches....

and me.. I keep on walking counting down the days
to my really big walk.
I check the world's weather and  cannot believe
there is snow falling
in Spain.

The gift that grew...

When lovely Lucy and The Sweet Small Girl
went to live in a different city,
they brought me a goodbye gift from their garden..
a Lemon Balm plant.

It grows profusely in my little garden, and
whenever I happen to brush past and catch the fresh and lovely scent
those two special people always come into my mind.

Not only do I love the fragrance of the Lemon Balm.
New plants often pop up around the garden
and I pull them out and bring the fresh new leaves into my kitchen
to make fragrant tea. 

It can be simmered for ten minutes for a stronger brew,
 and I love the fresh fragrance that wafts through my house.

But what I most love
is to pop some leaves into a pot,
pour on boiling water,
maybe a little honey,
and leave to steep a while.
(little teapot belongs to daughter-in-law living in London)
Good for digestion and relaxing.

I sit
and sip the sweet refreshing tea,
and think of Lucy and The Sweet Small Girl.
Truly a gift
that keeps on giving.

Hotere...

Beautiful dragonflies seemed so common
when I was a small child.
Ethereal beings of beauty and magic.
In Japan the dragonfly is a symbol of courage and victory, hope and happiness.

A dragonfly landed on my bedroom curtain at sunrise a few mornings ago.
 I precariously stood on my bed to capture the image and
 and while I teetered there betwixt and between,
I heard it on the six o'clock news..
Ralph Hotere
had died .

I felt a sense of loss.
Such a life.
 A toanga,
who has gifted our small country with deeply spiritual art.

Tonight I doodled in my small journal as I watched a film on Maori TV.
Hotere.

 The totara has fallen....

but the legacy of art is forever.

 Rainbow waterfalls, perfect thin red circles on shining black.
The Phoenix Rises.
 I will never forget standing before those tall fire scarred posts,
partly taken back to unharmed wood that shone like gold,
with the bow of boat in the centre .. proud and rising.
Black Phoenix.
Culture.
Colonialism.
Renaissance.
Depression.
Hope.

Always the work of Hotere is poetry, metaphor, song and dance in paint
and wood, tin and light.

Another time, long ago, in the Auckland Art Gallery,
I stood with friends before his waterfall.
I was bewitched by it.
The colours in those magic lines fell from top to bottom.
Falling.
Falling.
I could hear the waterfall sing.
We stood in silence.

" He calls that a waterfall?"
someone said.


 Your art will live on with us forever, Ralph Hotere.
 

You make me want to take black paint.. some red... some gold,
and  tell the story
of who we are.

So, where have you been
you may well ask.

Walking
is where I have been. 

I walk along streets  I have driven down a hundred times
and discover things I have never noticed before. 

 The half forgotten once upon a time Maori villages

and quiet parks
 

and paths I've never walked before. 

I've listened to the river  

and the birds 

and rested on quiet jetties.

 And when my legs ache and the sun is hot

like the river I just keep moving on.
Walking is such a  human thing.
When I come upon busy traffic it suddenly all seems absurd.
The rush and noise.

I have grown to love instead the quiet places..  and walking.

I am training for the walk of my life.
5oo miles
in our antipodes..
Spain.
Buen Camino!

One month to go.
So
I keep on walking.....
I dream.. and keep on walking. 

For Heather..

My friend Heather has died.
So young.
So gifted.
She has gone.
I am still here.

How strange the circle of life.
Our lives so different.
We taught together at Crawshaw.
A gifted teacher, Heather went on to become a psychologist.
Heather grew up with no religion.
I was born into a Catholic family.

Heather died in the loving care of Mercy Hospice
which once was a novitiate where as a young girl I spent happy years
of learning.
Heather enjoyed the irony of that.

While studying to be a psychologist,
Heather rang me once upset because she had to write about her spirituality.
"I have none" she said.

She was one of the most spiritual people I knew.
Her deep love of the earth, the sea, the sky;
writing poetry, dancing.
Heather built her own house
and flew a plane.

Heather chose not to have a funeral service.
That was Heather.
I chose to walk down the river path to the beautiful gardens
and spend time there.
Heather would have liked that.
She loved both the river and the gardens.

How special a time it was my friend.
I sat listening to the water and the birds,
and walked through to beautiful gardens.
I sat and wrote thoughts about Heather..

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day
I wandered back along the river.
I decided it was the loveliest funeral I'd ever been too.

Thank you Heather.
You always dared to be different.
I will remember you.
I will remember you.

Paradise enough..

Just trying .. having blogging isues 

Woo-hoo!
It worked!

These photos were taken during our Abel Tasman Coast walk.

It was fabulous.
We walked over 50 kilometres, staying in four huts.
No power.
Sleep when the sun went down.
Waking with the birds.
 Beech and manuka forests and golden sand beaches and crystal clear blue sea.

 A week after our return, two Jehovah's Witnesses appeared at my sister's door. 
Opening their Watchtower mag. they showed her a picture of Paradise,
a beautiful beach and sea and shining skies ...etc etc.
"Would you like to live there one day?" they asked.
  She threw up her hands in glee
"I was there!  Last week!
I walked the Abel Tasman Coast walk!
It was paradise!
Truly!"

It is so long since I blogged!
It feels good to be back!

Happy Christmas season everyone!
xoxoxo

A small boat dropped us on this beach, Apple Tree Bay.
Golden sands and clear blue sea.
A beautiful place of peace and quiet. 

No time to stop.
On with our packs and we are off. 

Walking the Abel Tasman Coast Walk,
through beautiful beech forest
with riroriro the gray warbler singing all the way,
along with fantails and tui.  

Zigzagging our way up hills and down into more beautiful golden sandy bays.
Late spring, we feel we have the tracks to ourselves.  

We have four huts to stay in, but there is no power
and no cooking facilities.
We carry all our food and cookers.
Food tastes doubly delicious after a long walk.
Lunch on the way and cooling off with a swim
refreshes us for the next leg of the walk.

Our first hut is in Anchorage.

nested into the manuka bush it is a perfect spot. 

The rock formations intrigue us. 

We take the beach path.
That means shoes off and a paddle, watching crabs scuttle away from us.

Another boil up on the trail. 

A swing bridge over a river.
There was a graceful seal swimming up river. 

Another hut on a restful inlet.
Bark Bay.

We shared this hut with a delightful pair of young girls from Germany,
and a young couple from Israel. 

The clear sea of the most beautiful blue. 

The view from my sleeping bag at hut number three,
Sunrise at Awaroa. 

Exploring rocks after a swim at yet another beautiful bay. 

On the way to the last hut..
and a surprise swing. 

The final hut at Whariwharangi.  

We walk to the top of Gibb's hill on the last day of our trek. 

Manuka flowers.

More than 50 kilometres walked.
We travelled back to Kaiteriteri by boat,
feeling very pleased with ourselves.

2012 has been a year of wonderful travel for me.
To finish the year with this walk
through our own unique and wonderful country
was a fitting way to end a special year.
I came home feeling fit and on a real high,
grateful to be alive on this amazing planet !