I sat for a while on the deck with my face to the warm sun. The silence was full of a dozen different bird calls and the distant hum of a weedeater. To the east, across the paddocks, the Tararuas are tipped with snow. How perfect.
Ares 🐈 is still hanging on. He likes to join me when I’m out in the garden, so while I moved the quail he found a good spot under the peach tree.
I’m still getting over this horrid cold, so basically stuck in the house. This time a year ago though we were on holiday in Niue. Here’s one of the 3 or 4 beaches on the island. First, down the steps though. The photo shows the entire beach. The guy’s a snorkel instructor. 🇳🇺
Feeling rather grotty, and was wondering if in spite of this season’s flu shot perhaps it’s flu not a cold. However, A cold or the flu? tells me it is just a cold. I wish the headaches would go away. I need to get well asap: I have a small holiday coming up. 😷
Wow: “Cellphones … Today … are made from about 75 different elements, almost three-quarters of the periodic table.” That may include tantalum from Rwanda, potassium from Belarus, silver from Mexico, tin from Myanmar, carbon from India, and germanium from China.
Something I figured out this week: if you strive for a virtuous goal it is likely that some who are petty, narrow minded and mean spirited may try to block or divert you. Don’t let them distract you. Stay focused on the goal.
Struck down today by an icky cold. Had to be vertical for some appointments. Finally horizontal for a few hours. That’s so much better.
I forget between times how some people are petty, narrow-minded and mean-spirited, so it’s always a shock. Luckily I’ve learned over time not to engage, except on facts. I retreated to Micro.Blog as a ‘safe’ place where kind people are reasonable and generous. 😀
Strive for something of great value!
For my Māori language course I had to write 200 words for an assessment. Here's what I wrote. Note: there may be errors — we'll see what the tutor says when they grade it.
Ia rā, ia rā, ka haere mātou ko ōku kurī ki tātahi tākaro ai. I te hōtoke ka haere mātou i muri i te parakuihi. Nā te mea he tino mahana hoki te rangi i te raumati, ka haere mātou i mua i te parakuihi, i te ono karaka.
He pai ki ngā kurī te tahatai. Ka oma rāua, ka mimi, ka hongihongi. Ka kimihia ngā kurī e te kai. Pēnei tonu te hikoi. Kāore rāua ki te kaukau.
Titiro au ki te moana me te moutere o Kāpiti i tawhiti. He ataahua te tahatai. He roa, he whānui hoki. Kāore ngā tangata. Aue, te mārire rānei o te tahatai o Waikawa!
Ka mutu, ka hoki atu mātou ki te kāinga. Ka inu tī kākāriki au. Tino reka te tī! He inu pai te tī kākāriki.
Ka moe ngā kurī. Kua pau te hau!
I te ahiahi ka ako au i Te Reo Māori. Ka whakarongo au, ka pānui, ka tuhituhi. E hiahia ana au ki te ako i te reo Māori.
Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe.
Every day the dogs and I go to the beach to play. In winter we go after breakfast. Because the days are very hot, in summer we go before breakfast, at 6 o' clock.
The dogs like the beach. They run, they pee, they sniff everything. The dogs look for something they can eat. That's how the walk goes. They don't swim.
I look at the sea, and Kāpiti Island in the distance. The beach is beautiful. It's long, and it's broad. There's no-one around. Ah, Waikawa Beach is so peaceful!
When we're finished we return home. I drink green tea. The tea is delicious! Green tea is a great drink.
The dogs sleep. They're exhausted!
In the afternoon I learn the Māori language. I listen, I read, I write. I really want to learn the Māori language.
Strive for something of great value!
That last line is part of a proverb: Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei
or Seek the treasure that you value most dearly, if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.
Part of the assessment is to read aloud what I've written. I need to practice a whole lot more. Here's a somewhat stumbling rendition. Also, my accent needs work. In particular, I'm the kind of person who pronounces the English word car
as ka
not kar
. In Māori there should be a definite bit of a trill. Aue!
It’s been years since I made the dogs wear their raincoats. The coats did keep the dogs a bit drier though on today’s rainy walk. 🐶
Great news: Micro.blog test blogs
Micro.blog now lets you create a free test blog for your account with a URL like username-test.micro.blog. There’s a button to create the test blog under Posts → Design → Edit Custom Themes. It will appear as a free 2nd blog on your account
Cook Islands to change name to remove any association with Captain Cook
The tiny Pacific nation of Cook Islands plans to change its name to drop the reference to the British explorer Captain James Cook in favour of a title that reflects its “Polynesian nature”.
Several things have left me feeling grumpy this morning. However, I’ve just been given an interview appointment time next week for a 6-month part-time role I’m really qualified for. That’s perked up the day. Next up though: 3rd attempt at getting a new crown on my tooth.
Turns out sleeping in smoke filled sheets is a terrible idea. I have a sore throat now and am awake way too early. These sheets will be washed again and dried in the dryer today. 😷
Today started clear, sunny and splendid. With 3 days of rain forecast I washed all my bedding and hung it out to dry, anticipating that gorgeous fresh clean sheets smell. Then the wind changed, and the neighbour’s big and extremely smokey garden fire made my sheets stink. 😒
When they were puppies Sasha and Oshi used to play chasing every day. It usually involved Sasha staying in one place and Oshi hooning. Now at almost 13 they don’t so often play, but freshly cut grass inspired them I guess. 🐶
That radiosonde I found last week — I have more info:
That balloon was released from Hobart Airport on the 27th December, 2018 … Andrew Winchester | A/Observing Network Support, National Observing Operations, Data and Digital Group
Ugh:
…expectant parents … can pay $140 to take a course about “informed consent” and “natural immunity,” run by … Authentic Resistance … a vehicle for the spread of myths around vaccination safety that specifically target new parents.
Paying to be fed dangerous lies!
I wondered what the dogs were looking at, in the dark, in the dog yard, so investigated. It turned out to be a hedgehog. There aren’t very many around in these parts, that I’m aware of. In New Zealand they’re pests, posing a significant threat to native weta, skinks, and birds.
