Lis visits to help Sharyn with kitchen colour choices. Who better but the queen of 60's psychedelic? And I'm lovin' my curtains. I head out in the rain to Rebecca's exhibition opening. The gallery is spacious, food delicious, and the glasses bottomless. And Rebecca's journey in sculpture has taken her a long way...from resin hands to Madonnas and roundabout horses. She's establishing herself in local art circles and as a notable teacher of art. I have a moment of honesty with former student, Zoe, from a junior class I asked to teach in Year 10, following Year 9. A mistake I haven't repeated. The kids were ok in Year 9 but a pain in the arse in Year 10. It feels good to lay it out...impossible in the classroom. Phil, Rebecca's partner, a teacher, and friend of Zoe's, is taken aback. Makes it all the sweeter. I'm reluctant to leave.
Rain sets in. It's much needed. Summer has sucked moisture and left soil dry; huge podocarps on Banks Peninsula are struggling for survival. I watch and encourage, enjoying a dry house. I take myself back to cold floors with cold travelling through my feet, up my legs and into my bones. Damp in my nostrils, my ears, my skin. In this house, winter is in the garden not my body and after a lifetime of cold, damp houses, I give thanks. I wish my mother was here to enjoy it. Cold decimated her at the end of her life.
On Saturday the car fails. Jumper leads and helpful strangers come to the rescue. I discover I don't know if I've got roadside rescue. I'm living on the edge in the first world.
On impulse I pull some boxes out of the garage. I find stuff I was looking for and create space at the same time. Living the dichotomy of curating family, avoiding land fill and allowing my garage to be a garage. The buck stops with me. I break up the day by redeeming a motor bike birthday voucher with Mark. We do a tour of Godley Head. I don't trust his ADHD and haven't been on the back of a bike for a while so keep him at medium speed. Feel like we've bonded by the end of it and he adjusts the battery connections on the car. Ka pai e hoa.
The week is wet and moody. We're trapped indoors and I have some of the worst lessons of my teaching career, with 10 Mcc. On Tuesday we have a teachers' meeting. At the end of it I don't feel so bad, but I do. What's happening with our kids? Not for the first time I wonder whether I need or want this challenge.
Week's end.....I take Pete a cake, visit Greg to check on framing and an after work beer, and crash the Infinity table after drinking gin whilst talking on the phone and quaffing pinot noir. Life's good.
Crash of the infinity table...hello Star Trek
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