Further Sods and Odds

a) Yesterday outside my study window there were four rosella eating seeds on next door’s large hebe. At one stage all you could see were four red heads sticking up through the greenery like strange exotic tropical flowers.

b) My health now means Anne has to do all the cooking. Which is tough. We both like roasts but the trouble is cleaning the greasy oven dish. She had a good solution last night. She’d been marinating chicken legs in a mixture of chilli and soya sauce, oil and orange juice. She added yams to the bag and closing it put it in the dish. The meat was nice and the yams were delicious and there was little cleaning needed.

c) Dorothy was sick this morning. Again it is Anne who has to tidy up. The cat is sixteen years old but is still spry. Still we have decided not to replace her. She’s very affectionate but demanding. It’ll be one less thing to worry about.

d) Sir Roger Douglas is entitled to his travel perks – they were part of a contractual deal. But it’s a bit rich when he sounds off about the rest of us tightening our belts. A double standard here. Do as I demand but do not do what I do.

e) Education provided my escape hatch to a different life – not a better life, that demeans the exacting and fulfilling life of my farming forbears and present relations. But it was certainly my path to other worlds. Formal learning acts as a form of wealth creation - the human capital theory. Intellectual and/or skill capital is an asset for individual, enterprise or nation. In our society people's worth tends to be measured by the market value of their labour. Certainly, formal learning is rewarded in material ways. The highly-skilled and academically-trained usually receive higher income, greater rewards and recognition. Following my bookish interests I used this path unconsciously, escape or betterment never my intention.

f) Travel for pleasure, even adventure, is a very recent human development. Travel for trade, for diplomacy, for pilgrimage was for a few. Most human beings toiled and died close to where they were born and many never went further afield than their legs could carry them. War saw some venture further – a Roman legion could be sent anywhere. Napoleon’s troops went in vain to Egypt and to Moscow. The Grand Tour of Europe developed in the 18th century for the fortunate small percentage of the English upper class. In the 19th century the possibility crept into the middle class consciousness and in the 20th century it became common in the working class – if only a jaunt to Blackpool or Brighton. Now it’s just a taken for granted lifestyle. New Zealanders have always been a mobile lot. I suspect the long sea journey here for the pakeha settlers created a willingness to up sticks and try new pastures, an attribute shared with our Australian neighbours which generated much cross-Tasman venturing mainly for employment and/or betterment.