Miraz Jordan

I love the hawks that soar around here, hunting. Today, for the first time, and through a window, I managed an OK photo of one.

I came home from shopping to hear extremely loud and continuous bird chirps in the corner of the kitchen. Odd. Outside: no birds. Inside: loud chirps. And fluttering. It sounded like it was inside the range hood: a very odd place for a bird to be.

If I banged on the hood, the chirping would stop. For a moment.

I fetched the ladder and leaned it up against the house where the range hood vents to. That vent was a long way up… (Well, not really, but I hate climbing ladders.)

I checked the range hood again and removed the bottom grille. That opened up a sealed area with no bird inside.

I looked at the ladder, and then realised the middle metal panel of the vertical part of the range hood could probably be removed by undoing the bottom screws.

I fetched the screwdrivers and slid up that middle panel. Sure enough, I could see bird legs and a portion of bird body.

That was enough to release the bird which rocketed past me and straight out through the wide open door, or so I thought.

A short time later: chirp, chirp, loud and in the corner of the kitchen.

It took quite a bit of looking and a lot of very loud chirping, but I finally located the bird well-hidden behind a small stack of plates. I moved the plates and it flew off, but this was one disoriented bird as it flew straight to the corner of a window, which allowed me to actually grab it.

It turned out to be a baby sparrow which did fly away for real once I took it outside.

I have no idea how it found itself in that space. I don’t know how things are arranged up in the ceiling space. Perhaps it had found a way in to the ceiling space and from there had fallen down beside the range hood vent pipe.

At least it’s free now.

Photo, a bird in the hand: Baby sparrow released from range hood prison. Ladder leaning against the house in the background.

Interesting: in this 8 minute audio we hear how beatboxers make sounds, some of which are unlike any used in human language. The Quirks & Quarks podcast this comes from is one of my favourites.

Interesting: “Sometimes, numbers on sites like YouTube and Twitter jump up and down subscriber counts lag, like-counts bounce… Why is it so hard for computers to count? To answer that, we need to talk about threading, eventual consistency, and caching.” Tom Scott’s video

Wow, even though I knew the outcome was good, this video of a rescue of 3 people + 2 dogs by helicopter from the California fires was gut-clenching: www.lafd.org/news/lafd… Via @mlanger on Twitter.

The farmer next door is ploughing the paddock. The crop will probably be feed for the cows who are usually in there.

This year I've been studying Te Reo Māori, the Māori language, through Te Wananga o Aotearoa. As we come to the end of the year we have to present a short speech about a famous person. I've chosen Dame Whina Cooper, known as the Mother of the Nation. She worked her whole life for the benefit of others, including leading the 1,000 Km Land March in 1975, when she was 79 years old. I was a mere 20 year old at that time, with no understanding at all of any of the issues.

We were given a template to use for our talk, but I had to crib a couple of sentences from the Te Ara Encyclopedia entry about Whina Cooper. The structure and sequence aren't how I would choose to organise things, but then that's one of the features of learning about another culture …

Today we have to stand up and present our talk, theoretically from memory, but I will be referring to the notes on my phone as I've had trouble memorising my talk all the way through. I can say it just fine, but am liable to forget which bit comes next.

Here's my talk, followed by an English language rendition.

Important person: Whina Cooper

(Proverb): I won't be turned back by a stubbed toe, but only if you break my head open.

Greetings to all my fellow students who have gathered here in this place of learning in order to speak as part of our programme.

Thank you for your dedication in gathering here to listen to these talks for our studies.

Here is my pepehā (personal background and history).

Highgate is my mountain. The North Sea is my sea. My iwi (tribal group) is Pakeha. Port Townsville is the name of my waka (boat or ship). My partner is Deb.

I'm from London. I now live at Waikawa Beach. I went to school at Christchurch Girls' High School. I grew up in Christchurch. My name is Miraz.

(Proverb): do not credit me alone with these achievements, for they belong to all of us together.

Greetings everyone.

Whina Cooper, Mother of the Nation, is my Important Person.

Her iwi is Te Rarawa.

Heremia Te Wake and Kare Pauro Kawatihi were her parents.

She is from Te Karaka.

She was born on 09 December 1895.

As a child she grew up in Te Karaka and Whakarapa.

She went to primary school at the Māori School in Whakarapa. She went to secondary school at St Joseph's Māori School.

As an adult she lived in the Hokianga.

Whina was a teacher.

Whina was a chiefly person.

She was a leader.

Richard Gilbert was her first husband.

William Cooper was her second husband.

They had 7 children.

She is now at rest in the Hokianga.

In her time …

Whina was a powerful woman.

She was highly esteemed.

Whina was a prominent woman.

In 1953 she was awarded an MBE.

In 1991 she was made a member of the Order of New Zealand.

I chose her as my Important Person because …

She led the iwi of Hokianga to great success.

She became the first president of the Māori Women's Welfare league at their inaugural meeting in September of 1951.

She led the Land March from Te Hāpua in the Far North to Parliament in Wellington to dramatise Maori determination to retain their land and culture, and to galvanise Maori and Pakeha support.

She died on 26 March 1994.

So, (concluding words)

The lines are joined and linked,

they are the dead and remain with the dead;

the lines are joined and linked,

we are the living and remain with the living.

Greetings to you all.

Those two scruffy dogs have finally had a bath and a trim. You can see their eyes again! Photos: freshly groomed small dogs.

Looking south towards Kāpiti Island on a gorgeous morning. Meanwhile, what were these 2 scoundrels up to? Photos: view from the beach towards Kāpiti Island; two small dogs disappearing under driftwood.

I don’t often use cash, but today’s bonus was to receive an Armistice Day centennial coin in change. Photos: New Zealand 50 cent piece with coloured poppy in the centre; diagram showing coin’s features.

Oshi and Sasha had a great run on the beach this morning. Photos: Oshi running; Sasha running.

Today I made a new veggie patch and planted self-sown tomatoes and celery. Emptied and moved 2 compost bins to fill an old large crate. Old tires around the edge to deter cats and rabbits. 🤞 Photos: crate garden, with tire ‘wall’, compost bins.

In truth, sleeping dogs: Oshi and Sasha.

Yellowhammer: “The colourful yellowhammer is a common inhabitant of open country throughout much of New Zealand. Introduced from Britain by Acclimatisation Societies between 1865 and 1879”.

Cabbage trees, tī kōuka.

This morning‘s haul of 5 strawberries from the tunnel house.

From the iPhone 7, a delicate fungus I spotted in the garden this morning.

Kiwis: sick of fireworks? A new petition to cease retail sales. Sign by 30 November 2018.

Interesting: in that big earthquake last week the P waves arrived first, with the S waves later.

“This computer simulation shows how the seismic waves of the Oct 30th 2018 magnitude 6.2 earthquake were propagated across New Zealand.”

Who knew … apparently there’s a town in France, Le Quesnoy, that the Kiwis liberated near the end of World War 1. They remember and celebrate us, even naming various streets after things & people in NZ (eg Helen Clark Street). Approx 13 minutes in at Kawekōrero.