Diary of a House: Dramatic Weather- the Neo Normal

Changeover day... again. I pack up, tidy up and say goodbye to Dougal. He doesn't seem too fazed. There's an organisational meeting at The Good Habit, a former home for nuns near the Basilica. to plan a combined 60th: John, Clive, Will and I. 240 years should bring some wisdom to the table. We get distracted by food and gossip but John goes away with a list.
Unpacking and repacking and retracing my steps to Leinster Rd because I always leave stuff behind, I start the drive south mid afternoon.The weather forecast is ominous- gale norwesters. On Thompson's Track wind gusts push the car sideways. There's an apocalyptic yellow tinge in the sky which takes on a pink hue through sunglasses. It's the smoke from the Australian bush fires and the news is that several are merging into a super fire. The dim light and strong wind are elemental, dramatic and moody. I take it slowly. Dust and dirt sweep in horizontal waves, carried from the Southern Alps to the Canterbury Plains. Tree branches swing wildly. I drive down to the banks of the Rangitata River and hold onto the door when I get out of the car. There's a visible pall of dust skimming the surface of the water.
Jack's fish and chip shop is a favourite stop. Kahu's is not here to share the food so I press on. Light comes and goes with the cloud cover. At Lake Pukaki the Southern Alps are shrouded and the water lashes the shore, but driving into the Lindis the folds of the hills provide shelter. Kahu sweep along the updrafts, looping and soaring in eruptions of air. Companions of the road, they scavenge on squashed possums and pancaked rabbits. This road is an old friend to me, I've been to and fro over the 35 years my parents have been in Central Otago. As I drop down to Central Otago from the Lindis the light is playing on the hills about Tarras. Home.