Now the time has arrived to again to tread the nature trails of Palmer Road. (one of the prettiest Road in New Zealand). Time to leave the city with its potential for hustle and bustle. Time to leave the temptations of the malls and the dens of iniquity - the bookshops - time to venture into the bush to wake to the call of the bell bird and the chatter of the creek.

The household is moving inland for a few days so that I can recuperate and recover from a day when nothing has happened. I can go to a place where it is less likely that anything will happen. On my return the world will have changed. Someone would have beaten someone else at rugby.

A politician would have made an embarrassing statement which they will regret. FB would have made another change which no one requested. An Evangelist would have been caught with his pants down and the hand cart to hell would have stopped for a while while waiting for my return.

Now to check the clothes and back pack and see if my boots have been greased and my sleeping bag aired out.

Hi Ho for the wild West wander.

Prince Phillip is 90

How do we in today's world get to be positive without it all sounding saccharine and patronising? With all the gloom around- (particularly now that winter is here while the rest of the world revels in sunshine)- we feel the upset and pain of each other.

So how do we bring in those rays of joy? Do they exist?

How do we actually push our own boundaries of tolerance and accept the gifts out there?

How well do we stand up to the injustice an cruelty of past memories supported by present injustices?

Is it enough to live our own lives free of those negatives?

Those elected to positions of power and those who have grabbed power for themselves co-exist in a strange world. There we are sitting on the sideline and we watch because so often we are unable to intervene. Then we watch the psychopaths and narcissistic twerps playing out their games against each other.

So what is the answer to the first question? Perhaps -and I may have only one answer- we somehow detach ourselves and become compassionate observers and think of a nice cup of tea and a good lie down after the fray. After all to quote Walt Kelly - "Don't take life to serious it ain't no way permanent."

Left overs

Of all the most neglected dishes in the world the most neglected one is the 'left over'. Or sometimes it is called the 'wait and see'. With my cook and the rest of the household staff away enjoying the cosmopolitan delights of Australia I have been perfecting these two dishes.

The current 'left over' is based on braised venison neck chops - much favoured by my friend Charlie our security specialist- mushrooms, peas, leeks, and what ever else slowly cooked in a cast iron casserole is so yummy. Next day add rice and water to the left overs and bung it back in the oven. Even better next time round. Hunger is a great appetiser.

Now there hangs a possibility of a metaphor in life. What you have left over after an experience has some additional value if you just tweak it with some new ingredients and new spice.

52 Weeks of Change: Week Seven : Where'd my Money Go?

52 Weeks of Change: Week Seven : Where'd my Money Go?: "I think I lost sight of my goals and purpose this week. I reverted back to a pessimist that could not see any light at the end of the tunnel..."

Democrat Primary

No matter how hard I have tried I simply cannot get to like Hillary Clinton. I know I am a man and can be accused of being prejudiced about a woman leading the most powerful country in the world. I feel somehow there must be at least a thousand women in the United States who have a greater record of credibility  and honesty in the face of their political past than the woman who wants to be president. I wonder when it became relevant to be married to a politician to assume that this one status in life gives one some kind of right to be considered in high office. I used to believe that such aspirations were limited to third world countries where education and admission to the power elite were limited to the few. Thousands of women in the US struggle to make a commitment and make a compassionate contribution to the world without demanding and grasping for power. 

Does the hunger for power and a subsumed right to that power make a great leader? The world is now desperate for the US to again show moral leadership and to demonstrate once again that it lives within ethical principled restraints. I wonder if Hillary Clinton is such a leader. Is she masking her real benign self in self congratulatory rhetoric? If she wins the Democratic primary will she enter the stage demonstrating a vision for the world and the US? Has she the capacity to abandon her own personal agenda and find a way through the morass of cant and corruption which seems to typify so much of the world today?

Lets wait and see.

As the year here swings into winter from a soft endless summer we often wonder where we will be when spring arrives. The leaves have dropped and are gently turning from their reds golds and auburns into dessicated brown. The song " Autumn Leaves" resonates through my mind even though no one has 'gone away' and left me. Good to sit back and gently watch little wax-eyes picking at the lump of gristle and fat hung from the cherry trees branches. There was a time when I could sit and puff on my pipe as I watched the world go bye. Today such behaviour is no longer considered politically correct. The system has set its limits to our hedonistic pleasures. One day a glass of Pinot Noir will no doubt be also forbidden.
A week of surprises lies ahead. For me? For you? Of course it does! Watch out for that surprise coming your way. It will creep up and say "Boo" to you. It is a beginning. The surprise of Autumn can be as delightful as the coming warmth of Spring.