These days, the first one of a couple to retire may well find themselves in a different dynamic. No chance of having the house to oneself, of sitting in the study alone surrounded by books – the office space is shared. Music not-of-choice scratches from The Worker’s laptop. No chance of practicing the piano during…

We Are All Pretending There Is No Emergency

That’s according to my youngest daughter who has a passion for skiing.

Snowplanet is an artificial indoor ski feild just north of Auckland. It’s open all year round, so there’s no waiting for winter and a decent fall of snow.

I’m a bit stuck on what to write really. She just loves skiing, and I struggle to keep up with her on a snowboard. Sometimes I get to sneak off and get a coffee at the cafe, but she’s getting wise to this and starts looking for me (and I get the look of disapproval..)

She’s always appreciated any encouragement, so I follow her around on a snowboard.

In pre-covid times, NZ was a nice place and people were very considerate to each other.

It was the sort of place, where if someone saw a dog get run over, they would either take it to a vet or find the owner. It happened to us twice with our cat ‘Red’ in 2015. He was a young cat that couldn’t resist chasing birds. (It soon turned out he didn’t have nine lives afterall, only two).

So, after a three year hiatus, It was heartening to see motorists slow down on a busy road, because of a dog that was disorientated and confused.

It left me with a sense of hope for the future.