Wednesday 19 May 2010

Seasonal defiance

With winter very much on the way in, rain and chill mornings now a certainty, I was delighted this week to find that there are some areas where there is a last ditch defiance against the encroaching season



We haven't yet put the heating on (to the amazement of a number of friends and colleagues), but I don't think that it will be long before we start, particularly as we are hosting the board gaming group for Phoenix Sci-fi this weekend, and it's probably not fair to ask friends to sit in the ice-box all evening...

The birds are starting to gather for their migration - I don't know which birds here are seasonal and which brave the winter through, but there is a definite congregation on the roofs of the office towers around where I work - not only does the block opposite ours look like it is auditioning for a Hitchcock film, but they are also gathering on the roof of our building. Right over my head. The squeaks and chirrups are at just the right pitch to trigger my sensitive hearing, and I think I will be glad when they have taken off for warmer climates!

Work and social life are busy in equal measures - we have also joined the Hutt sci-fi group, who do a video evening locally to us once a month, and also have a monthly "presentation" evening. There is a small "cross pollination" from the Phoenix group, but we actually were persuaded to join by the husband of one of the flautists from orchestra! We had a narrow loss in hockey, but given that we were a person short, had three players who hadn't played in a long time, and our star centre forward got concussed by a bad tackle mid way through the first half, I think we did very well to only lose 1-0. The pitch was all the way out in Paraparamu, which is about an hour's drive north from here, right at the end of one of the train lines. The coastline was spectacular - the bay round Hutt is so calm that I'd forgotten how stormy the sea can be. I'd definitely like to visit the area properly, but it may wait for the spring or summer (possibly even a train trip on the free Christmas train...)and the certainty of a nice day.

6 comments:

John Toon said...

In your face, winter! IN YOUR ICY FACE!!

P.S. Brrr.

Re birds, the tui are definitely coming back. I think they must take their holiday in autumn to beat the seasonal rush.

Lynelle Howell said...

You've joined Upper Hutt SF club too? My John is the president. Sorry you didn't make the recent club bbq, it would have been lovely to see you there. Sadly, I don't get to the UHSF club often, but it's hard with the two kids.

Jo said...

Do I sense a Howell monopoly on the presidency of the Wellington region Sci-Fi societies? ;-)

John Toon said...

They're the Not-at-all Secret Masters of Fandom!

Wisewebwoman said...

I'm like you Jo I hold off on the heat. I don't want to admit that really, yes, indeed, winter has arrived.
It sounds like you are totes into NZ life and have made lots of new friends. I'm always intrigued by the Sci-Fi clubs, can you do a post about what the atmosphere is like, what happens, etc. sometime?
XO
WWW

Jo said...

Will do my best :-)