Every year on the first or second Saturday of July I celebrate wassail. What the hell is wassail? Well it is a couple of things. There are broadly two traditions of wassail both of which would occur on either the eve of the feast of epiphany or on the old pre Georgian calendar Twelvey Night….
Category: Life
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – Beautiful Day Above the Grave
“ And slowly you begin to discern the queer outline of what’s to come: the bend in the river beyond which, moving steadily, head up (you hope), you will simply vanish from sight.” Lauris Edmond In Position 2003 A wind gets up in the night. The southerly gusts rattle all the old windows in the hotel…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – Geometry, Fire, Iron and Whisky
“There are very few things I can say about my work that are better than saying nothing.” – Ralph Hotere I breakfast at a vibrant bakery that also does café service. A dome of scrambled eggs , sausage patty , confit mushrooms and glazed ham all spiked with Szechuan crispy chilli oil. A family dressed…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – City of Industry
“I was born. The place was Dunedin, and it’s been suggested that if all the people who were born in Dunedin were suddenly to go back there wouldn’t be standing room in Carisbrook.” Denis Glover Hot Water Sailor 1912 – 1962 , 1962. In the morning I note that a bible has jumped to it’s…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – There is much evil in the world and a great suffering in my head
“I drink much less than most people think, and I think much more than most people would believe.” ― Hunter S Thompson, Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 I slowly become aware of my continuing existence on this mortal coil. Limbs seem to be unhindered , for the moment my gastric processes…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – By the sea but not of the sea
“May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens.” Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis 1950 We pull into Oamaru . The roads are being resealed, dust rises as utes and trucks drive over the metal road surface. A haze fills the sky . I disembark, head to the…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – Up with the ghosts
“There is no past or future. Using tenses to divide time is like making chalk marks on water. — Janet Frame, Faces in the Water 1961 I wake early. Shannon was out last night so I creep around the house, feed the dog, dress and set out with Rubes for an early morning walk. I…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – Holiday at Home
“Free to those that can afford it, very expensive to those that can’t.” Withnail and I, 1987 I found myself coming on holiday by mistake. Not because we had lifted a key from Uncle Monty[1] but because a work event moved dates when I had already booked tickets and arranged dog care. So, I found…
The Year of the Garden
This year I have put a lot of effort into my veg garden. As the pandemic rages on, the world teeters on the edge of another world war and far right conspiracy theorists attempt sedition an hour down the road the garden seems like a good place to hide. New raised beds and lots of new…
Life : On mortality , mobility and riding a bike.
On mortality , mobility and riding a bike. My father died last year after a decade of creeping dementia. In his end he followed his mother right down to dyeing at the same 70 years of age. This weekend in particular I find myself missing him.Both my father and my grandfather were competitive road cyclists,…
Raise the Dawn 