This weekend was pretty full on. On Friday, I started out with my marathon training and felt pretty good about pacing, etc.; I was a nerd and went to a lecture on identity at University but then went to Tali’s for a get-together for her husband visiting from the States. Also, it was pouring down raining (which it tends to do) and in my attempts to shield it coming sideways, I walked into a pole with my umbrella; needless to say, my now crooked umbrella isn’t effective anymore. I’ll think about getting another one, but maybe Spring will come to stay so I won’t need one. I got home fairly late from Freeman’s Bay, but just in time to wake up for ‘baiting’ with the University Tramping (Hiking) Club. Baiting, not bathing, is a biosecurity/conservation effort to decrease the count of possum, weasels, stoats and rats. This particular session was in the Waitakere Ranges. Going off my slim, New Zealand tramping knowledge, I assumed been once, second time should be just the same….I had no clue what I’d signed up for. We carpooled out to Ark in the Park (arriving semi-late to annoy at French volunteer coordinator) where we divided into pairs and selected a baiting line to follow. After brushing and spraying our boots with Triton (I’m a skeptic but it’s supposed to hinder the spread of kauri dieback disease), we were given instructions: look for pink tape as markers that you are on the correct line, a double wrapped tree = trap, replace cinnamon poison, traps should be 50m apart. Peter and I had D4 (which means absolutely nothing to you) which consisted of 14 stations and 4 more on an extension track…piece of cake. Our teams then carpooled up to the dam; had about 45 min walk (read “mudslide”) to the AUTC hut; then more to our lines. At station #1, me and Peter knocked off the baiting station (off to a great start!). We then had to whack and climb and crawl and fall to the others. It looked like Jurassic Park foliage but way thicker as in we aren’t on any trail anymore. Finding the pink markers overall was a simple enough measure but getting to them was another story. At one point we reached a patch of ferns, with no discernible path but for a tiny opening beneath. We thought surely we aren’t meant to go there, shooooot, we looked up under the tunnel and sure enough a pink flag was there. What was meant to take an hour, took two. To get back to the city, I hopped a ride with Joe, who I found out was a physician (little reminders that I am in the right place). As he’d been in healthcare for 30 years (family practice for 15, now renal/dialysis for 15), he gave me a timeline on the transition in health climate/directions.
Dropped in Newmarket (at 4:40p gah! All day, ended up missing Epic and Swan Lake by the Royal NZ Ballet) I decided to visit my favourite lady at Wise Cicada for apricots before going home to that oh so welcome shower. I’m certain I was a sight to see carrying a mud-caked boats and sweats through the shopping district. Great evening though, finished reading The Rehearsal (an ambitious of a book…well, it wasn’t terrible just not my favourite), finished epidemiology assignment #2 and brainstormed for assignment #3 (bipolar disorder, FFT and adherence).
Sunday I woke to run to the market for eggs (only to find out that La Cignale doesn’t open it’s stands “officially” till 9a). Well, since I’m the weekend regular, sold me them at 8:30 just in time so I could get home before it rained (again) and to meet Dietrich for church at Edge. Walking in Dietrich has an epiphany, “this is a hipster church” (duh!). But the message was timely. The message came from Psalms 40. As I’d been reading (okay attempting to read) Leviticus earlier this week, the portion that resonated with me was the mentioning of burnt offering and sin offerings. Reflecting on my own thoughts (learned this in my Group Dynamics Course) as I attended to the Burnt, meal, peace, sin, trespass offerings of the Book, I remembered how taxing I found just reading on these. Imagine having to keep these. To sum it up, Jesus Christ makes it super easy. I’m not required to keep these laws. The least I can do is meet Him not even 10% of the way. As a storyline, the speaker mentioned his wife’s return to New Zealand after 40 years to reconnect with her family (cliché roots). Always around these conversations, I think, that’s all fine and dandy, hooray for you, but I’d like to be able to do the same. Since returning from my family reunion with the older generation’s bios in tow, I made use of the 14-day Ancestry.com trial and poured through census records to go a little further than my great-grandparents. So this has had me excited, just to put a name, location, draft cards something, is progress. After brunch at Toru in Ponsonby, I went home and baked some muffins for the week’s breakfast. A batch of “whatever’s in the cupboard” and even incorporated some of the apple-mint chutney I’d made last week. So the little experiment was a success.
Since I’d told a friend I’d go to a BodyPump class with her, I started on a run across the city to meet her at the gym. Wouldn’t you know it, not even in the Domain yet and of course it rains (downpour). Well as long as it’s not in my eyes I’m good (HU cap always ready). On the ride home we had a discussion about Christ (I have more and more of these in New Zealand than I’ve ever had at home). After class, we enjoyed coconut buns and scaled trees to shake down grapefruit and lemons.
Health and human rights literature review is the weeks’ mission. It wasn’t supposed to take all day though to get the references in RefWorks (got to remember to do this as I go!).
Carrington off to Tech this week, Devin back to Hampton (Senior whoa!) and Syd at Trinity H.S. miss these guys and anticipating missing football season as well. Fly high Gaius. Be blessed all and Peace for now.
Oh and padre here are your chickens (greet me whenever I walk to uni).
Mille + Henri Espresso 