A Chocolate Kiwi for Easter

Prologue

Since starting blogging in 2010, I have an enhanced appreciation of those who write for a living, particularly those committed to producing a regular column. You may read your favorite columnist and think "well that one wasn't so good", but just the fact that anything gets composed daily or weekly is incredible. I try to create a blog post every few months at least, and it is not so easy.
When I first started, my aim was to keep in touch and share our travels with those far away. That is still the primary function, but as things have evolved over the last seven (seven!!) years, this project has taken on other functions. Frequently I refer to it as a diary of our adventures, to refresh my memories, or to share details with an acquaintance about to visit someplace we have been. Some entries have been used as a recruiting tool, enticing applicants to come and work in New Zealand, or as evidence for the NZ Ministry of Immigration that they should extend my visa. Occasionally, I will use this exercise to work out some of my feelings about events or life in general, comment briefly on sports, etc.
This will be one of those patchwork posts ("I'll take potpourri for 800, Alex"), with different bits and pieces. I want to get this posted to cover the time after Margaret and Cory's March visit but before we head back to the USA June 2nd for another madcap six weeks, to be duly reported in the next blog.

Oamaru Redux

I will start with a brief travelogue portion. Over the course of our time in New Zealand, we have managed to visit many, many places. Those that have eluded us are either accessible only by extensive tramping or 4-wheel driving (neither of which we have done much), or are complicated to get to (I'm talking to you, Great Barrier Island). Much of the joy of exploration these days consists of revisiting places we have been, but seeking out new nooks and crannies during different seasons. Oamaru, a uniquely charming historic town we have stopped in many times, is a one-hour journey south of Timaru. Last month we took a drive down there on a bright and crisp South Island autumn day. I have written of Oamaru on many occasions, but we explored a few places new to us.

Renown for the striking Victorian buildings built with the local hard white Oamaru limestone, it was also famous for pioneering the freezing and shipping of lamb to London and the rest of the world. Just south of town, you can visit the Totara Estate, the large property that was the source of most of the meat that was on the first shipment February 15, 1882. It is currently an historic preserve, with people in costume explaining what life was like in the 1880's. Unfortunately the main buildings were rented out for a wedding, but we were allowed to explore the property and climb the hill to the Brydone Monument, built in 1907 to commemorate the Father of the New Zealand frozen meat export industry, Thomas Brydone (1837 - 1904).

Up the hill....

...to Brydone Monument.

The pano view from the Monument

The property also includes Clarks Mill, a flour mill made of white limestone dating from 1866.

Clarks Mill

As I have written before, the town and its creative and artistic citizenry have re-purposed into the epicenter of NZ Steampunk. Just in the last few years, they have created a marvelous playground between the harbor district and the bay, near an amphitheater where you can view the smallest penguin, the blue penguin or kororā in Maori (sorry, no photos of those, but here is the website).

Here is a scattering of photos from our day in aound the bay, including carved trees, an elaborate track for kids to ride bikes, the breakwater, 133 year-old Sumpter Wharf now home to rare spotted and Otago shags (birds, that is), and an embraceable limestone penguin statue.

Carvings of sea life.....

....and native birds...

Out on the breakwater

Sumpter Wharf

Home to spotted and Otago shags

We are also fortunate that one of the better-regarded restaurants in the country is north of town on the way back to Timaru. The Riverstone Kitchen has evolved during our time in NZ into a very large complex with extensive manicured grounds, a large garden and gift shop business, and even a castle with a moat for the proprietor and his family.

Riverstone Castle across the moat.

Around Timaru

A welcoming sign in front of a hairdresser, Stafford St., Timaru

Meanwhile, back in Timaru, the local art gallery the Aigantighe (Scottish Gaelic for 'at home' and is pronounced 'egg-an-tie') has is sponsoring two new activities to get the public outside and interested in art. One is "Timaru Rocks", part of an international craze started in western Washington state last year encouraging people to paint and hide small stones, resulting in a strangely addicting perpetual treasure hunt. The second project starts with a well-done brochure promoting the multiple outdoor public artworks in town. Entitled "Timaru Sculpture Hunt", it challenges you to discover 56 such pieces, and if you answer questions and solve the puzzle you will be rewarded with a certificate and a badge. It took us two half-days walking around to complete it. Our final question involved the life-size bronze of the famed Phar Lap enshrined at the racetrack.

Q: True or False: The horse's foot is on his birthplace?
A: True. The base forms a map of New Zealand and his foot is on Timaru!

Staying in Touch

On to another travelogue, but not mine. A major reason we have been able to get by so far away from home is via the magic of modern communications. We can video chat with Sofia and the grand-kids on a daily basis if we like. We actually talk together more often now than when we lived in the same house! FaceTime, texts, photos from family and friends around the world are a critical lifeline for us. Athena was recently in Iceland and we chatted with her in Reykjavik and loved these pix (haven't been there, would love to go).

Sveitarfélagið Hornafjörður, or so my computer says.

Another time I FaceTimed with Athena and Cheryl as they visited the Nestlers in Watsonville. It was so nice to see Rick healing after such a long and difficult year for him and the whole familia Nestler.

Warrior Reflections-(You non-sports fans should feel free to skip this next section.)

I 💗 Steph!

Now for my brief hot take on sports (I warned you this would be a hodge-podge). I am a Golden State Warriors fan, and not a band-wagoner. I feel strongly that they will win the championship this year against Cleveland. Yes, LeBron James is the best player of his generation, one of the handful of candidates for GOAT (Greatest of All Time, for those unsure of the acronym). He may be having his best campaign of his career. If you genetically engineered a basketball player for strength, height, speed, basketball savvy, and durability you would have LBJ. The fact that he brought a championship to Cleveland is great for his fans, but his greatness is no guarantee of ultimate success. Seven times he has taken his teams to the NBA Finals but won only thrice.
The Warriors have a chance to prove they are the better team, and I think their superior defense will lead the way. It as if people have forgotten that through the first four games of the 2016 Finals they dominated the Cavs, and Game 7 was tied with 53 seconds remaining. It was that close. Last year, Curry was recovering from from various injuries (and I think somewhat distracted by the launch of his new poorly-reviewed shoe midway through the finals) and the team had just survived a grueling playoff run including a seven game Western Conference Championship Series with OKC.
They are now rested, highly motivated, and 27-1 in the last 28 games, losing only once in the last 11 weeks. Draymond Green is playing with discipline and it doesn't appear under threat of imminent suspension like last year. Add Kevin Durant in place of Harrison Barnes, and I don't think they will lose four of the next seven games.
And to those fans grousing that somehow adding Durant is unfair, I would say isn't somewhat unfair that any team has LeBron, joined by stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love? You have to fight fire with fire. May the better team win.

World Affairs-(Also feel free to skip the political portion of the blog if you wish.)

Finding the balance between living one's life and following current events in the US and internationally is exhausting. I frequently find myself distracted from my work and daily activities by checking constantly on my phone to see what craziness has happened within the last hour. It makes me feel more than "slightly nauseous", to quote James Comey. I read that 40+% of the US voting public still approves of the job the president is doing, and I'm sure everyone reading this has their own opinion. I guess I have to try to accept that some good and decent people are perceiving a world very different than the one I see. I see a person thoroughly unqualified and unprepared to do one of the most difficult jobs in the world, who doesn't seem share what I think of as core American Values: fairness, respect for the rule of law and due process, checks and balances, honesty, and equality. At times, I should just take a "mental health break" from the news for a few days, but it is hard.
On a recent podcast, I heard this poem written in 1968, another tumultuous time, after the Chicago Democratic Convention riots and the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.

A Poem by W H Auden- August 1968

The Ogre does what ogres can,
Deeds quite impossible for Man,
But one prize is beyond his reach,
The Ogre cannot master Speech:
About a subjugated plain,
Among its desperate and slain,
The Ogre stalks with hands on hips,
While drivel gushes from his lips.

In Memorium- Charles Anthony Wallace, 1947-2017

My only brother passed away early April at age 69.
He had been unwell (the Kiwi term) for several years. His death was not a surprise nor was it without a relief from the hard, hard times he and his wife Pam have been living through. He really did not want to leave this life and Pam, and they fought heroically, but the body could go on no longer, and finally he is at rest.
Nevertheless, it has triggered a deeply reflective and melancholic mood in me. The effect is that my thoughts are distracted and unfocused, like when your computer has too many programs running in the background and everything sloooows dooown. This is an unusual and uncomfortable state for me, and my subconscious has been trying to get my attention with multiple nightly vivid dreams of family and home. Deep in the heart of my identity is being the third of six children the second of two sons. Now that both my elder sister and brother are gone, one third of that bedrock is gone, along with my mother, all in the last six years. I am in the stage of my life when those kinds of losses occur with increasing frequency. It is inevitable, unless you are the one to go first. It raises the question: am I destined to be the next? (I told you this was melancholic.) Not for a long while (I hope), but it gets me thinking about how much time do I have left and what is really most important for me to do with that time. I am still processing all that.
No one else had the relationship with my brother Charles that I had. We were roommates for the first 16 years of my life. Those of you who have an older sibling, by almost four years in my case, know that particular "influence" (perhaps called "bullying" in 2017) that can occur. I had to endure the radio being on and off to whatever station or volume at whatever time he wanted. Being assigned to the upper bunk bed, the temperature of the room was always calibrated for his lower berth comfort, even if I was suffocating with the heat until I opted to sleep on the floor. And don't even start with what he did with my comic books!
But as the first-born and a son named after his two grandfathers, he bore a special and unfair burden of expectations, one that he often chose to rebel against. When he found his religion and mate for life in Pam in his late teens, it set the course for the rest of his life. That took a lot of courage and strength.
I learned so much from him, not in small part was what not to do. There is no way I would be the person I am today without him and the path he blazed, and I am so thankful for that. I do and will miss him very much.
Here are a few cherished photos of us through the years.