after the cyclone

Yesterday was Cyclone Cook.

For me, it was just a lot of rain. Because most of the roofs here are made from corrugated iron it makes for a lot of noise. Rain and Noise. And Because they have a lot of rain here they don’t worry about rain. They just lie in bed and hear it crashing down above them. Or they stand by the kitchen window and watch it cascading down in front of them. Or they put up their brollies and unfurl the hoods to their waterproof jackets and go out for a walk with the dog.

Today Cyclone Cook has moved on to places south. There are only a few places south before you hit Antartica. There’s Dunedin and Invercargill. And then there’s the tiny Stewart island where the ferries leave. And then there is Antartica.

The water here is very cold. Very cold. But yesterday, when the cyclone was moving away and my brother and I went for a walk with a brolly on the beach there were children playing in the water up to their waists.

Hardy, you could call them. Foolhardy, ….no.

It’s good being with my brother. We’ve traveled enough years so that the annoying bits are just annoying and are over with by the time the kettle boils.

We don’t make scrambled eggs the same way. He loves red onion a little more than is healthy. He is so much neater than I am. But top to toe, I think he is a totally admirable man. With a genetic backbone of integrity that has cost him some things in his life and brought him others. And a capacity for loving people which is sometimes larger than his chest can hold.

stephen and Helena picking Feijoas for me to try

feijoa bushes

He has a daughter, Helena, who is fourteen and knows the words to all the songs played on the radio. He calls her many things including “ Dawg.” For her inordinate love of animals.

We went to the cinema the other night to see “ Beauty and the Beast.” We ran into a young man who used to work at Willowbank and has now moved to another zoo in Darwin, Australia. He lit up when he saw Stephen. He peeled off his jacket so he could show him the tattoo he had just done of the chimpanzee he had been taking care of. Stephen evokes that from the people he has in his life. They know, I think, how much he cares. And they light up……

my morning bicycle ride

 I went for a bicycle ride up the beach road. Me and nobody else. 

On the way back I saw with some excitement people setting up for a farmer’s market. There is a stall where an elderly lady is selling hand-knitted tea cosies. And garlic sauce with a sign that declares it to be “ Bloody Brilliant.” And vegetables greener than one would have thought possible in nature.

just bloody brilliant

food trucks ala New Brighton.

 Everyone said, “ Hallo there.”

I said, “ Hallo” back. It was nice to see people.  Because, as I have said, people are few on the ground here.

I’m going back there in a minute with my wallet. I’m not leaving without a tea cosy.