the summer of 49

this day being the last day for a while in nz
arrived here exactly 100 days earlier from australia
time out required to re-group on a number of fronts
finances, health, (over)commitments, relationships all needing attention
spent a month or so here in the previous year (the summer of 48)
and thoroughly enjoyed the time in the home country
so this year it seemed opportune to stretch it a bit further
good to be close to family
not so good being away from friends
but good to pull in the head a bit
living back in the family home has some advantages
first and foremost is the material gain
or more appropriately the lack of material loss
sydney is an expensive place to live
it may not be as bad as paris or tokyo or london or......
but rent a place, feed the face, partake in the rat-race
and the money goes out quicker than it comes in
no wonder credit cards are maximised all over the place
and the screws are now going in tighter with interest rate rises
which means renters are at the whim of rentees
but i digress - left that all behind in october 2007
bolted it to the family home in regional nz
no rent to pay, home-grown-and-cooked food
entertainment options limited
so struggling for a change for ways to spend money
access to a car for long-haul trips
but preference has been to walk, walk, walk
have pounded the pavement relentlessly
mostly to the local swimming pool for some laps
which requires a walk through the local domain
a very large area with plentiful plant life
ponds=ducks, grassed areas=dogs
walkways=people strolling
a long summer of beautiful hot days
exposure to the relaxation technique of tai chi
means finding a quiet spot by the water
with the setting sun in the face
and working through some exercises
mostly focused on breathe in, breathe out, repeat
the iriver has been the constant companion
some 1,200 songs from some 100 albums stacked in there
have it playing in random play mode on all my walks
which i have concluded is not very random
one of the great mysteries of the universe
is how does this device always know what i want to hear
even without me knowing what i want to hear
yes obviously they are all favourite albums
so the chances of getting a favourite tune are quite high
but the number of times the best song off an album
gets tossed up constantly amazes me
in a moment of software developer madness
i started logging the frequency of the tracks
trying to establish a pattern so as to find the bug
but then just as quickly gave up on this exercise
pointless, silly, unproductive, meaningless
but still a sign of the times
time on my hands
is good
for today