It was a good week in Nelson. We got a bit more social and, today, Andrew's invited his new friend David over.

I think the highlight was Thursday. I volunteered for Andrew's interschool swim meet. As in Harry Potter, the school has four "houses" and throughout the year they schedule competitions (kind of like Quiddicht). This was the first one of the year. My job was to determine who came in third in each of the swim events - a VERY intense job. I've got to tell you, it's easier to determine first than it is third. Fortunately, you work as a team and my partner Lee and I would concur before we'd award the token.

Andrew has been swimming every day since school started (that's his practice pool above). Physical activity is a major part of the curriculum; we love it. Nonetheless, I was a wee bit worried about his swimming skills. He was up for three events - a "mad dash", freestyle and backstroke - all across the width of the pool. While watching him do the backstroke, I was beside myself with excitement....... I didn't even know he could do that stroke!! Lost in my enthusiasm, I totally missed who came in third because Andrew came in second, what a surprise! Must have been all that swimming at Ryder's house. (we miss you)

Anyway, it's all fun and WAY laid back. The kids are smiling and nobody gets caught up in the placing. And, it was such a nice opportunity to meet some parents. I met Bronwyn from the North Island, Jill from Australia and another woman from South Africa. Everyone is from somewhere around here; it makes me feel less of an outsider. Anyway, we're coming a bit out of our shells and it feels nice.

Keys are symbolic of so much. Ownership. One's place is society. Status. Possessions. Here is my/our keychain, as of today. It is very much "our" keychain. We only have one car, so whomever takes the car takes the keys. The other key is to our PO Box in town. Our key collection may appear slim, but really this signifies a re-accumulation of keys from our low count of zero.

It was an interesting process leaving town, and I was thinking about keys at that time, too. I had the typical keyring for a two-car-owning, home-owning, working individual. Keys to both cars, with a key to a club antitheft device thrown in. Keys to multiple different locks around the house. Keys to the office. Keys to the mailbox. Probably a few more I am forgetting. And I pretty much didn't leave home without them. How could you? Maybe if you were walking to the corner store and someone else was home to let you in when you got back. So, without even realizing it you have this keychain that goes around with you for most of your waking hours.

You don't notice it until you don't have it anymore.

First one car went. The keys themselves are the most physical aspect to the passing of title. You have to line up each key into the slot in the metal ring and torque them out one by one and hand them over. Next to go were keys to the office. Then the keys to the house. Then at the very last minute the keys to the second car. Friend Tom drove us to the airport and that was it, no more keys. This lasted for a period of weeks, absolutely no keys to anything, until we bought Ruben the car. That's right we have decided on Ruben, which came from someone's suggestion of Ruby and the idea that the car is in fact a boy car. It also happens to be the name of the protagonist of a book I am reading right now called Peace Like a River. Highly recommended.

Back to the keys. I'd have to say handing over the keys to the house was the hardest. And yet there is another element to this process of becoming untethered, and it is the entrance of chance and circumstance into one's life. Objects will be replaced. Why that particular car? Because the lot was next to the grocery store and we were right there. Why that house? The barber told me about it. Such chance is not always welcome.

And sometimes it is.

I am a homebody by nature. I like piddling in the garden, eating a home cooked meal and sleeping in my own bed. I’ve always enjoyed coming home after a vacation and getting back in my routine. I can only stand so much eating out and idle pleasure; it depresses me. And, yet, here I find myself, after 6 weeks, still living out of a suitcase and at lodging number 5…. I am ready to get to Maire Street.

This begs the question, why did we do it? Uproot our family, the routine, the house. Everything was so cool and easy. I had a great house, great friends and work that I loved.
Truth is, were it not for Duane, I probably wouldn’t have moved to New Zealand. Of course, were it not for Duane, I might not be an artist. We might never have bought that old crack house…… I might not have done a lot of things.

Duane has always taken calculated risks and debunked societal expectations of what one is “supposed” to do. He’s done things his way and along the way taught me to be suspicious of popular culture and what is and what is not important. I can draw pleasure from simple things and not from cars and clothes and stuff. A good day involves sweat and accomplishment…..weeding a bed, painting a room, pulling an edition of prints. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating out and buying things (especially art and music), but all with temperance.

So, there are a multitude of reasons for leaving. Reason number one is kind of that nebulous “because it was there and we could.” We did it for the challenge of it and to give our kids a taste of nature and broaden their experiences. It thrills me to see them riding bikes to school, exploring tidal pools (with Andrew exclaiming "I love this place!") and buying nickel candies at the corner store. I am happy to spend this quality time with them now, rather than travel when I am older.

Six weeks into it, has it all been fun and games? No. We’ve spent an ENORMOUS amount of time together in small quarters. Having nothing but Hallmark moments with your family is pie-in-the-sky romanticism. The weekends can be quite long as we’ve yet to make friends and have only each other. Nonetheless we feel like we’ve gotten our kids back after their nonstop social lives in Houston (especially Dean) and it’s been good. Am I ready to move into a bigger house and get working? You bet. Do I miss Houston? Yes. Am I excited about what lies ahead? Totally.

WEEEEEE!.........I got another cut by falling off my bike while biking up a hill trying to stratch my ear......OWWWW!

Here is the new one.

Here are pictures of the old ones.

I'd never really shifted gears until we moved to Nelson. Through garage sales and buy/trade NZ, we've each managed to get bikes.........and around here, you need (REALLY WANT) them . Everyone rides. I swear three year olds are biking. (Thank goodness Andrew's riding now lest they send us back to the States. )

The riding is fantastic. They've converted old rail lines to hike and bike trails. The small towns around Nelson are connected and they have coastal routes. Dean rides to school everyday. I get him down the hill and across the "big" street and then he's off on his own. We fly down the hill and it's FANTASTIC, the bear is getting back up. I've yet to make it all the way , one day I'll slay that beast.

Saturday Duane and I rode around Monaco Peninsula. It's a charming point and an easy 8k- 10k loop - mostly coastal riding with just a few hills. Best part, The Honest Lawyer Pub.... a fine midway point where we enjoyed a Mac's brew and some wedgies! If you come, we'll be sure and take you there!!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Yay!!! I'm going down the BMX Track on my new bike!!!

WEEEEEEEE!!!WEEE-"CRASH"!!!

OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Today I fell off my BMX bike while going through a turn and I scraped myself..... It hurt.

I'm OK now though. Here's how it happened, I'm just riding along when I get to a turn. On these turns you can go up the side, so I was trying to do that. I tried to go up, but my pedal hit the ground, then my bike, then me. I didn't let that stop me though, I went aroud the track 4 more times.

The End!!!

I actually learned to rock climb yesterday. My dad says I figured out a pathway on the rock climbing wall.



Even more exciting, I LEARNED HOW TO RIDE A BIKE!!!!!!! Now that I know how to ride a bike, it is SO fun.


Andrew

I looked at the calendar this morning. I can't believe we've only been here a little over three weeks......it seems longer. It's so nice hearing from everyone, keeps me connected, thanks. I know, I know, I need to make connections here, too. That's something I'll ease into. I want to choose my commitments carefully. I was invited to join a beach bum group yesterday. They have a certain spot at the beach where they meet from November - May. Now, that's something I think I can do. .....can you believe I rode my bike to the beach yesterday....10 minutes.

I've started on some new artwork. Got a book on lowbrow artists - way cool. So many of them draw their inspiration from old comics, illustrations, tin toys and carnivals. Lots of the stuff that I really dig. I so much more love Outsider, Folk and, now, Lowbrow work than I do "High Brow" art, they don't seem to take themselves so seriously. Just the same, the work is extremely creative and out there. I'll never be edgy enough to be an Outsider or Lowbrow, but I'm certainy going to let it inspire me.

I love listening to music while I work. A lot of time I think of my friends in Houston. Thanks for turning me on to Death Cab for Cutie, Michelle. I think of Rick when I listen to the Duhks. Marty is Wilco. Return of the Grievous Angel... Sue. Any Joni is John George. Jeff Buckley, Tom Hagemann. Motorcade of Generosity, Stephen. Elliott Smith (I love him), Paul Cobb. The Hudsons, my home girls. Of course, then there's Willie. He's John and Jacqueline, but mostly he's Texas. The list goes on and on. I only wish I'd packed more music. What are you listening to now???

It pays to travel with a sharp knife!

This is the knife that friend Joanie gave us the night before we left for NZ. We had one last burrito at Freebirds and this went straight into our bags. Well, as fate would have it, we have been in a series of accomodations prior to moving into the long rental, and the knife has come in extremely handy.

Here'a a partial list of what we've cut so far: bananas, pineapple, apples, dates, grapes, potatoes, celery, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, avocado, zuchini, pickles, pork chops, chicken, cheese, cake, brownies, aspirin, numerous bags and containers, who knows what else.

Just don't pack it in the carry-on.

By the way that's Herr Salz and Frau Pfeffer who made the journey, too.

The days are filled with sun and fun, but at night I dream of Texas. How odd it has been to go from a busy pace to so much calm and quiet. I miss my friends, my home and my 'hood, but am working on embracing this slower pace. And, while part of me wants to dive in and meet people and get active, another wants to learn the Zen of being alone and small.

One of my favorite things is swimming in the bay. The water is quite cold - Arctic by Texas standards (65). I gradually submerge myself, acclimating and then going a bit

further in until I throw down the gauntlet and just dive under. It's exhilarating and knocks my breath away. The Kiwi oldsters are amazing. Often I see couples going out for there morning dip. They dive in like it's no BIG DEAL. Maybe in a year I can do it!

Saturday Andrew, Duane and I drove out to Monaco peninsula. I sat on a bench and saw Andrew intently leaning on Duane. I knew they were adorable....but, what was so captivating? Ah, when one is completely still, little crabs emerge to feed. There were thousands everywhere, but a single movement and they disappear. We loved listening to an angry, squalking seagull try and cajole them out, no luck.

It is a gift to be surrounded by water.

It feeds the soul and gives us peace........and lots of entertainment.

First Day of School!

Both kids in uniform, on the way out the door to school. Hats are mandatory for this term, at least on the playground.

Dean's school you can't wear tennies except at PE, so he's going with sandals.

It makes for a full backpack because you've got PE uniform and swim trunks or togs as they're called here.

Now a picture of the challege course at Dean's school. We tried it. It's challenging. The contraption up to the right is like a bicycle pedal and you hang from your arms and "pedal" your way across from one side to the other. I can do, oh, about one turn of the crank, then I drop like a rock.

On the picture on top we are on the really big rock we climbed and on the bottom is a UT hat we saw going down the path.

It is a tiny moth on my thumb. I caught it on a grape vine. I remove them from the grape vine to the passion fruit vine. Today we saw a tiny bird eat the tiny moth like godzilla eating a building. I have seen moth larvae. I am very uninteresting to listen to. Bwahahaha from Dean who wrote this but it was from Andrew.

Will this still be fun in six months?????

We are staying at the yellow house below. The sheep graze in the field . We sit out on the deck and enjoy the fabulous bay view

Our neighbors.