Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody, when I paint my masterpiece (Bob Dylan)

Photo by David Pisnoy on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Aches and pains. That's what.

I guess it's a sign of my advancing years, but I notice that various small aches can develop overnight or from repetitive actions like using a chainsaw. And be harder to shake these days. Go figure!

Activities contributing to this around Maple Grove of late have been prepping and painting the first coat in the spare room. That was going to be Asher's room but is now slotted down to be my music lounge. The existing music lounge will swap and become Asher's bedroom.

This all makes sense (as well as swapping our bedroom with the guest bedroom): 

• The (new) music lounge has dual aspect windows that don't accommodate a double bed but is perfect as a lounge
• Jade/William's room will now be darker, and opposite Asher's room
• Jacky has been frustrated that we weren't in the lighter/sunnier front bedroom since we moved in
• The new master bedroom has the blue couch for reading each night
• The huge mirror from the (new) music lounge works better in the main lounge
• Plus - it got us motivated to redecorate the one room that hasn't been touched in what, judging by the old wallpaper patterns, looks like twenty years. A few bits of old wallpaper had been removed by the previous owner so it really needed remedial action!

So my painting muscles and calves have had a work out with all the ladder manoeuvrings. 

This long weekend will complete the changeover (Friday is Hawke's Bay Anniversary and Monday is Labour Day). That's exciting.

When improvements and changes happen, it's a great feeling!

However, I need to keep my aim in mind - to pace myself a bit more and build in recovery times!

Love and peace - Wozza

Hearken! and observe how healthily - how calmly I can tell you the whole story (Edgar Allen Poe)

Wie geht's?

A few weeks ago, Jade, William and Asher gave me a lovely birthday gift: David Miller's That Glimpse Of The Truth - a collection of the 100 best short stories. Ever.

Okay, yes. In the past, I've largely struggled with the short story format. Writing one is tough as. Reading them can also be tricky.

Doesn't help that I mainly associate short stories with English lessons I've taught over the years.

In her wisdom, Jade gave me the option of swapping it for something else but I decided to stick with it after Jacky said she'd love me to read her the stories.

So, in true Arabian Nights tradition,  I've taken on the role of Scheherazade (yes, I know she's a she), and read from the stories each night.

The anthology is set out in chronological order according to the writer's birth-date! 

Weirdest story so far goes to Cervantes (born 1547) - the creator of Don Quixote and his story - about a deceitful marriage. But Gogol's surreal story, The Nose, is also looney tunes.

All up, it's giving us a lot of fun and creating some interesting conversations about what on earth is going on in the writers' heads!

Good choice Jade.

Love and peace - Dad

I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone (Kansas)

Wie geht's?

The holidays are done and dusted. 

My holiday tasks are pretty much ticked off:

• Build a deck for Jade/William/Asher and Tango (all pictured above - two of those pictured help build said deck!)
• Cut the trees in the south paddock at Maple Grove
• Empty out all the broken branches from the pine trees on the western side of Maple Grove (thanks to Jade/William for their help)
• Put a gate between the house and Abbey Road Four to stop Rey from escaping

All done.

Big ticket items remaining for summer are fixing Asher's room at Maple Grove, cutting out the last tree lucerne and the three dead trees on the north boundary, and remove the old dog kennels and fix the broken deer fencing.

Yes, we won't be running out of jobs soon!

Love and peace - Wozza

You don't know what it's like to listen to your fears (The Beatles)

Turns out Megan Fox and I have something in common

Wie geht's?

Facing fears was a post by the great Seth Godin recently. Here it is in toto:

Facing our fears

That’s unlikely.

If I’m lucky, I can glance at them.

But just for a second or two.

Our fears burn so bright that if we truly face them, we think we might be blinded.

Of course, we may think we’re looking at our fears, dead on, but it’s more likely we’re just seeing a distraction, a shadow of what’s actually holding us back.

Because once we’re truly clear about the fear, it fades. It might even disappear.

My fear centres around flying.

I'm not alone: Aretha Franklin; Renee Clothier; Megan Fox; Ben Affleck and others. We all share the phobia.

I'm with Seth, up to the end bit.

How do I get 'truly clear' about the fear?

Love and peace - Wozza

“And what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?” (Alice in Wonderland)

Bookshelves in the background at 18 Korma Ave.

Wie geht's?

While reading this pretty cool article about why some people read, and others don't, I quickly flashed back to our house in Korma Avenue, Auckland in the 1960's.

Not for the first time, and it certainly won't be for the last time, I thanked God for allowing me to born into a home run by Dulcie and Graham Purdy.

There are many, many reasons why, but check this bit from the article:

Why some people grow up to derive great pleasure from reading, while others don’t. That why is consequential—leisure reading has been linked to a range of good academic and professional outcomes—as well as difficult to fully explain. But a chief factor seems to be the household one is born into, and the culture of reading that parents create within it.

Number 18 Korma Ave contained some impressive built in book shelves. I love that idea - that permanence of a place to put the books.

Many times I would gaze through the shelves, looking at the spines of the Doctor At Large, Hammond Innes, Alistair MacLean books, and many others while growing up. 

The culture of reading was important in our house - as I know it will be for Asher at Jade/William's place.

During the weekend, I collected all the books for children I have in my collection (some are mine, some are mum's, others I've accumulated) and put them in Asher's room at Maple Grove. 

Ready for him. 

Love and peace - Wozza (far left in the picture taken by dad, with my brother and the Adsetts - Lucy, Jack and Dulcie)

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

The Dutchess of Kircaldy always smiling and arriving late for tea (The Beatles)

Wie geht's?

This is the one about how Wozza met the Mayor of Hastings Disctrict Council.

I was alerted to the fact the THE MAYOR was visiting our school during a Science Roadshow visit.

Okay, I said. I'm happy to meet her.

When the time arrived, I looked around the crowd for someone wearing mayoral chains - figured that would probably be the Mayor.

Sure enough. There she was.

Oh oh. 

Luckily, I found our Office Administrator, also in the crowd.

What's her name? I whispered.

Sandra Hazlehurst, she whispered back.

Phew.

I approached the Mayor, chatted away (the Wozza charm turned up a few notches). She was very nice. And charming back. She even knew my name.

She must have been wondering, what am I doing here? 

She had some other engagement, probably with people who could potentially vote for her, and so, she left.

Left me to wonder about how the office of Mayor has changed. Why it's no longer such a big deal. Why they still have that chain (apart from making them stand out in a crowd - what's it for?). 

All seems weirdly archaic. And English. All that pomp and ceremony which Nu Zilders don't actually do.

We're very egalitarian.

But anyway. Enough musing.

Bottom line: she came, I was charming, she left.

Love and peace - Wozza