I hesitate to include this photograph, but somehow Luxon will have to work with Winston Peters and Dave Seymour to form a working coalition.
Today is Sunday October 22, 2023. Kia ora!
This morning I went to church at Johnsonville Uniting Church, where we were worshipping this Sunday. I’m not sure that everyone at Khandallah got the message, which was a bit sudden! They have a lovely minister there, and there were three texts: the one in Exodus 32 about the golden calf (evidently the Egyptians had a god in the form of a bull, I did not know that); Psalm 106, and the beautiful text from Philippians 4: 1-19, which is such a comforting text about the peace of God which passes human understanding; it also encourages us to think about beautiful things, not negative ones. It is good to be distracted from the dreadful conflict in the Middle East and in Ukraine. The Middle East conflict seems to have aroused resentment and many anti-Israel protests. Some sceptics are asking what President Biden achieved by hugging Netanyahu, who has favoured Hamas over the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organisation) and been provocative rather than peaceful. Biden is seeking Congressional approval for a huge sum. Israel has apparently asked for $10 Billion dollars: for what, exactly? One hopes that Biden has some kind of leverage over Netanyahu, although I fear the latter is like someone else with his “reptilian cunning” and political survival instinct. “Blessed are the peacemakers”, says the Good Book. “For they shall be called Children of God”.
After church, I went to the Johnsonville Library to the café there and had an oat milk latté and a cheese scone. It was very busy, and the scones aren’t as good as Smith’s, but instead of finishing my book about Trieste, I read a very moving Guardian article about a still birth. Then I caught a bus home.
The little bit of good news about the Middle East conflict is that despite all the death and destruction and terrible news stories, aid trucks are now getting through from Egypt to Gaza. There is a terrible sense though that the Israelis will be seen as being as brutal as Hamas in their desperate vengeance.
I was going to return my book about Trieste to the library, but I can’t quite bear to part with it yet. How I miss the UK Book Depository, where one could buy cheap books with free shipping! No wonder Amazon took it over and closed it down. Perhaps one of the second-hand bookshops in Wellington will have a copy. Meanwhile, I should read some other books, but it’s hard to switch when one book has impressed one so much.
Today’s Guardian has an article about the Adriatic, including Trieste and Istria. Here’s a link:
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/oct/22/amazing-adriatic-the-top-five-places-to-visit
I wasn’t wrong to be fascinated by Trieste.
It’s now Monday October 23rd, Labour Day in New Zealand, a public holiday.
JD had an appointment, so I decided to go an see the French movie A Great Friend at Petone. The time for his appointment had changed, so he was able to give me a lift to Petone. Thankfully, there was hardly anyone there, so I decided to have lunch there: an oat milk latté, of course; an empanada, and a lemon and raspberry cupcake. There was plenty of time for me to tackle the puzzles in my new Listener before seeing the movie. And I’m pleased that I saw it, although it wasn’t one of the best movies.
Afterwards I was going to catch two buses home, but the timetable was different from what my phone had told me – instead of the #83 bus being due shortly after the end of the movie, there was 20 minutes to wait, according to the information board. JD rang me, and thankfully came to pick me up.
In the Middle East, more aid is getting through; the Israeli Defence Force is still firing missiles; and there’s enormous grief and anger in Gaza, and huge protests in other places, such as London and Australia. Meanwhile Biden is seeking more money to aid Israel and assist rebuilding in Gaza, after the Israelis have bombed it? Despite the fact that many right-wing Americans support what Biden is doing, although most of them wouldn’t admit it, many others oppose helping Israel.
Locally, it seems that work to earthquake-strengthen the Town Hall is now going to cost more, and won’t be finished until 2027! And then the Michael Fowler Centre will be closed for earthquake strengthening or for demolition!
There is to be an Italian Film Festival. I try to print the program, but it is pretty confusing. There are some old movies, including Blow Up, starring Vanessa Redgrave and David Hemmings, which so impressed me when it first came to Wellington; also Fellini’s La Strada. There’s a film about Naples called Nostalgia, which I’d really like to see. And then there’s BIFF (The British and Irish Film Festival) which has awkward times for the films I’d like to see. I like the French film Festival, where I can rock up in the daytime using my Gold Card and there’s usually enough room; or one can book in advance.
It’s now Wednesday October 25th.
Yesterday JD dropped me off at the Terrace in town. I was due to have a blood test, but the SCL lab was very busy! I had planned to have the test, have morning tea, but changing plans, I caught a bus to Manners Street and went to Arty Bees second-hand book shop. They didn’t have a copy of the book by Jan Morris about Trieste; I also went to Pegasus Books in Cuba Street, but they didn’t have it either. I then caught a bus to Willis St and had morning tea at Smith’s Café (a latté and a toasted cheese scone; and walked back to Unity Books. They don’t have the Trieste book, but they will order it in for me. By now, it’s so hard to get, I really want my own copy. They also have a Lonely Planet Guide to Taiwan (surprise!), but it’s quite expensive at $45, although it looks really interesting. Then I walked down Willis St and Lambton Quay back to SCL labs on The Terrace. Although it was lunch time by now, there were fewer people there, and I could sit on a two-seater sofa. By now I felt terrible, but having made it there, I was determined to have my blood test.
Afterwards it was raining outside, and it was really warm, so I took a jersey off and my scarf and got out a thicker tote bag. I rang JD, and thankfully he came to pick me up – I was really too tired to get home using public transport, especially in the wet. I bought a package of petit fours cakes to bring home from the Bordeaux Bakery in Lambton Square.
This morning I had a Te Reo Māori class in Khandallah at 10 am. Future classes are to be at 10:15 am, thankfully! It was fun – we played the card game Fish, and asked each other for cards in Māori. Afterwards, I planned to catch a bus to Johnsonville. It was really cold now. There was nine minutes to wait for another bus, and I rang my cousin, who’d tried to ring me earlier. Consequently I managed to miss two buses to Churton Park, and had to ask JD to pick me up after all. We were really late by now for minding our granddaughter at 1 pm. I got some lunch from the Café at the library, and JD had a quick shower.
We minded our granddaughter for a couple of hours: what a treat! She and I alternately read each other stories (she’s only 3, but has an amazing memory). And played UNO, which is a bit like Fish. It was great fun. We also admired her soft toys, and she played with a wooden puzzle which I had brought. She did a drawing with her Grandpa.
There’s big news today. Two more hostages have been released by Hamas, but there’s been dreadful violence in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinians killed. A UN resolution for a ceasefire has been vetoed by the US. It seems to me that President Biden is getting himself in all kinds of trouble for supporting Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu, which would be supported by republicans except he’s a democrat; on the other hand, many, including Jewish people in America, are very frustrated by the ongoing violence in Gaza, and are asking, like myself, what is the endgame? What is the desired outcome? Palestinian lives in Gaza, whatever their government, seem expendable, as the humanitarian crisis worsens. A hospital and a mosque have been bombed. The hurt and destruction are terrible. BBC4 continues to file excellent if harrowing reports.
In the US, there are plenty of distractions. A MAGA guy, Tom Emmer, was proposed for speaker, but Trump said No, so he withdrew his name. Now another republican, Mike Johnson, (who?) has been put forward. Jenna Ellis, indicted by Georgia D.A. Fani Willis, has pled guilty, tearfully, saying that if she’d know the information about Trump winning the election was untrue, she wouldn’t have acted for him. Another Trump ally, Mark Meadows, former Chief of Staff, has opted for a plea deal in Jack Smith’s election interference case. Meanwhile Trump continues to make vile claims, and guess what U.S. also means “us” – who would have thought it? He also claimed, at a rally in New Hampshire, that Victor Orbán, the strongman leader if Hungary, was the leader of Turkey. That country also has a strong man leader, but it’s not Orbán, it’s Erdoğan. Well, Biden may be old, but he’s not that dotty, and thank goodness he’s president during this crisis, and not Trump. It’s ghastly to imagine how Trump would have handled it.
In other news, Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has testified against Trump in his New York fraud trial, saying that he was required to state the business and property values according to what Trump wanted, not what he or Allan Weisselberg (C.F.O. but not a qualified accountant), may have thought. Both men went to prison for Trump; Cohen obviously greatly regrets having lied for his former boss. Trump stormed out of the court saying that he had won. Actually, that is not the case.
It’s now Thursday October 26th.
This morning our son rang from the UK! It was lovely to talk to him. I had to bow out of the call to have a shower and go to singing in Khandallah. It’s very windy today, and crowded with disruptions in Khandallah: a water main replacement is inching ever closer to the shopping village in Ganges Road, and there are detours and lots of cones, so it’s a challenge to get there but people come, nonetheless. Singing was lovely, of course, and I even managed to pick up a prescription in Johnsonville on the way. Afterwards a dear friend gave me a lift home – she even brought her car outside the Town Hall to pickup another friend and myself.
Now, I’m trying to catch up with the news: in the US, Trump has been fined (again) $20,000 for defying Judge Engoron’s so-called “gag” order; Michael Cohen has taken the stand again; an a speaker of Congress has been elected, Mike Johnson – “Jordan in drag”, said Adam Kinzinger. He’s MAGA of course, an election denier and very conservative on abortion.
It’s now Sunday October 29th.
There’s been another mass shooting in the US, this time in Lewiston, Maine, where such things never happen. Well, it’s happened now. I think 18 people are dead, and perhaps 50 wounded. There was a big search for the gunman (a disaffected veteran), until he was found dead, having taken his own life. Amazingly, the new House Speaker, said this wasn’t the time to talk about gun violence (so what would be the “right time”?), and that people had a right to be armed and to defend themselves. Except, in the Uvalde, Texas shootings, the police were afraid of the gunman, and who can blame them.
Of course we are devastated by the All Blacks’ loss to the Springboks by one point in the Rugby World Cup final. The refereeing was upsetting of course, especially when the captain Sam Cane’s yellow card became a red card, and he was off for most of the game! Disallowed tries and a missed goal kick added to the misery. We watched it at our son’s house nearby, and I zoomed into the church service afterwards. Thank goodness for zoom, but sadly the sound wasn’t at all good this morning, although I turned up the volume on my computer. There was a visiting preacher, but I couldn’t hear much of what she said. I think it was about the devastating effects of climate change, and an exhortation to us to do what we can in our local environment to be wise and to look God’s Creation. Of course, we’re encouraged not to be afraid, but it is hard not to fear for our children and grandchildren’s futures.
I went on my first ever church retreat over the last two days. They had held one at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay some time ago, and I had not been, but those who did go enjoyed it.
This began with an interview first, and then a dinner and workshop on the Friday evening. JD came to pick me up afterwards, and we took another friend home, but JD insisted on doing a mystery tour of the Transmission Gully Highway to see where the exits were. I could have done without that!
On Saturday we were to start at 10 am, and as I had not had coffee, I got a take-away latté before hand. Two extra people joined us on the Saturday, making about twelve in addition to the minister and two elders taking this Pathways course. We worked in groups, or on our own, and it was really good to get to know people better, and learn more about their circumstances. There had been several bereavements that I hadn’t known about.
After lunch there was a hour’s quiet time, to go for a walk, pray, rest, reflect; I was wary of this but went in the church where I could put my feet up. I read some poems, read some verses (Isaiah 40 and Hebrews 12); prayed, and then played music in my head: Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and some hymns: O Master let me walk with thee, and Blessed Assurance. Then I joined some other folk in the sunshine.
We finished soon after 3:30 pm; I have to admit that I was very tired in the afternoon. I think I was glad I went, although I find it hard to say what I really mean in these situations.
Overseas, in Gaza, Israeli forces are stepping up their attacks; they have cut power and communications to Gaza, so the situation there is even more dire, as more and more innocent people and children are hurt, along with supposed Hamas terrorists; there have been protests including in Auckland and Wellington yesterday, marching for Palestinian rights. What a desperately sad situation.
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, we are in hiatus as we wait for special votes to be counted in the recent General Election, and Luxon does the tricky job of negotiating with two Māori: David Seymour and Winston Peters. It’s a kind of relief to be in this interim phase; although I remember we were in the US in November 2017 when Winston Peters announced his decision to form a government with the Labour Party, then headed by Jacinda Ardern, who was to become Prime Minister, and have her first child! I had quite given up on politics; what a treat it was to have a Labour Government, especially through Covid, and how proud I was of Prime Minister Ardern. Now, six years later, we wait again, not really expecting anything good. I just hope that our Super Gold Card privileges such as free public transport in off-peak hours don’t get removed.
The dreadful situation in the Middle East has quite distracted us from the war in Ukraine; there are fears that Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, will get involved, and that Iran is contributing to Hamas’ funding. This conflict could well spread. It’s such a sad and complicated situation.
That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.
Classic Barbarian 