Slow time

This is the first time Dad and I have spent unlimited time together.

We supped at an organic haven at Motueka called T.O.A.D Hall, a la Wind in the Willows aka The Old Anglican Diocese. It’s another old church enjoying new life like the ones that house Natalie’s Wholly Quilts and Kathleen’s Heavenly Wools In Oxford.

In the past, the quality and length of our father-daughter time was limited. I hardly saw him when he was in the army. After coming to NZ there was the fallout from the divorce, job schedules etc.

On Google Earth we flew over Irish coast roads looking at the house where we once lived in the County Down. We both remember 89 Princetown Road in Bangor with great fondness, even though I was only three when we left there to live in Belfast.

Staying with Dad in his condition means I prefer to keep busy.  It’s important not to feel regret for the time that has gone. He sleeps a lot. Yesterday at the pools I had hopes of him doing some gentle exercise in the therapy pool, but when he got to the spa he said, “this is where I always go.”

The quince jelly took an age to boil down and then there was the rush to find jam jars. The rain that’s bringing down dobermanns and Siamese cats will mean an end to the rest of the quinces; they’re bound to be squashy after this deluge. The fig tree will probably lose its remaining leaves and there will be more of a winter landscape.

With the Auckland place finely budgeted for, it’s good to have a modest income that enables me to explore new worlds from a comfortable base. I’m trying to think more broadly. Not worry about what I “should” be doing – getting in touch with prospective work sources, like the Nelson Mail. I’m not sure I want to go out and interview people any more. As far as writing goes, this blog is about it. Well… I am trying to squeeze out some other stuff too.

Spent a couple of hours in an organic greenhouse helping Edith my Qi Gong teacher. We did some exercises to get into a Qi Gong state before untying and pulling out the summer’s tomato plants. Edith has only Qi Gong people working with her plants. At the beginning of each class we are asked to create a Qi Gong “field” for the duration. You think of the elements you want to be present at a certain time and place. I tried to create a Qi Gong field when eating at Richmond Mall with Dad… to offset the effects of the mall. No sooner had I done this, one of my fellow Qi Gong students appeared and we had a good laugh to see each other in this unlikely place.

Our teacher’s hands flutter like little birds as she does the exercises. The practice of Qi Gong is very new to me and I have already felt the benefits of being calmer and more focused. The exercises include squats!

On Saturday I enjoyed meeting musician and health worker Pete who’s lived in Nelson since the 80s; he has a handle on the tribal affiliations (cliques) and trails of this place. Just before heading back to Mot through torrential rain, I debated whether to drop in to the NZ Society of Authors’ AGM at Fellworth House (right). I’m a member but hardly ever go to meetings. Met a very pleasant author-illustrator who lives locally so it was worth the effort to poke my nose in. I have more energy to go to meetings now I’m not working full time.

I’ve just come home from a walk along the Motueka foreshore. Particularly, I wanted to photograph the bivouacs but there were south island oyster catchers to try and capture first.