The more I get to know, the less I find that I understand (Porcupine Tree)

The coastal view looking towards NP from Oakura

Wie geht's?

Visiting a new baby was one of the reasons for our recent trip to Taranaki in the second week of my study break. Kerry and Shamara's latest son is a bonny baby - all are looking good and doing well. Along the way we caught up with some friends and family, which was cool! 

I kinda realised (again) how many old friends we have in the 'naki - more than we can visit with in two days that's fersure.

One of the other reasons was to commemorate the anniversary of Patricia Smith's passing (Jacky and Michelle's mum). That meant a visit to one of her old haunts - The Teahouse in New Plymouth's majestic Pukekura Park. Unfortunately, they didn't have any lamingtons in their cabinet (a poor show). Never-the-less, it has become a fitting ritual. 

Rest in peace Pat. And thanks again, for producing two rather remarkable girls!

We missed seeing a few friends and I didn't get to A Records (a new shop in Fitzroy), so we'll need to revisit in the near future.

Taranaki!! A happening place!

Love and peace - Wozza

There in my heart, there is you (Caravan)

JFP, New Plymouth 9 July, 2023

Wie geht's?

As I've been spending a lot of time in New Plymouth recently watching Jacky and her sister deal with their mother's passing, the relationship between brothers and sisters has been on my mind of late.

Bear with me as I extrapolate...

My brother and I are yin yang - two opposites joined within a circle. The opposite circles within the big circle could represent our parents - as they were separate people, yet, fused together, we all contributed to a whole, cohesive image.

I continue to realise how special my childhood was. At the time of course you know no better - it's just how life is as you grow up. But life and experience, and hearing others' versions of childhood makes me realise again how privileged I was. I like to quip to Jacky that I have lived a charmed life - and so I have!

Ross and I were very close as children, but we are very different people and we went down different rabbit holes after I left home. Of course, we will always have a healthy brotherly bond but we don't figure in each other's lives beyond the surface. 

Sisters though. That looks way more complicated from where I'm sitting.

To my mind, Jade and Samantha are not so much yin yang, rather they join together to make one side (the yin), while Keegan and Adam join to make the yang. Jacky and I are those separate but together circles within the circle. Together we make a whole, cohesive image.

Sibling rivalry is fascinating and complicated. As brothers, Ross and I were treated exactly the same by our parents and our interests were so very different that we didn't clash that much. Apart from brotherly spats and fights when we were kids (i.e. Ross would get frustrated when I beat him at sports and do things like throw the bat at me), I can't think of a single instance where we have clashed as adults.

As for my own children, the same holds true, I believe. As children we aimed to treat them the same, but they battled it out for pecking order and the middle two had some intense moments. Since adulthood though, I can't think of any such moments. I guess the rivalry between the four is ameliorated somewhat by living in completely different countries, but still, they support each other and get on well as adults.

In times of trouble, I know I can count on them for support and love. It's reciprocal too: I am exceedingly proud of my kids and love them unconditionally.  

Love and peace - WNP

Please believe in me when I'm gone (Hamilton County Bluegrass Band)

Wie geht's?

This week we were faced with the task of emptying out a loved one's house after they had passed away. 

Thanks to the demands of the Housing Corporation, it had to happen quickly. They gave us a week and, although it was a tight deadline and sooner than we had anticipated, we managed to do it with a day to spare.

It was a family effort by G Brian, the sisters, the brothers-in-laws plus Jade and Kerry.

For me personally, it brought back memories of clearing out my grandfather's house before he went to live in the Masonic Village, and of course, what my brother and I had to do at Maygrove, when our dad died.

In Pat's case, most of the household items were donated to the Hospice Shop in New Plymouth, but the cherished keepsakes luckily found a home with Jacky and her sister.

We were pretty amazed there were so many! Jacky had previously believed that many things had gone missing but Pat somehow kept a remarkable treasure trove of items over the years, despite many moves 'up and down the line'.

I loved seeing the inscriptions in a few books from her childhood, and a magazine from St Philomena's College in South Dunedin. 

Recently, she had told me about a copy of David Copperfield that she'd won at school as a speech prize when she was nine, and there it was in a pile of books!

Thanks for trusting us with these legacy items Pat; know that they have found good homes.

Love and peace - WNP

Dream of only me, where I am, what I am, what I believe in (Neil Diamond)

Sisters and brothers-in-law raise a glass
to Pat. 

Wie geht's?

Me? Doing the best I can in New Plymouth.

Sadly, this week marks the passing of my mother-in-law Patricia Mary Smith. She was a feisty 83 years old when she passed away at home on July 9th, 2023.

We are all defined by many things. One is our relationship to other people. Pat was a true people person. 

Among other things...she was a daughter (to James Joseph Bulman and Dorothy May Bulman nee Dooley)

She was a sister (to Marg and Bonny)

She was a former wife (to George Brian Smith)

She was a mother (to Jacky and Michelle)

She was a mother-in-law (to me and Gavin)

She was a grandmother (Nana Pat to Keegan, Adam. Samantha, Jade and to Lee, Kerry)

She was a great-grandmother (to quite a few!)

She was principled, staunch, spirited, cannie, prescient, generous, stubborn, kind-hearted, fierce. 

She was a mainlander, and a battler to the end. 

She was no fool, nor did she suffer them.

I will be forever grateful to her because she brought two wonderful women into the world. 

Her legacy is in them.

Rest in peace, Patricia Mary Smith (nee Bulman) 16 September 1939 - 9 July 2023

Farewell, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Love and peace - WNP

People try to put us d-down (talkin' 'bout my generation) just because we g-g-get around (The Who)

Wie geht's?

Recently, I helped my mother-in-law celebrate her 80th birthday.

Thanks to Pat (Great GM), Brian (Great GD), Jacky (their eldest), Jade (her youngest) and Asher (her son), the event was memorable for bringing together four generations of the Smith branch. Photo evidence above is Exhibit A.

Generational connections are special. I treasure a photo I have of four generations of my father's line - with my Great Grandfather, Grandfather, father and me.

I'm sure Asher will come to look back at the photo above and wonder about who we all were (really), what we were doing, where we were.

Lovely to think of those connections stretching back - not a long way, in the grand scheme of things, but far enough. 

There may or may not be any Great Great GM/GF photos so this is as good as it gets for a while.

Love and peace - WNP

It was a hot summer night and the beach was burning (Meatloaf)

Tonight and forever (You may say I'm a dreamer - Chapter 6, part 2)

Lorna Street, New Plymouth, 1983

During the long hot summer holiday break, at the start of 1983, I went to Taranaki, and stayed with friends from my tutor group. 

As a couple, they were both heading to Melrose High School in Hamilton.  As it turned out, she was a Landrigan, a well known New Plymouth family, and her parents had a holiday house down the coast a bit, at Oakura Beach. Would I like to come and spend time there while searching for a flat? You bet I would.

So, in between swimming, lounging around, having fun at the beach, I placed an advert in the local New Plymouth paper and did the rounds of the real estate agents. 

They had nothing and the holidays were starting to run out! Uh Oh! I had to face the possibility of having nowhere to stay, and maybe accepting Tom Ryder's proposal to go into the boarding school at NPBHS instead (I'd already politely turned it down and I suspected Tom wasn't a man who was fit for turning).

Then Anne Selkirk phoned me. Phew! 

Turned out Anne was a lovely wee Scottish girl who worked at the local radio station as an advertising manager. She'd been away on holiday herself and had just seen my advert and hoped I was still keen. We hit it off and she invited me to rent a room in her flat. She had a third flatmate, Moira, who also seemed nice.

It was Parris St., Spotswood, late January 1983.

As I wrote about earlier, 1983 was a huge year, full of changes in my personal life.

During the year I moved from Anne's flat and into Jacky's in Lorna Street. Moira's bulimic behaviour made it difficult to stay and besides, after meeting her in February, I had fallen in love with Jacky.

Jacky took a little convincing. She was flatting with Patrick and he first needed to move out. She also intended travelling to Europe. I was pretty desperate to prevent that!

Ultimately, Patrick moved out (the same day as I moved in) and Jacky stayed in New Plymouth! Wahoo!!

The months that followed were really happy ones. Teaching was going as well as a first year of teaching can go (Anne and I had drunk a lot of red wine, Bull's Blood, during the year); I was mostly enjoying NPBHS and had made some tight friends with Rosie Mabin and Alan Elgar, both of whom started with me at the school in 1983. Terry Heaps was our HOD and he was a great person from whom to learn.

Jacky and Pat

During the summer holidays we went down to Invercargill to meet her mum - Patricia Mary Smith and the rest of the Southland clan.  

The visit was memorable: I couldn't believe how empty Invercargill was - wide as wide streets with no one around; it stayed light till midnight; we went into a dairy and it was empty - no shopkeeper or customers...for ages...eventually someone served us; we had cocktails - loads of cocktails, at some place by the racecourse; we went to Bluff and some botanic gardens (where these photos were taken); we got to meet all of the maternal side of Jacky's family. It was cool!

We also had a great time being together as a couple. Road trips are great relationship tests.

The trip also gave me a good idea how my teaching career had altered my life. In New Plymouth, at the movies, the lights would come up at intermission and we'd find ourselves surrounded by NPBHS boys saying a grinning "Hi, Mr Purdy". Now, as we boarded a plane home, I heard the same greeting! Hmmm, I thought - this is now the norm - being recognised in public situations. Another good lesson to learn.

As 1984 dawned I knew I wanted my future to be forever linked with Jacky Smith's. I proposed. She accepted.

The wedding date was set - 21st April, 1984.

Another massive year was in store for us both!

Love and peace - Wozza