Wednesday, July 28, 2010

In the eyes of a child

A few days ago I went with my sister, brother in law and nephew to the Miniature Train rides, which operate once a week in Hamilton. Staffed by volunteers, they operate rides around a small park complete with bridges and ponds, with varying size miniature trains – including one that operates on steam.

We took a picnic lunch with us, sat around and chatted and watched the trains going past. My nephew was so engrossed in the sight of the trains rolling past he kept being distracted from his food and having to be cajoled by his parents to eat some more.

After lunch we all hopped on board the train for our first ride, our tickets were clipped and we were off. Its been so long since I was on a little train, I can barely remember what it was like – I remember going on a miniature train when I was a kid around Hamilton Lake, I think it used to operate every summer until it eventually got closed down.

My nephew loves trains. It was so great just seeing his face after he got off, looking so happy and alive and excited. And it reminded me how great it is going with someone to see something for the first time.

When you go sightseeing with a child, and they’re seeing something for the first time, so enthusiastic and open to everything they’re experiencing, and you get to have fun along with them. If I were to contrast that to the way that jaded cynics behave – immune to magic though its right there around them, really that’s not the best way to live life.

Theres a Creed song I really like, its the only song of theirs I know, called “With arms wide open” and its about how the singer wants his son to have an open heart, to enjoy all his experiences in life, and greet the world with open arms.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

In Context

At high school I never wanted to study history. So I took geography instead – I liked the idea of field trips and geography led to plenty of excursions. My understanding of history was that it was all hideously boring names, places and dates.

At Uni I took a paper about French history, which was a lot more preferable, since I already had a vested interest in the topic, and all the lectures were in French. The only other history I knew was religion focused – the Bible, the Gutenberg press, reformation, protestants, settling of America and the like.

I came across a thought at the family history fair I attended recently, by Anne Bromell, that you “should learn social history, or you won’t know why anything happened -… why people moved country.”

So even though I’ve always thought history was hideously boring, I’m trying to place my ancestors lives into the context of the times in which they lived. Hopefully if I learn more about the places that they grew up in, it will give me more insight as to why they emigrated to strange and foreign shores.

For example, one of my ancestors families – George and Lucy Mansfield, I thought that they had moved here for more money and a better life for their children. But I found out in some notes I came across recently, that the Dr told them that a sea voyage would be good for the husband, who was apparently quite sick. I seriously doubt that the boat they picked to come on would have helped his condition.

The Atrato, one of the earliest steam ships to come here, had over 700 passengers on a 350ft long vessel, and about a third of the passengers were children. Sickness broke out on the ship and several kids and 1 adult died. The ship was delayed for sometime in England while some technical difficulties were ironed out. Having to occupy several small children who were cooped up in a small space could not have been very enjoyable, especially when all the kids were getting sick. They did all make it here safely in the end, but to top off their troubles, when they arrived in their new homeland, they learned that Lucy’s mother had died while they were traveling on the ship.

At the moment I’m learning about 18th century rural England and the peninsula war (4th ggrandfather), Canada in the 19th century and the Maori wars (3rd ggrandfather), WWI (great grandfather) and WWII (grandfather). Having people that I know of, in particular world events makes me feel much more connected to the story.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Believing or not

A couple of weeks ago at work, I was reading one of the newspapers that happened to be in the staff room, and came across the horoscopes, which I don’t always read, but I decided to have a look at mine on this occasion and one thing jumped out at me. Something along the lines of “one of your projects will receive a much needed boost this week.” Which surprised and intrigued me, and I was immediately thinking ahead to what it could be. My main project that I’ve been devoting time to lately is the book that I’m writing about one branch of my ancestors.

Even though I don’t believe in horoscopes, sometimes I read them retrospectively and they have come true. But then that could easily be a matter of subconsciously filtering out anything that didn’t apply.

Fast forward a few days, and my Mum texts me that great aunt Dulcie has passed away and her funeral is the next day. Great aunt Dulcie, who I’ve only met one time last year, was 97yrs old and the last of her generation in the family. She was my great grandfathers first cousin, he died in 1962, so she pretty much outlasted everybody. I think it would suck to outlast all my own generation, but good on her.

I wanted to go to the funeral, which was in Tauranga, but not by myself, so after much disgruntled back and forth it was finally arranged that me, my Mum and aunty would all go to the funeral together.

Even though I felt sad for her nephews and nieces and grandkids that genuinely really missed her, she had had a full and great life and obviously it was her time to go. She was a nurse in WWII and worked as a midwife in China, and lived in several different parts of the world including Norfolk Island where she retired, before moving back to NZ and getting married (twice). At the funeral I met several members of the family who are all working separately on the family tree, exchanged contact details, it was great.

Then we decided to drive out to see my grandma’s sister, and talk to her. It was so good seeing her, she told us stories about her and her parents and the family and I showed her some of the things I’d put together for the book. So my horoscope was right, I did receive a help towards my project. But a one off correct statement in there does not mean that they’ll get it right every time.

Monday, July 5, 2010

The Health and Safety Killjoy

Its very important to have your health, and be safe in life, otherwise theres really not that much to look forward to. But sometimes I wonder if its gone too far.

When I was a kid there was a huge jungle gym in my school. It seemed huge at the time, at least 3x the height of an adult, but its gone now. It came complete with firemans pole about half a metre out from the main structure, which I could never quite bring myself to slide down. It wasn’t the sliding down part that scared me, it was the necessity of jumping from the platform out to the pole. I never quite had enough confidence for that leap across.

Anyway the awesome jungle gym is gone – even the huge obstacle course that ringed the school field has been demolished. Out of health and safety concerns. And what do they put in its place? Brightly coloured plastic creations, low to the ground, harmless and safe.

Nobody wants their kids to get hurt, the schools, councils and families don’t, I get it. But personally, I think its part of being a kid to get hurt. You fall down, you get up again, you continue, you’ve learnt something. Why are they trying to make life so tame?

I think its sad that they’re trying to sterilize kids, protect them from every little possible thing that could go wrong, wrap them up in cotton wool, so to speak. How is a kid supposed to learn anything when all the potentially bad choices are taken away from them? No wonder kids get bored. Theres nothing outdoors to challenge, excite and stimulate them. No wonder they turn to computer games.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Elusive Moments

My high school physics teacher told us one time, that whenever you see a double rainbow, one of them will be reversed in colour. Ie red on the outside and purple on the inside. I saw a double rainbow at work yesterday and remembered what he’d said. It was beautiful. If I hadn’t been in the middle of helping customers I would have grabbed my phone and taken a photo with it.

The other day I was on my way home from work when I saw an exceptionally brightly coloured strand of rainbow (rapidly fading) in between Mt Pirongia and the Temple. It was awesome. I pulled over the side of the road to take a picture with my phone but it was too small and my phone didn’t really pick up the colours properly. So then I took another one only to find out I had no space left on my memory card and would have to delete something first. That took a few minutes – so hard deciding what to get rid of – and by the time I’d finished the rainbow had faded and the moment was gone.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Looking after yourself

Love your liver and live longer

So goes the slogan for the Liver Cleansing Diet book by Sandra Cabot, an Australian lady. Apparently if you suffer from obesity, high blood pressure or cholesterol, liver disease, gallstones, digestive problems, irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, or chronic fatigue syndrome, chances are your liver needs a break.

The liver weighs 1-1.5kgs and is basically the bodys version of a water and waste treatment plant, taking in everything, sorting it, modifying it until its safe to be let loose. However, due to excessive pollution, chemicals in the air and environment, eating rubbish food, alcohol and so forth, the liver becomes overworked and unable to do everything that it needs to do.

My chiropractor told both my sister and I that we should do a liver cleanse, so we have jointly decided to to the liver cleansing diet together. Week one wasn’t too bad. She basically tries to wean you off certain foods that aren’t helping, like red meat, dairy, junk food and processed foods. Halfway through week 2 and I had a blowout day, but I’m going to get back into it tomorrow.

The next 4 weeks will be more challenging, as they require cutting out all meat and egg yolks. Not sure what the purpose of eliminating egg yolks is, but I’ll have to finish reading the book and see if she mentions why.

Eight weeks is not too long anyway. And it seems like one of the simplest diets I’ve ever come across anyway. No counting stuff and weighing everything, no hunger cravings. Its brilliant.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Movement and Grace

When I was sixteen I was getting ready with my siblings and cousins for our school ball. We had a few group photos first, and then the individual shots were taken. One of my siblings told me my butt was sticking out. That was the start of my sway back. Lordosis is the technical term for it.

Nobody has ever really told me what causes it – whether it’s a deformation of the spine, or the muscles holding the spine, whether its fixable or whether I have to just keep putting up with it indefinitely. All I know is that it means my lower spine is curved too much and my back muscles go into spasm on a regular basis. And lately my back has been stiffening up when I try to sit and stand. I feel like an old woman.

Over the last ten or so years, I have tried a number of things. A chiropractor who xrayed me and then smashed my spine into place 3x a week for a goodly amount of money, Alexander Technique classes, Massage, Naturopath, Iridologist, Muscle Testing, more Chiropractic sessions, Pilates, Yoga and Bowen Therapy.

Out of all of them, yoga seemed quite promising, as did the Alexander technique. I have found a new chiropractor who my sister recommended, and I really like her. Last week she did muscle testing on me, and found out I have excess levels of several chemicals in my bloodstream, meaning that my liver isn’t doing a good cleanup job at the moment.

I also went to a bowen therapist last week who also does reiki and some other techniques. She said my left side is a lot tighter than my right. She loosened up a lot of muscles in my lower back, which felt like heaven, but it only lasted a few hours, then my back insisted on undoing all her good work. I could actually feel the muscles twisting themselves back into knots. Theres something compensatory going on there but I’m not sure what its compensating for.

I went to field days in Hamilton, where this guy tried to sell me some dvd’s about learning to move like a child – because children move with perfect grace and in harmony with gravity. He made some comments about chiropractors which I didn’t appreciate, since I like my chiropractor, and I couldn’t see or make a judgement on the value of what he was trying to sell me, since I know nothing about the “Milicich” method.