Oshi saw his vet Mary today, who confirmed he’s having a huge problem with his eye. She’s testing his swollen lymph nodes, but he may soon be visiting Wellington to see Dr Kellam Bayley BVSc MVSc(dist) CertVOphthal MANZCVS Dip ECVO. Who knew there were eye specialists for dogs!?
This cuddly little bundle went on to become my boy Ares. Photo from March 2002 before he was even 3 months old and came to live with us. 🐈
ROFL: “Well I’m Australian and you’re wrong.”
A favourite quote from Martin Feld. 39. International Mac Nerds with Special Guests Andrew Canion and Jason Burk — Lounge Ruminator
So, our election has been delayed by 4 weeks. It’s the Prime Minister’s decision, but so glad to hear she first conferred with all the other parties in parliament, and even with business and other interests. We have a robust democracy. 🇳🇿
In other news: Sasha enjoys some sunshine. 🐶
I’m feeling very unsettled today. News soon about if our General Election scheduled for 19 September will be postponed. Worried about Oshi 🐶 who’s just not come right after last week’s surgery. Had a stress dream about him. We’re off to see the vet soon for a checkup.
One of the things I love about cameras (even the iPhone 4S in this case) is their ability to freeze the moving, to catch the water in the blowholes so it appears stationary. At Mapu’a ‘a Vaea Blowholes in Tonga in August 2012.
This article has a clear explanation — Why Does Some Rain Fall Harder Than Other Rain? :
When clouds are thin and the air is moving slowly, you get nice calm rain.
Hard rainstorms happen when there is a lot of moisture in the air and the air moves upwards very fast.
Half an hour till dawn and the Moon and Venus are leading the way for the sun.
I’d read this before, but enjoyed it again. An alternate universe novella by Kristine Kathryn Rush: Recovering Apollo 8 📚:
Richard dedicates his life to recovering the lost capsule…causing him to question the meaning of life, the meaning of death and the heroisms in between.
Another excellent read from a favourite author: Judge Me When I’m Wrong (A Charlie Mack Motown Mystery Book 4) 📚
I wondered where this was going at first, but enjoyed the twist.
Charlie reports for jury duty and begins to unravel a disturbing plan to alter the outcome.
Question to US sports and/or Star Trek fans.
A crossword clue and answer was: “College player sitting out a year: Redshirt”.
On Star Trek redshirts on away missions generally got killed or whatever.
Are these two things related? 🤔🖖🏼
My Honda del Sol was first backed into by a very apologetic neighbour. One time a fire engine took off a corner. Various folks crashed into it, smashed windows, scraped past on our narrow, winding road. One guy tried to jimmy off the spoiler. All while parked. 🚘
Back in 1998 I bought a brand-new to me second hand Honda del Sol sports car. Within a week it had been damaged — only 1 among many incidents (18, I think). The worst <6 months later was when thieves took all 4 wheels overnight. Trouble magnet car. 🚘
As expected, I very much enjoyed Catch Me When I’m Falling (A Charlie Mack Motown Mystery Book 3) 📚:
Someone is murdering the homeless in Detroit’s Cass Corridor… These horrific crimes wouldn’t require an investigation… except one of the bodies is Charlie’s mother’s friend.
Waimangu Volcanic Valley is only a few Km out of Rotorua and a favourite spot. We spent only an hour there. 😒Sometime I want to go back with a picnic and spend the whole day. That blue is the true colour of the highly acidic Inferno Crater Lake. 🌋 Waimangu is a gorgeous spot.
Last weekend we visited Rotorua, ~5 hours drive north of here. The Redwoods Treewalk was a highlight.
9-20 metres above the forest floor, this award-winning, eco-tourism walk is 700 metres long, spans across 28 suspension bridges and 27 platforms
The night lights were magic!
Seal season
Waikawa Beach is littered with driftwood all year. Sometimes it turns up in the form of a thick mulch of tiny fragments. Mainly though it's variously sized branches and logs and chunks of wood, generally dark, sometimes light, lying hither and yon.
At this tail end of winter that can be a problem, as from around July we start to see seals on the beach. From a distance they closely resemble bits of driftwood, and you may have to watch carefully to see that dark lump at the water's edge is moving independently of the waves.
Even harder is when they tuck themselves into the cleft of a branch so you can walk past and not even realise they're there until the return leg of your seaside stroll.
One morning I watched a small dark brown odd-looking dog, or so I assumed, make its way down from the dunes, across the breadth of sand and into the water. That was when I realised it was a seal that had presumably been enjoying a quiet rest and coincidentally crossed paths with the dogs and me on its return to the water.
It's uplifting to spot the seals, but also a concern. The beach is a wonderful place for dogs to run off-leash, but not if they may encounter a tired seal pup. Not only are there strict laws about staying away from and not harming seals, but as I understand it a seal could inflict quite some wounds on an imprudent dog.
The other concern is with vehicles. Thank goodness the speed limit on our beach was not long ago reduced from a mind-boggling 100 Kph to a much more reasonable 30 Kph. That's still plenty fast for an inattentive driver to collide with an animal that closely resembles driftwood. Even more to the point, there are plenty of drivers who regard that speed limit as a mere curiosity and cheerfully race between Ōtaki and the Waikawa River.
This season so far one resident has spotted a live seal near the river, and another reported a dead seal at the base of the dunes. That one was more than a metre long, so it wasn't a juvenile.
The Kekeno, New Zealand Fur Seal is one of our taonga. Keep your eyes open on the beach this month and you may be lucky enough to spot one.
Published in Ōtaki Today, August 2020, Page 22.
