I can't tell you how much I would like to step into that view (Bill Bryson)

Kindred Spirits - Asher Brown Durand

Wie geht's?

Bill Bryson's two books A Walk in the Woods and Down Under were published together in an omnibus edition called Walkabout. I have read a few of his books before, but not these two, so I gobbled up this edition for a dollar during a closing down sale of a local second hand bookstore in Waipukerau.

The Appalachian Trail (AT) is the focus of his Walk in the Woods. During which he writes effusively about the Kindred Spirits painting - which is a heavily idealised view of the woods. The reality of the woods is a different matter.

The description of his walks along part of the AT is a pretty honest one. BB doesn't skimp on the hardships and misery involved at times on the journey, while there is also a wide-eyed euphoric appreciation of the impressive views.

As I read, I couldn't help thinking about my excursion up Mt Tamalpais with Mike Rowbottam and dreams of walking the Camino. 

Hiking along mountain trails, through dense woods, and staying in miserable conditions in cabins with strangers is not my thing. But walking is.

It's interesting reading the book alongside Gary Snyder's The Practice of the Wild. In his essay The Etiquette of Freedom he writes about walking:

Walking is the great adventure, the first mediation, a practice of heartiness and soul primary to humankind. Walking is the exact balance of spirit and humility.

I'm sure BB would concur.

Back to Synder - Human beings are audacious. They set out to have adventures and try to do more than perhaps they should.

Hence my quest to walk the Camino at some point in the next ten years. It would be audacious but worthwhile in terms of a learning experience.

Snyder again - Some of us have learned much from travelling day after day on foot over snowfields, rockslides, passes, torrents, and valley floor forests, "putting ourselves out there".

I'm halfway through A Walk in the Woods, and BB has yet to share revelations about what he's learned about himself. As I read on, I'll be looking out for some specific reference to that.

Love and peace - Wozza

Love like lightning, shaking till it moans (Paul Simon)

Week 11 - Book 12: The Hottest State (Ethan Hawke) 
Yes - that Ethan Hawke.

Another book from the recent grab at The Piggery in Whangarei. 

Hawke's name attracted me. I enjoyed Boyhood and this book - fiction but the protagonist is a conflicted young male actor, made me think of Hawke's character of the dad in that film.

It traces the arc of a love affair - not really my favourite thing unless done by a master like William Goldman. Although patchy, it's generally well written and who hasn't had a first doomed love affair like the one Hawke describes between William and Sarah.

Readers should be able to identify with the intensity of the feelings exposed and the nutty things William does. I know I did!

My lost copy!

Week 11 - Book 13: Mother Tongue (Bill Bryson) 
I left a copy of this on a Thai Airways flight about thirteen years ago. I forgot to retrieve it from the seat pouch! Doh!

I hadn't finished it and I was very much put out.

I had been enjoying it immensely, and was delighted to find a second hand copy in a Keri Keri bookshop on the weekend, during our 33rd wedding anniversary road trip.

The new one!

Bill is funny, knowledgeable, erudite and entertaining. 'Nuff said.

I easily picked up from where I left off thirteen years ago. It's warmly recommended, but as an English teacher, I would say that!

Here's an example of the juicy stuff waiting for you:

"To be fair, English is full of booby traps for the unwary foreigner. Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman’s apparel is clearly asking to be mangled.”

It's a jolly good book.

Love and peace - Wozza 

Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, I shake it off (Taylor Swift)

Bill Bryson is one funny guy!

As you may have gleaned from these posts, SWMBO and I will be travelling to the UK for the Nu Zild summer holidays.

We'll be avoiding the rampant radiation over NZ and embracing a, hopefully, cold, bleak, wintry Christmas in London and Snowdonia. WAHOO!!!

In preparation I have been reading Bill's latest love letter to that small island - The Road To Little Dribbling. It's a sequel to one of my favourite books of all time - Notes From A Small Island.

He's a rather witty bloke and at one point in this latest book he advocates that 'everyone should be allowed to a have a dozen or so things that they dislike without having to justify or explain to anyone why they don't like them'.

Here's mine Bill:

1. People who say any of the following expressions: 'drill down', 'going forward', 'unpack', 'roll out', or 'skin in the game'. 
2. Anyone who thinks we're on a 'learning journey'.
3. Big dogs.
4. People who don't return shopping trolleys to the proper place.
5. Misogynistic rap music.
6. People who talk loudly into their phones or computers in departure lounges at airports.
7. Burning my tongue on coffee that's too hot.
8. People driving under the speed limit who give you the finger when you pass them.
9. Cold callers.
10. People who eat noisily.
11. Buying a CD that I already own.
12. José Mourinho.

Love and peace to all (yes okay - even José) - Wozza

Gonna start the revolution from my bed (Oasis)

Thanks for all the birthday messages from the whanau on Facebook and via email. Great to know you're all out there thinking about me from time to time.
Ross sent me a great (early) birthday message - wishing me a happy 54th revolution around the sun.

Maybe I'm a complete idiot, but that doesn't sound like much does it? In the great scheme of things 54 years is nothing.

Having just finished Bill Bryson's At Home book I am keenly aware of how slow technological progress has been until very recently. The last 54 years have seen an explosion of changes, and yet...I am sitting at a desk, on a chair, around me are books, papers and things that someone in 1957 would recognise without too much problem.

Never-the-less, I thought it might be fun to comment on a few of the changes in daily life since 1957 as I experience them today.

Number 1 - In 1957, no personal computers, no blogs, no interweb. I would have written this out on paper using a ballpoint pen (I still prefer a fountain pen but ballpoints had been invited way before 1957) and mailed it. I would have had to send it to you all individually and by the time you received the letter everything would be out of date. If you wanted to reply that would have had me waiting for weeks. As well as that - the person who recently logged on to one of my posts from Nigeria would not have had his life enriched by reading Wordsworth's words.

Number 2 - no CDs, no car sound systems or even radios in the car. I would not have been listening to Devin Townsend's Ziltoid The Omniscient in my car's sound system on the way to work this morning. Music, of course, would have been available in my home via vinyl long players, but without much to listen to. Although Elvis was on the Ed Sullivan show in 1957 it would be years before his influences were felt in far away New Zealand.

Number 3 - no Masafi Touch of Peach bottled water. I've just cracked open a bottle. Not available in 1957. If I wanted a drink of water then I would have gone to the tap (not really a recommended practice in the UAE)

Number 4 - no mobile phone technology. Just received a call from Jacky from her cell phone. Where we live in the UAE there are no land lines to houses (or even our offices at school) because cell phone technology is so much easier. There is a landline in the Deputy Principal's office. It rings about once a week on average. The landline in the Principal's office is for the fax machine. 

Number 5 - no staple gun, electronic calculator, glue sticks, and highlighters. That person from 1957 walking into my office would not recognise these items of stationery on my desk. And where would we be without the highlighter??

Number 6 - no country! Yes that's right - the United Arab Emirates did not exist as a country in 1957. It celebrates its 40th birthday this year.

Number 7 - no digital cameras. Pros and cons here. How many of us loved the thrill of collecting a wallet of photos from the chemists after about a week? The immediate opportunity to delete a load of tat is pretty cool though!

Number 8 - no Jacqueline Frances Smith. It took another 5 years for She Who Must Be Obeyed to emerge. Without SWMBO, no Keegan, Adam, Samantha or Jade.

And what about a few things that have been around since 1957?

Number 1 - air conditioning. Yes, a product that we couldn't live without in the UAE has, amazingly, been around since 1902 when the first modern electrical air conditioning unit was invented.

Number 2 - traffic roundabouts. But only just. The modern roundabout to ease traffic congestion dates from mid century surprisingly. Again - the UAE would have a very different kind of chaos on the roads if there were no roundabouts. Al Ain has hundreds of the things!

Number 3 - and...um...me! Yes without Wozza's world there would also be no Keegan, Adam, Samantha, Jade so I think you guys owe me!

Love and peace - Wozza on his 54th Revolution