Note To Future Self

When my unrepentant, heathen soul shuffles off this mortal coil, I’m sure to be condemned to unceasing Sisyphean labor. Nope, no boulder involved. Just an eternity of dandelions, each as big around as my thumb, deeply rooted, and regrowing two heads for every one I cut off.

Which would be a lot like working in the yard now, except, ya know, without the brimstone.

On a lighter note: spring! yay!

And finally…

we’ve got wild asparagus. Since this is a wholesome family blog, you and your dirty mind can make up with your own “or are you just happy to see me” joke.

Anna recently accumulated a few hours of comp time, so we decided to take a 3-day weekend and see the West coast of South Island.

As a prejudiced East-coaster, it’s easy to say there’s a whole lot of beautiful nothing on the West coast. That’s not entirely true, of course. There are glaciers

and there’s a whole lot of rain. 15 meters per year, in some places.

Luckily we planned ahead and our outdoors activities avoided most of the latter.

But we still got our fair share.

Total tally: 1027km of driving, two glaciers, a whole mess of hiking, two wonderful nights in the tiny village of Okarito (and one merely nice night in Hokatika), and one meal of fish-and-chips. Oh, and tui, fantail, glow worms. Neat!

Those of you in the uncivilised corners of the earth may not realize that the world of sport has reached its pinnacle this month, yes, this September of 2007. The World Cup is on.

No, not that world cup. This World Cup.

The Rugby. Oh yes, the rugby.

And when you’re talking about the Rugby, you’re talking about the All Blacks, NZed’s national team. There’s really no level of fame and fortune in US pro sports which can compare. Long after one’s rugby days are over, til the day they write your obituary, you’re still “former All-Black.” In fact, being a former All Black really entitles you to have your opinion heard about, well, just about anything. Wind farms and water rights, for example.

But I’m not here to talk about the All Black’s stunning first-round trouncing of Italy (76-14, thank ye very much) last night. No, I want to mention this ad campaign, from yesterday’s paper:

(click on the tiny version above for a huge version of the ad)

The fine print at the bottom of the ad reads:

This earth has been sourced from rugby grounds throughout New Zealand that have been played on by every All Black over the last 123 years. Excludes James Hendrie (680) the only All Black never to have played in New Zealand. Verified by Bob Luxford Dip. Mus. Studies, Secretary/Curator New Zealand Rugby Museum.

[n.b. There have been 1071 All Blacks. Also, the current ABs have taken their own earth capsules with them to France, including an apparently much larger dirt capsule which sits in the locker room, so they're always playing "on home turf" ....]

We actually saw one of the capsules in a shop window downtown, and yes, it’s a container about the size of a bottle of beer, full of soil, nestled in a commemorative velveteen case, complete with signed and authenticated certificate.

I’m so gob-smacked, I can’t even think of a smart-aleck remark to make. Dang. Now that’s passion for the rugby.

[Sadly, the US is currently in pool play with England, South Africa, Tonga, and Samoa. With any luck the surviving members of the US team will have a nice time watching the rest of the tournament from the hospital]

Besides staying up till all hours to watch the rugby this weekend, we also played host to Bob and Sandy, some friends from The Dalles:

They’re here in the second week of their Australasian tour, which seems to be going just fine. After their action-packed tour of Christchurch Saturday morning, we took them up the Port Hills to catch the sunset

Which I have to admit was pretty danged nice

Then we had a nice dinner at what is supposedly the first “retro-Kiwi” dining establishment. It seems the kitchy retro-50s diner template has finally made it across the Pacific. Sadly, though apparently accurately, they serve only fish-and-chips and roast lamb. OK, just kidding, they also have sausages, which come in the large (“sav”) and small (“cheerios”) formats, available either boiled or breaded and fried.

Anna also wrapped up her winter football league with a little pick-up game and barbecue.

Yes, I’m also disappointed that she hasn’t taken up the rugby, but our medical bills have been much lower.

Spring is finally springing!