exile. a while

it just keeps getting worse. first of all it was forcing untested & unnecessary "national standards" onto overworked school teachers & coming up with the bright idea of increasing GST to fund a reduction in the top tax rate, to name but 2 of the many stupid things the national government has done; now, they have frozen the funding of our already underfunded (yet still pretty damn good) public broadcaster & decided to open up our national parks to mining; i would rant about it but bomber bradbury has already articulated it all very well (the scariest bit is that everything he says is completely true).

the only positive thing i can think about it all is that as long as john key & his cronies keep on in this fashion, they are sure to lose the next election. then perhaps at last we will have a green government ...

last weekend was waitangi day here in nz, the anniversary of the signing of te tiriti o waitangi; as usual, it was a glorious sunny day - a relief after the coldest january on record. vicki was passing through town so i picked her up from the airport & we cruised out to porirua, to the festival of the elements, to check out empress stilt dance's new aerial stilt work, kahuku - a butterfly romance. i don't know if anyone else in the world has created aerial stilt work - it's pretty amazing! first of all there's the strength and agility required to dance on very tall stilts, then there's even greater strength in supporting all your weight plus the stilts, while suspending, spinning and swinging, high above the floor. it must be so hard! but aerialist pipi ayesha evans made it look easy, and fun, and beautiful ... i found it hard enough just trying to take a photo. that pink blur is pipi ...

the few days of beautiful weather has inspired the strawberries to send out another crop, delicious to eat when they're hot from a day's sunshine. but something is eating the leaves ... don't know what that can be - white butterflies, perhaps ...

i am clearing out the hall in preparation for wallpaper & painting, & this morning had a nice surprise when i discovered a book i thought i'd lost, hiding between a couple of others. it's a day for a daughter by alan brunton & sally rodwell - sally's illustrations are fantastic & i was so happy to find it as i don't know whether it's still in print. but now that the books are nearly all moved, i'm approaching the inevitable task of taking down the photo wall; this has been a living respository of memory since 1995, & most visitors to my house find themselves stopping in front of it, either finding themself, or someone they know, or somewhere they recognise ... since 2003 & the advent of the digital camera, its growth has slowed down a lot, but it's still hard to contemplate taking it down!

this evening i had the pleasure of watching a stunning sunset as backdrop to a concert by the equally stunning jane siberry - or was jane providing the soundtrack for the sunset's performance?



it was one of those rare wellington evenings - not a breath of wind - & we were a small group of people gathered at the truby king house - one of wellington's secret treasurers, a little-known pocket of history with almost 36-degree views. the mountains that the sun is sinking behind are the kaikouras, over on the mainland, a lot further away than they look.

jane siberry has a fabulous voice & is a wonderful storyteller & entertainer - the evening was pure theatre. she was supported tonight by charlotte yates, another great singer-songwriter, & the whole evening was beautifully hosted by robert & delia - thank you : )