Today in Lockdown

With nothing better to do on a sunny autumnal Friday,  I started to read W H Auden’s Collected Poems.

This has long sat on the shelf above my bed and I find I often just open a page and see what he has to offer. Today I found:-

“When there are so many we shall have to mourn,
when grief has been made so public and exposed
to the critique of a whole new epoch
the fragility of our conscience and anguish,
of whom shall we speak?
For every day they die among us, those who
were doing us some good,
who knew it was never enough
but hoped to improve a little by living.”
In memory of Sigmund Freud 1939

How very apt at this time when we are counting deaths around the world including those on the frontline of this fight against the unseen and unknown virus.  And then:

“Goodness existed: that was the new knowledge”

W H Auden’s time was so different from ours – 1907 to 1973. He lived during the Spanish Civil War and both World Wars I and II. His poem titled “September 1, 1939”, speaks out of his concern for mankind and where their unbridled hunt for more and more,  and bigger and ‘better’ things will lead.  It is. sobering poem to read, even though written 81 years ago, it still holds true.

“I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:”

And here in New Zealand, the government is considering moving us from Alert Level 3 down to Level 2. If/when this happens, shops will be opened again and the consumerism will once again be god. How I hope that all we have learned in the past six weeks will not be undone.

Looking at what happened when Level 4 became Level 3 and click and collect was put into place for takeaway and fast food services; lines of cars queued for hours for a burger, chicken or coffee. So we will still feed our personal appetites even with the restrictions currently imposed in this Level and promulgated for the next.

 

 

But here in the sun still shines, There are two new cases reported today after one yesterday. Three people are in hospital and some 90% of those who succumbed have recovered. So it appears that we are on the way to getting it under control.

But we are not complimenting ourselves. We are not unaware that we have many benefits that other countries don’t have. We are a long way from anywhere and we are a small nation – 5,000,000 at last count. We have a determined young female Prime Minister, who is willing to listen to advice and accept help from her advisers and scientists.

And I think of my friends and family in other parts of the world and hope that they will soon be able to say they are on the way to gaining control. And with love, I offer the following –

End of today’s musings.

 

 

 

Advertisement

Yes, It’s Me, Back Again

Well, where have all the months gone since my last post? I must tell you that each week I say that I will start blogging again and each week passes without a blogpost.

So today is the first day of the rest of my life.

Yesterday when I opened this post from Elizabeth at  Laughing  Cow in France, it took me back two years to when I had that awful misadventure. I hastened to assure Elizabeth that life does go on after a major accident, even if at a lesser pace.  Elizabeth then continued the next day with part two. It is well worth reading and reminds us how quickly life can change and how lucky we are to live in countries where medical assistance is readily available.

And my tale tells how very good our bodies are at healing themselves even if sometimes they need a little medical help. I hope that Elizabeth’s journey is not too hard for her to bear.

Another post I read today is from Nancy at Not Quite Old. In light of the Kavanaugh/Ford proceedings currently playing out in the media around the world, this blog post is very timely.

Most, if not all women will have been the subject of sexual abuse at some time in their lives. Trump asks why Kavanaugh’s accusers did not report the abuse at the time? We as women know why. So thank you, Nancy, for this post. It brings home to us just how vulnerable women and girls are to “rougher and meaner” men and boys. And of course, boys and young men are also vulnerable to these predators and have been equally reticent to seek justice, for where is justice if the perpetrators are men in high office, the church or company hierarchy?

I shall be following the proceedings of the Senate Committee Judicial hearing on Thursday.

“Justice will not be served until
those who are unaffected
are as outraged as those who are.” 
― Benjamin Franklin

So enough meandering for today. You have been warned – I shall be back.

 

What a Difference

 

Our own New Zealand Christmas tree. Image via Wikipedia

What a difference a Day Year makes.

In December 2015 I was bemoaning the fact that my Late Love, the Architect had died and so 2015 was not a great year.  But I was especially grateful for all the outpouring of love and friendship that followed this.  I was looking forward to seeing the end of 2015 and a better 2016.

On this day last year, I was bemoaning the fact that I had a fractured shoulder having injured it on the same date as five years earlier I had fractured my ankle.

Earlier in the year, I had my misadventure, falling over my feet and fracturing my skull.  A visit to hospital and rehab and after several months I was back home and learning to do things for myself once again.

So in all, 2016 was not a great year but I was also very grateful for the fact that my health is good and my body is strong and my mental attitude is in the right place, so that I survived the hiccups during the year. And once again I was moved by  and grateful for  the love and support from my friends both in real life and in the blogosphere  

So on this day, I was looking forward to seeing the end of 2016 and a  better 2017.

And 2017  has been a very good year.  Totally recovered and back to normal, well normal for me.  The family members are thriving, all boys growing into fine young men.  So, as Sinatra sings :

“But now the days grow short
I’m in the autumn of the year
And now I think of my life as vintage wine
From fine old kegs
From the brim to the dregs
And it poured sweet and clear
It was a very good year .”

And here’s to 2018.  May you all have a great year, free of mishaps, sickness, and worries.  That will be my Resolution for 2018 when January 1 comes around.

And do you need a rainbow in your life?  Here’s mine to share.

My rainbow

 

Welcome Spring

Today I noticed daffodils in bloom in my very small garden so spring is here.

Yes really today is September 1 recognised as the first day of Spring here in New Zealand.  Well, we have had a really good winter this year and so are hoping it will run over into spring.

And Spring brings a new start for everyone.  Here the daffodils are bursting through cheering everyone with their bobbing yellow heads. Wordsworth had the words that I don’t

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
and

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance”

And for me this is the beginning of the next 12 months of my life.  The past 12 were not great; The Architect died and then I had my accident.  But that is all behind me and I’m looking forward again.

I have so much for which to be grateful

• A loving and helpful family
• Kindly, caring friends including my blogosphere friends
• A good and comfortable home
• My good health
• Able to afford to do most of what I want
• And of course, I’M ALIVE to share in all that this wonderful and enjoy all that is on offer.

And just so I know how far I have come in the past 12 months, here’s the post from September 2 2015 –  Missing you.

 

So if you’re in our side of the world enjoy Spring and if not enjoy autumn/fall because we know that each Season brings us much to be thankful for.

 

 

 

Doctors, Driving and Drivel

We’ll get back to Sandy and her story in a day or two after she lets me know what happened next.

Meantime, this morning I left a warm Wellington to take a six hour drive to Tauranga in The Bay of Plenty.  Supposedly this is the  sunny, hot centre of New Zealand.

Tauranga is on the east coast and is a favourite place for retirees mainly because of the laid back lifestyle and more particularly the climate. Well this year the south is where all the good weather has been. Tauranga and the Bay have been besieged with rain, rain and even more rain.

But before leaving Wellington I had to visit the doctor  I’m one of the lucky ones who take no medication except an anti histamine for an allergy.  So my doctor isn’t going to get rich on me but he’s always pleased to see me   A very sore right shoulder has been diagnosed as a rotator cuff tear/injury.  So no quick fix    A recommendation to a physiotherapist and an X-ray if the physio doesn’t fix it. Then perhaps a cortisone or steroid injection. As my 90 year old friend used to say “growing old ain’t for the faint hearted”.

So back to my journey and the reasons for it.  As if I haven’t only just completed my own move I was off to help a friend who has sold one house in Auckland and is now moving the furniture to her current house in Tauranga   My role in this is to be at the receiving property when the furniture arrives  So an easy role.

The  further north I drove the more the weather deteriorated; overcast most of the time but about an hour before I  reached my destination the skies opened and it poured and  some two hours later it’s still raining.

So I think it’s an early night with my book.  On Friday I wrote about Dead Wood by Dan Ames  I have just bought the next book in the series “Hard Rock”.  With my sore shoulder it’s much easier to read on my iPad than to read holding a book.  Let you know what I think of this sequel later.

“”What is the use of a book “said Alice “without pictures or conversations””                   Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderlans

 

 

 

 

My Name is Jane

I read this post today from Marylin at Things I want to tell my mother and I thought of the years when my mother suffered fro Alzheimer’s. This is a non selective disease. It seems that anyone can get it and frankly it frightens me as I think it might be hereditary.

I have written a couple of posts on this subject, most recently Tea Drinkers Unite in response to a 100 Word Challenge set by Velvet Verbosity.

I choose how I will spend the rest of my life

As one gets older one is concerned about health issues but for me it is mental issues that worry me most.  My mother suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease during the latter years of her life and I wonder if it is inherited and passed down to the children.

Definition of Alzheimer’s – Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that attacks the brain’s nerve cells, or neurons, resulting in loss of memory, thinking and language skills, and behavioral changes.

I recently read this blog from Nancy at Spirit Lights the Way and began to think what it must be like to be in a situation where you really don’t remember or know who or where you are.  This is my attempt to put it into words:

My Name is Jane, I think.

They’re calling me Jane
Is that who I am
I am perfectly sane
but I don’t know their…

View original post 341 more words