Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
[T. S. Eliot - The Hollow Men]
I have been a little “Hollow Menish” lately. Shape has been without form, shade without colour. Force has been paralysed and gesture without motion. The events in the past few weeks mean I am contemplating selling the film rights to my life or at the very least starting another blog.
Rather like whiteware all my significant elderly have decided to have dramatic ambulance requiring health crises in synchrony, and then son #2 managed to drop a bottle of my “coping with the returning siblings” wine on his foot when extracting the milk – requiring many stitches and the adoption of a prone position for 3 days – something he doesn’t struggle with actually. I have made many new medical friends and improved my vocabulary for hospital based acronyms, plus I now know that cat gut is not made from cats. Oh and I know it will upset Rose but I also managed to run over a cat that sprinted under my wheels …. ginger and white … quite attractive …. on my way to Auckland Hospital – undoubtedly ruining someone else’s Easter
Means it has been far too long since we last took to the road in the L300 – I was rescued from Eliot's “dry cellar” by new adventure with the Magnet today. We hit the road early, and had so much conversation to unload that we were both surprised when we rounded a corner and confronted the Ruakaka coastline.
After draining cardboard cupped coffee we exited the van and indulged the moment offered on a Pohutukawa hugged coastline. The movement of the ocean swell, the raw shine of a cloud free sun, the harsh cries of black backed gulls, and the zigzaggy shimmer of sprats schooling in the shallows swallowed my mind.
A grey plastic floating jetty demanded our unsteady presence and two kids soon joined us throwing out ever hopeful hand lines hooked with hunks of raw fish head. A couple of salt watered 80 year olds walked past returning from their before breakfast morning swim … and you just knew this was a place where lives are lived differently from Auckland.
We found the school and the ict_pd cluster teachers without too much struggle and launched the day’s workshop on designing learning environments for inquiry. The Magnet was obviously dressed for a professional gig but my “Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult” T-shirt - dodgy at the best of times - was well smeared with egg yolk and drizzled with bacon fat on arrival …multitasking when driving over the Brynderwyns is quite obviously not one of my strengths … just as well I travel with a jacket.
Much is made of the connectivity of ICT and its importance in social networking, but I have yet to experience anything online that compares with the conviviality experienced sitting around a table at the end of the day with friends, sharing laughter, conversation and wine. New Zealand is such a small country that we find people from past lives and mix them with new friends whenever we travel. Today was no exception.
I too have noticed that for kids, home is always home and your money is always their money. But breaking a bottle of wine! Gee, that's a bit OTT.
Posted by: Lyn | April 22, 2007 at 06:43 AM
Ahh Lyn, I suspected that you might tease out the finial in the post ...and because of this is an incident that has not had to go through all the usual vetting procedures - being immediately granted family myth and metaphor status -
Posted by: Artichoke | April 22, 2007 at 07:10 AM
Cheers Arti ... err, I think.
Posted by: Lyn | April 22, 2007 at 07:44 PM
My education was wasted on me,
Shape without form, shade without colour.
What beautiful lines. or a life where i can now value the meanings?
I do enjoy the enrichment i now receive in reading your postings.
Havent ever met, and so cant say if the bottle of wine and the real world are better... Still i enjoy the virtual meetings.
Posted by: ailsa | April 22, 2007 at 10:52 PM
"I am contemplating selling the film rights to my life or at the very least starting another blog."
So... what does it mean if you DO have multiple blogs?
Oooh oooh I have vouchers for coffee places around the hospital if you're around some time ... then I can finally meet you in person!
...
OR I could just say hi, drop off a hug and leave...
Posted by: Cherrie | April 23, 2007 at 11:06 PM
multiple blogs = multiple personalities????
Posted by: botts | April 26, 2007 at 03:56 PM