Spiders, Brumby and books

Spring is here, The blossoms are amazing and life was feeling great. Sun shining and everything. So I packed my bags and took off to the city to visit a potter's studio, have lunch with my son and a sleep over with the grandkids and their adults. Enjoying the sound of birds returning from their Winter sojourn full of happy, happy, joy, joy anticipation for the time ahead I got onto the highway. I don't drive fast, let's be truthful, if I go over the speed limit it is because I am a passenger in another car. So, tootling along when around a sharp bend comes a big farm 4 wheel drive vehicle on my side of the road and no where to go. I tried to make myself shrink into the edge of the road, but there wasn't any. Luckily the driver missed me by a hair's breath. I almost got out to check that we hadn't exchanged paint in some way. Deep breath, calm the heart and off I go again. I was a little further down the highway on a really winding road, when a young lady ... I use the term lady lightly ... decided to overtake me because I was 5 km below the speed limit and apparently that is a crime worse than murder. She roared up next to me in a car with no guts under its bonnet and no power to speed ahead. We were shoulder to shoulder when she realised that there was a car coming towards her. She swerved and fishtailed and finally squeezed in behind me. I really thought I was going to die ... spun off this mortal coil ... literally spun. So in less than 10 minutes I had almost been obliterated into the next world and then spun into oblivion. I was so tempted to give the woman a one finger salute, but I am a better person than that. My motto being 'Be loving, Be gentle, Be kind'. None of these attributes were in the forefront of my mind. But just as I was lifting the finger ... I glanced at my side mirror. Festooned as it often is with spider webs. And I suddenly wondered how strong the web must be to withstand 100 km winds and yet never break. Another strange thing is that the spider in residence does not appear unless there is a juicy morsel snagged in its web. All that waving in the breeze and it never moves a whisker. Do spiders have whiskers? Did my loving Heavenly Father distract me from being offensive by putting that little creature in my sight? Who knows. But now I am seriously freaked out. I am a bit superstitious and know that things normally come in threes. The rest of the journey I was super vigilant. Nothing. No idiots in my path. I got to my destination unscathed and unharmed and almost calm. But today as I was travelling home, another 4X4 vehicle appears behind me and is soon sitting on my bumper so close I cannot read his number plate or see his lights at all. And not only that, but he has a whole forest of trees on the back that are tipping precariously sideways. If he should decide to overtake, and that was a real possibility, he would no doubt have swept me sideways and I would have once again faced death and destruction. I did the only sensible thing I could think of, I pulled over into a lay-bye. But because he was so close behind me ... yes, I did put my indicators on ... he nearly hit me and had to swerve violently ... trees and all ... and almost hit an oncoming vehicle. And yet those trees did not fall. Did he perhaps have 1000 spiders and their webs keeping it all in place? I will never know because, seriously, enough is enough.

I have been reading a new trope of books (trope meaning theme or idea) it is Amish romance. Sooooo cute. So clean and pure and really different to most other romance books on the market. I really only got into it because my usual romance writer is all written out. She has one more book in the series due for release ... but it is not out yet and I have a need for random books to read. I can demolish a book in a few hours ... when I should really be cleaning the kitchen/bathroom/lounge/bedroom or garden. Just as I finished a book and thought I should really mop the floor, I was saved by a phone call from an old friend. When I explained what I was doing she admitted to me that she has the same problem ... house cleaning being a chore she seldom faces. Last week a cousin phoned her to see if they could use her spare room while in town. She declined and they complained that she was not being very friendly. But she said, 'If I let them come to stay then I would have to clean the house.' We laughed together for a moment and agreed that at our age we can choose what we want to fill our days with. I have book shelves full of Barry's books that I really should get rid of. Louis L'amour being the main ones. He was a keen L'amour fan and would stop at second hand bookstores all over New Zealand to try and find one or two he didn't have. I want someone to have them that loves them as much as Barry did. Should I sell them on an auction site online to a collector or maybe someone like Barry? Should I hoard them in case a grandchild wants to inherit them? Should I let them gather dust on the bookshelf or should I take them to a second hand book shop and donate them? That decision can wait. At the moment they too are festooned with cobwebs and dust bunnies are descending on them. I did hear that children in the Islands might want to learn to read them, but would they be able to relate to a cowboy in the wild west? Surely they would prefer something Pacific Islander related?

My distant cousin, Elyne Mitchell, (who wrote The Man from Snowy River - novel based on the poem) had this same dilemma. Her daughter asked her one day why there were no stories relating to the Australian life. All the books that were available were British based. So Elyne started writing stories that her daughter, Indi could enjoy. Her Dad was a fascinating man ... well actually the whole family were pretty amazing. Her Dad was Sir Henry George Chauvel and he fought at Gallipoli in WW1 and commanded the Australian troops. I am sure she would have been able to write an amazing story about her own family, but she chose to portray a simple cattleman in the Australian outback that also spoke about the animals and flora of the area. The first books were called the Silver Brumby books. (Brumby is a wild Australian horse.) Perhaps we could encourage some of our Samoan family to start writing books about their lifestyle? Wink, wink, I am talking to you Manon or Sapini. Such a wealth of stories that you can tap into. But you know where I am if you want to talk about my idea. No pressure, I promise.

I bought some new dining room chairs last week. The table is great, but the chairs have developed terminal leg wobble that collapse under friends and family at inconvenient times. I looked at a furniture shop ... and online ... and at second hand stores. I was coming up blank, when the daughter of a friend remembered that her Mom had mentioned a set of chairs. So off I went with my nephew in tow to help tie down the chairs. There was no way I wanted them coming off the trailer on the highway and smashing into some poor innocent traveller. The chairs were perfect. Exactly what I wanted and for a great price. But as many of you will know, I am prone to bargain hunting. So setting me loose at a second hand store is fatal. I think I did quite well though ... I only bought two plants. Variegated bromeliads ... yes, I can see you drooling along with me. They were gorgeous and I was happy to pay the few coins to take them home. I didn't want to tell the shop that they had badly under-priced the plants. I would normally pay $20 per plant ... and all they wanted was $3 each. I know, I am evil for not advising them of their error. But who am I to argue with the seller. Now to keep them alive long enough for them to flower. Why do I need dining room chairs ... and plants? Well actually with Christmas fast approaching, I might actually stir myself enough to clean the house and invite a few folks over for a meal. And there is my first birthday without my dear husband around to navigate around. No, I didn't mean it is my first birthday ... it is actually my 66th, but it is the first without my sweetheart around and I know it will be a challenge.

Well folks, may your life be filled with the strength of the spider web and the joy of discovering new places through books. May you smile more and cry less, may you know that the bad things in life are not worth worrying about and may you be forever loved.