Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Dylan on Descent


"I see my light come shining
From the West down to the East
Any day now, Any day now
I shall be realeased"

-Bob Dylan


At 7:08 am on 6/6/06, the sleek aircraft makes its way through one of the many layers of atmoshphere reeling from the activity below, and quietly brings islands of familiarity into focus for me. The red band of light in the east signifies another morning is approaching. I decide to put the trusty iPod into action for this last half hour or so whilst crossing the Hauraki Gulf and my home. The air looks cold, and the readings on the navigation helper on the screen say something like -58C, which I am hoping will warm considerably on the next 4000 or 5000mtrs of descent. It does, but not by much, and my body is in full adjustment mode as I promptly make my way through the Auckland traffic, onto the ferry and out to the end of the island.

The house is a bit moldy and dark from a months neglect; but a fire, some good Kona coffee and a walk on the beach help me get settled into the isolation and peaceful surroundings I call home.

There is nowhere quite like Aotearoa.

My astrologer friends tell me it is something to do with the Neptune effect or transit, but the fact is, I simply love being in and around water, and the warmer the better. When it is not warm, it is just nice to be around. A healing force if ever there was one.

On the healing front, I found a pretty good site called Consumer Lab that will test all your remedies for you, seeing as many of the appropriate agencies are at odds on what and how to test, let alone publish the results. Worth a look if gingko is your thing, or would like to find out more about a certain herb or remedy. I was surprised at some of what I found out.

I was heartened however, to see that one of my favourite athletes, Lance Armstrong, multiple winner of the Tour de France, has been cleared of any doping charges for the umpteenth time. Either he really is and has been clean, which I like to believe, or there is some pretty poor testing programme protocol. It's nice to think, however naive, that there are some extraordinary stories out there of mind over matter resulting in incredible physical performances. I'll steer clear of Barry Bonds and the Home Run record etc., even though I do like baseball. It is World Cup Time. Say no more.

Apparently it was time for the schools and universities to quit for the year up in the States (we have year round schooling here, and don't ask me what the difference is, just take my word for it, education is different in many ways from learning, which can at times only be done in life..) So, I have picked out the best Univeresity Commencement addresses for you by Bill Moyers here, and Stephen Colbert here. Both are talking to young people in America as they head out of the nest (or not), and try to make some sense of the world through the perspective they have presently, which will no doubt change dramatically over the coming years.

One of the great joys of being home is of course drinking the delicious water straight from my tap, and straight from the sky before that, by way of my roof, tank and filter. Not so lucky for many, and this article in the highly informative and upbeat Utne Reader, warns about the water predicament many are facing, and the hazards of all those ubiquitous plastic bottles..

The vineyard is in full colour at the moment, and so I am called out to attend to some winter testing and plans for the spring, which as we all know, comes sometime right after that Equinox leveler in the heavens. Happy June.



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