21 | March | 2012 | I choose how I will spend the rest of my life

After our totally abysmal summer we had thought that an Indian Summer might be on the way. But that wish/thought has been dashed over the past few days.

A walk in the bush

It’s now autumn with all the lovely sights in nature that brings to mind – falling leaves, golden sunsets etc, but all we can see here in Wellington is rain.

Ray Charles might have meant it when he sang –

“I’m old fashioned
I love the moonlight
I love the old fashioned things
The sound of rain
Upon a window pane
The starry song that April sings”

but frankly, enough is enough.

Boat adrift in Wellington Harbour copyright Fairfax

And according to the DomPost – our daily newspaper:

“Southerly gales are expected to ease in Wellington this morning and have been downgraded from severe.

The low will fade out on Friday ahead of a Southern Ocean low which will bring a strong to brisk westerly change across the country this weekend – and more rain this weekend.”

So it’s not going to get any better by the weekend.

What else? A new Armani Store is opened here in the capital. Again, according to the DomPost:

“Already awash with suits, Wellington’s corporate image is about to be further stitched up as Armani Collezioni has chosen the capital for its first made-to-measure service in New Zealand.

Men will be able to go to Vance Vivian and pay from $2895 for a custom-made Armani suit – or duty free ($2450). With 150 fabrics to choose from, including super fine wools, wool crepes, silks and linens, the suits will be made in Italy.”

Apparently just down the street from this new store a man can purchase a suit for $795. So do some men have more money than sense – or do they just have more style?

And today we also are told that the worldwide surge in the theft of metal to feed the scrap metal market appears to have hit the Wellington region with thieves stealing more than 30 heavy stormwater drain grates from suburbs in Wellington. “Wellington City Council is urging residents and motorists to keep an eye out for suspicious activity around the suburbs to help prevent more thefts.” I think that cyclists should be keeping an eye out so that they don’t end up thrown from their bikes.

And a man “regrets” leaving his 23 month old baby girl in a car outside a tavern while he went in for a drink. Apparently, he was drunk as he drove to the tavern, having already left two children aged 10 and 11 at home alone.

And on a better note we hear that a nun has been awarded a Local Heroes Medal for her ongoing work at a local soup kitchen. On being told that she had been nominated by fellow soup kitchen worker her response was “I’d like to wring his neck.”

The medal was awarded for seven decades as a nun, primarily in the Wellington Soup Kitchen. So all is not gloom here in Wellington.

Off to Paekakariki to play Granma – I shall finish the post on my return.

It’s 9.30pm and I have just returned. My son and his family live about 50 kms away from me, that is less than an hour’s drive. But it could have been in a different world. I arrived from soggy Wellington to be met with brilliant sunshine and hot weather. I, of course, had on my winter sweater and they were all getting around in short sleeved shirts, When the boys got home from school they changed out of their uniforms into shorts and tee shirts. And all the windows and doors in the house were open to catch what little breeze there was.

It was very pleasant sitting on the patio in the sunshine drinking the cup of tea brought to me by my No 2 grandson.`

But now back in Wellington where it is still raining and windy. On days like this I wonder why did I move back.