tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.comments2023-08-22T21:11:59.355+12:00pohanginapetepohanginapetehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comBlogger3155125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-76094989976043599692022-06-12T12:03:33.644+12:002022-06-12T12:03:33.644+12:00Thank you, Zhoen. I thought of you when I added th...Thank you, Zhoen. I thought of you when I added the bit about cats, and I knew you'd understand :-)pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-52516426402180033422022-06-12T11:42:19.707+12:002022-06-12T11:42:19.707+12:00I like the reminder that they're not ours, tha...I like the reminder that they're not ours, that the attention we receive is a gift, that the value of a dog's affection (or a cat's) is because they can choose to ignore us if they wish. <br /><br />This, exactly this. I love that animal feel free to ignore me, children as well. I prefer to blend into the shadows. So that, when they do greet me, it's an immense gift, a rare Zhoenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03515663141425057088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-51744979637459469852022-06-12T11:21:41.832+12:002022-06-12T11:21:41.832+12:00GZ — thank you :-) That sounds like the weather we...GZ — thank you :-) That sounds like the weather we've been getting the last few days, and we're only a week-and-a-half from midwinter!<br /><br />RR — so glad you're able to enjoy it from the comfort of your bed. You have a marvellous garden to look out at and I'm sure you'll have fascinating animals to enjoy — and even if they're not showing themselves there's always pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-41894464181684422962022-06-11T23:03:19.110+12:002022-06-11T23:03:19.110+12:00The early morning is such a wonderful time. Less ...The early morning is such a wonderful time. Less anthropogenic noise. Birds singings and other creatures rambling about. I don't quite have a ritual, but in nesting season, I wander around my yard stopping to listen to the birds and guess who is nesting at each spot before moving on to another. It helps to know that some things are still right in this world. And, yes, too bad a few of us bevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18246260676619681887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-60023449738369657282022-06-11T22:18:43.813+12:002022-06-11T22:18:43.813+12:00I'm just impressed that you can get up at dawn...I'm just impressed that you can get up at dawn.Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-82471829525702982152022-06-11T21:33:29.925+12:002022-06-11T21:33:29.925+12:00This is so often the very best part of the day, an...This is so often the very best part of the day, and most people miss it. However, I'm lucky enough to be able to view it from my bed - very, very early at this time of year in UK. By the time I wake up again the colour and drama have vanished and it's cloudy again.<br /><br />An interesting portrait of Guston. An elderly dog I knew solved this dilemma by sticking his head out through theRelatively Retiringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07648407316162715318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-15715067430856243152022-06-11T20:25:29.998+12:002022-06-11T20:25:29.998+12:00A beautiful picture drawn in words. You transport ...A beautiful picture drawn in words. You transport your readers..<br />I would love to be doing that here..but a wet,cold and windy bench is not so attractive!<br />(Feels like 11 degrees C...40 mph winds.. summer?!!)gzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08034777779347889773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-68359919233922623922022-06-11T20:12:03.160+12:002022-06-11T20:12:03.160+12:00Unknown — I'm so glad you understand that poin...Unknown — I'm so glad you understand that point and I wish more people would at least try to put it into practice. Your analogies — particularly the first — are food for thought (haha) and I found myself imagining tasting foods, trying to suspend my judgement about whether I liked them or not, and realising that the fun is in fact in finding the flavours and textures and smells and pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-26551615367208060842022-06-11T19:53:55.916+12:002022-06-11T19:53:55.916+12:00Robin — I'd be delighted if you and Roger were...Robin — I'd be delighted if you and Roger were my neighbours! I think I've said this before, but it comforts me and gives me hope knowing people like you, and others who visit here, understand what I'm trying to express. Thank you :-)<br /><br />Unknown — not sure who you are, but thank you! :-)pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-89043234216836210032022-06-11T17:35:25.878+12:002022-06-11T17:35:25.878+12:00Pete, you've articulated here something that I...Pete, you've articulated here something that I intuitively feel but had never put into words before - the importance of understanding that "making a judgement is less important than understanding the idea, and accepting that ideas always generate more ideas and exploring those". I'm reading a book right now which requires me to sit, absorb, wonder - not decide whether "Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05399421530779672191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-48734576062062609792022-06-11T17:30:10.300+12:002022-06-11T17:30:10.300+12:00Pete, I love the way you have captured the beauty ...Pete, I love the way you have captured the beauty and peace of a suburban garden at dawn - that sense of sitting in an environment that appears tamed but is full of untamed life and vitality. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05399421530779672191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-39710537686082871402022-06-11T13:42:33.808+12:002022-06-11T13:42:33.808+12:00I wish we were neighbors. We would see each other ...I wish we were neighbors. We would see each other sitting out in the early morning light waiting for that beautiful quiet moment of sky. We would listen to the bird songs from our little yards, trying to identify each of the singers. <br />We would cringe at those gunshots. We hear them here during duck hunting season. The moment of beauty falls away. Humans can be such insane creatures.NewRobin13https://newdharmabums.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-69975594572029837422022-05-22T20:59:09.763+12:002022-05-22T20:59:09.763+12:00Bev, I agree, strongly, with your comment that the...Bev, I agree, strongly, with your comment that these are difficult times for people like us. I don't know whether we're lucky to have experienced those places that are now vanishing or whether that experience just makes the plunder and destruction so much harder to bear. Maybe both.<br /><br />Robin, when I read your last sentence I immediately thought of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabipohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-46658315912862293552022-05-22T13:18:48.375+12:002022-05-22T13:18:48.375+12:00Lovely to see another post (finally!).
One thing ...Lovely to see another post (finally!).<br /><br />One thing that stands out: incorporate their musings into a narrative replete with gorgeous, evocative writing. <br /><br />That is you! <br /><br />-MAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-37688984494921430972022-05-21T09:16:25.829+12:002022-05-21T09:16:25.829+12:00I don't do much reading these days and certain...I don't do much reading these days and certainly not of books with many pages and lots of words. I no longer have the attention span to absorb any of it (a "neurological event" that I experienced in 2010 put an end to my reading of books). In reading this post, I loved coming upon the word "nostalgia." Roger and I say sometimes in a perfect moment, perhaps when we're NewRobin13https://www.blogger.com/profile/00325825087101632977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-1174519977715085942022-05-20T21:29:17.924+12:002022-05-20T21:29:17.924+12:00Lovely photo of the crab! The creatures of shores...Lovely photo of the crab! The creatures of shores and tide pools are so fascinating. Been awhile since I read "The Log" as well. I suspect that the writings and species accounts of naturalists and biologists often cause the eyes of the non-naturalists to glaze over. For many of us, just knowing the species that were listed in a certain place is almost like being shown a photograph. bevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18246260676619681887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-73931053486768565072021-08-11T07:34:58.019+12:002021-08-11T07:34:58.019+12:00Kia ora KSG! Good to hear from you again, and hope...Kia ora KSG! Good to hear from you again, and hope you're keeping well too. I'd been expecting to draw back the curtains the other day to see the land covered with snow, but it only came down as far as the bushline on the southern Ruahine behind my place — nothing out of the ordinary for a typical winter. The view in the photo isn't in fact from the window; it's looking down the pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-90794508500988142452021-08-09T15:04:42.061+12:002021-08-09T15:04:42.061+12:00Kia ora Pete - long time no see....! I thoroughly...Kia ora Pete - long time no see....! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your introspective tale along with the view (I am assuming) out the window and I sincerely hope you are still rugged up against the elements. Rather a wintry blast visiting once more... Thank you once again for the beautiful photography that accompanies your blog. I trust you are well and enjoying life in the safety of the KSGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17863741969614656250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-6989744612959526712021-06-28T07:15:42.736+12:002021-06-28T07:15:42.736+12:00Zhoen, I loved The Plover. Might be time for me to...Zhoen, I loved The Plover. Might be time for me to re-read Mink River and The Plover. <br /><br />My lack of natural insulation means I wear down jackets most of the year except in the height of summer (and sometimes even then, given the propensity of NZ weather to do almost anything regardless of season), but the heat you're getting would have me in a T-shirt and shorts with a cold beer. pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-6047702075647518752021-06-28T01:03:36.899+12:002021-06-28T01:03:36.899+12:00Pete,
Brian Doyle, who wrote The Plover... I have...Pete,<br /><br />Brian Doyle, who wrote The Plover... I have been thinking of that book all week. <br /><br />Our weather is, unsurprisingly, opposite. I prefer yours. But then, I would wear a puffy jacket in public without a qualm, pull it around my ears to muffle any derision. Well, if were cold here. Since it's hot, I would collapse of heat stroke wearing such a thing right now, and Zhoenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03515663141425057088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-85666343444095829552021-06-27T20:25:54.141+12:002021-06-27T20:25:54.141+12:00Kia ora Robb. Tara and Charlie are so mean :-D Tak...Kia ora Robb. Tara and Charlie are so mean :-D Take whatever you need to stay warm on your trip, and if I manage to get to Top Maropea with you I promise not to laugh ... well, I'll do my best ;-) Will definitely be in touch about coming in to Top Maropea with you, e hoa.pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-57009002848448162842021-06-27T19:20:12.843+12:002021-06-27T19:20:12.843+12:00Kia Ora Pete…beautiful reflections on the words wi...Kia Ora Pete…beautiful reflections on the words within books while the rain pours down. I must write I greatly enjoyed your description of self in your down vest as being like a giant grub. Just a few moments ago while tea cooked I was gathering gear for my tramp. My son Charlie has commandeered a very large North Face down vest given to me by a friend in the states. I have worn it, gratefully, Ruahineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09398484733805119294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-21179957291739487492021-06-27T19:14:03.869+12:002021-06-27T19:14:03.869+12:00RR — power cuts are, sadly, part of life here. The...RR — power cuts are, sadly, part of life here. They're not as frequent as they used to be but still to be expected. I know to be prepared — I can keep warm and cook on gas for a while, and of course there's always the option of heading for town. A good book, a big, fluffy sleeping bag, and plenty of excellent tea go a long way, though :-)pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-67128324659219274022021-06-27T18:13:08.934+12:002021-06-27T18:13:08.934+12:00Despite your enjoyment of the Kindle contents that...Despite your enjoyment of the Kindle contents that sounds very grim. Your lovely photo of approaching rain is in sharp contrast with your description of its arrival. I do hope there's not a power-cut.Relatively Retiringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07648407316162715318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-86802487466452222832021-04-04T08:01:11.864+12:002021-04-04T08:01:11.864+12:00Thank you Sarah — glad you liked it :-) You have s...Thank you Sarah — glad you liked it :-) You have such a wonderful diversity of birds to enjoy over there (not surprising, given <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-songbirds-island-hopped-their-way-from-australia-to-colonise-the-world-64616" rel="nofollow">songbirds originated in Australia</a>), and although Aotearoa has marvellous birds of its own, I sometimes get a little wistful when I pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.com