Fear can be fruitful.

 I don’t know about you but my life has had several detours.

Detours are those things that happen when road blocks toss you off the path you were on.  

No, I’m not talking traffic, I’m talking life.

Road Blocks can be painful but the detours they enforce can be life-changing.

I should know.

Without our current detour my camera wouldn’t have become my chosen appendage.  I wouldn’t have my favourite four-legged friend rambling with me every day.  I wouldn’t be following the dictates of my heart and pointing a lens in every direction but mine.

My exposing of my soul to the world is a direct result of this current detour.

It’s made me braver and shown me that fear can be fruitful.  

Some detours, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary. 

The sun DID try to shine this morning 

“A truly happy person is one who is able to enjoy the scenery whilst on a detour.” 

~ author unknown

That quotation is very apt.

The hound ISN’T a big fan of detours

 ... and now we’re talking the rambling kind, not the life kind.

She sees them as a hindrance.  

They delay her arrival on the beach and her presence in the waves.

In her eyes, detours should be avoided at all costs.

Sam feels the same, especially on a Friday when we head across the bridge to Takapuna Beach.  

He can’t wait to get there and is well aware of ANY deviation from the normal route.

This morning we drove PAST the usual spot we park in and all hell broke lose in the car.  

Both Sam and the hound became EXTREMELY vocal. 

WHERE ARE WE GOING??   

WHY AREN'T WE STOPPING??

Unbeknown to them, Carol was trying to park as close to the beach as possible 

and was heading to the end of the road to do a u-turn and park in the angled parking.

In hindsight, it was the WRONG thing to do.

Not from the hound’s perspective but from the Traffic Warden’s perspective.

The furball that thinks it's a hound ...

We didn’t register that the Special Event sign on the road was STILL applicable.  

We read the 4th February date but not the “until 17th February” bit.

and LOVES to join in the morning wash-down!

On our return from an exuberant and fun ramble there was a $40.00 fine on the windscreen of Carol’s car.  EVERY car parked along the road had a similar flappy piece of paper on the windscreen.  Guaranteed they were MOSTLY hound owners taking advantage of the longer off-leash times on Takapuna Beach.

Look at that face!

What is it about Traffic Wardens and Dog Wardens and the Carols (plural).  

If it’s not the Dog Wardens trying to claim their pound of flesh, it’s the Traffic Wardens. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

We’ve had a thought though.  Both hounds SHAKE on command.  

If the command was silent these unsuspecting Fine-issuing Felons 

... and by felons, I mean it in the archaic sense of the word 

“a wicked person” not a criminal  ... 

would get their come-uppance.  

Carol and I would be smiling and the perceived injustice would be righted!

Fire-breathing dragons and Dog Wardens

All I want for Christmas is a DRAGON

 ... to TERRORISE the Dog Wardens!

Yes, Smaug the FIRE-breathing dragon from The Hobbit will do.  Terrorising the wardens with a dragon will make up for the frustrating fashion in which The Hobbit movie ended.

It would also satisfy my blood lust.  

Dog Wardens are NOT my favourite of people.

They WORK on Boxing Day.  One would assume that early in the morning on a Public Holiday our beaches would be safe from the little notebooks and all-encompassing gaze of the Dog Wardens.

Not so.

7.30 in the morning and there he is, in his little red van, sitting on the boat ramp

 ... looking for a source of revenue.

It’s Christmas for goodness sake ... don’t they GET the Christmas spirit??

Where is that fire-breathing dragon when I need it.

It wouldn't ONLY be useful for the Dog Wardens.  

There are GOM's and Traffic Wardens  to terrorise too.

The Dog Warden left our beach empty-handed this morning though. 

We’d already been warned by a mamil, as we headed down from the view-site,

 that he’d seen the Warden at Kohi Beach. 

(A mamil for those not in the know is a middle aged man in lycra)

Sure enough, the Dog Warden soon arrived! 

So we walked the hound ON the beach OFF the leash but IN THE WAVES.

He sat in his little red van and watched us, knowing full-well there was nothing he could do 

whilst the hound’s paws were in the water.

She’s such a clever hound.  She retrieved ball after ball after ball and dropped them at my feet in the waves.  Not once did she put her slightly squiffy doggy paws onto the sand.

Indy desperate to get my coffee cup which the hound is finishing!

Hound 1 Dog Warden 0

It’s not everyday we get to triumph over the Dog Warden.

It’s NOT that I have a problem with people in authority, I just take issue with Wardens who’re more about revenue gathering than law enforcement. 

As for that fire-breathing dragon ... I can dream.

“Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.” 

~ John Muir

He was a 'revenue-gathering' machine in action.

“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.” 

~ Arthur Rubinstein

Yes, she was also puzzled by the Traffic Warden's behaviour.

Traffic Wardens have joined the ranks of Dog Wardens

 ... those individuals who hold down jobs that are detrimental to their health.

Sam's trying to add to his bark .... Carol won't be happy.

Detrimental from what perspective you might ask.

Let’s put it this way.  I wouldn’t swerve if one of the aforementioned individuals 

stepped in the path of my moving vehicle ... bicycle or otherwise.  

The Pohutukawa trees are flowering prolifically!

I was going to say ‘speeding car’ .... but I DON’T speed.

My favourite piece of real estate is looking magnificent.

Tiger likes to sit on something.  He knocked this piece of paper
off the arm of the couch then jumped down and lay on it.

I understand the necessity to ensure that vehicles using the road network are capable of being driven safely and aren’t a menace to other road-users.  

What I fail to understand is the mentality that dictates that these officials prowl the residential suburbs in the dawn hours, ticketing those vehicles parked on the road sans a WOF sticker (WOF = Warrant of Fitness).

Yes .... he's weird ... but is it any wonder.

The oldest lemming fell prey to these vultures of the traffic system yesterday.  

My apologies to the Vulture.  Vultures feed on the flesh of  the dead,

 traffic wardens dine on the living.

The oldest lemming recently lost his part-time job so is unemployed ... ditto the significant other ... AND penniless.  His WOF only expired a week ago.  Despite pointing this out to the Traffic Warden, he continued with the ticketing process.  Remove the vehicle from the road, he told me.

My gorgeous bay.

We bought home a huge bunch of balloons from one of the
markets for her.  She popped half the day before ... these are
what were left in the morning.

I should mention at this point that the driveway we share is full of scaffolding.  Our neighbours are doing external alterations which have necessitated scaffolding being erected across the span of the driveway. The Freelander has to breathe IN on the way down to the garages.  The oldest lemming’s vehicle CAN’T breathe in that much without seriously damaging it’s bodywork so is unable to negotiate the driveway. 

It didn't take her long to pop them all!

Not Auckland Council’s problem intoned the Traffic Warden.

There was NO compassion in his voice, 

no understanding in his gaze and DEFINITELY no heart in his body. 

He was a revenue-gathering machine in action.

Playing on the beach in the sunshine today and Sam wants her stick.

I know he has a job to do ... I just wish discretion was part of the job description. 

I wished him a nice day and told him I hoped he WOULDN’T be run over by a car.

There's not enough water to swim in so Sam shook it all over himself.

Grrrrr .... this is my first blog in over a week and all I’ve done is rant about the traffic warden!

At least the photographs are beautiful and tell a story all of their own!

“Purpose is the reason you journey.  

Passion is the fire that lights your way.” 

~ unknown

We met up with the gorgeous Panda and his dad at Browns Bay market this weekend.
What a treat it was to say hi to him!

The markets we've been at this week.
Top left - St. Helier's School Christmas Fair.
Top right and bottom left - Christmas Gift Fair at Telecom Building in town
Bottom right - Browns Bay Family Christmas Day out