Land of the long white cloud ...... pfffft!

Volcanoes in elevated states of unrest ... torrential rain and flooding in Australia and in Mozambique ... extreme cold and snow in the UK .... power outages in South Africa

 .... and what are we having here in Aux?

Glorious summer weather!

Land of the long white cloud ..... pffft ..... they don’t know WHAT they’re talking about! 

Blue skies, sunshine and a full moon are the order of the day!

Auckland Anniversary Day, which was celebrated yesterday, was NO exception. It was magnificent. Half of Auckland moved out to their baches and the other half of New Zealand moved in! I participated in a huge market in Mission Bay .... got to see all my craft market buddies AND an air show AND ate Churros and French Crepes! 

Yum!

The gorgeous photos I’ve been getting of the full moon bought to mind an interesting individual called  "The Moon Man”, aka Ken Ring who gets himself a lot of media attention. He’s a self-proclaimed weather guru who uses the Lunar Cycle to predict the weather .... and earthquakes ..... a YEAR in advance!

Some say his science is bogus but plenty of people swear by it.

Every year since 1999 he’s published an Almanac predicting on a day to day basis what the weather is going to do here in NZ.  He added an Australian Almanac in 2006 and an Almanac for Ireland in 2010.  His methods are NOT supported by mainstream science and often stir up controversy.

Despite all this, his New Zealand Almanac is amongst the Top Ten Selling Non-Fiction books most years.  Hmmmm ...... does that mean New Zealanders are more gullible than most, or that Ken Ring’s weather forecasts are pretty accurate?

He also predicts earthquakes based on the position of the moon. On his website he says that when the moon (in particular the new moon) is at perigee (closest to the earth) it may affect the Earth's mantle and alter the magnetic field. On 3 September 2010, on a weekly radio show he hosts, he stated on air that there would be floods, winds, snow and an earthquake in South Island sometime during the following week. 

Early morning sun-rise

That very next morning a 7.1 earthquake hit Christchurch. It was my first experience of a major earthquake hitting the country.  As fate would have it, it was also the first weekend my middle lemming was visiting Christchurch with her boyfriend.

I can remember posting a status on FB that the middle lemming had experienced two life events that I hadn’t .... she’d flown in a hot-air balloon over the Serengeti (a wish that’s STILL on my Bucket List) AND she’d lived through an earthquake.  I still don’t think I’ll add that experience to my Bucket List.

Interestingly enough Ken Ring also predicted the next deadly earthquake. He’d stated on his website that South Island would once again be susceptible to a large quake. The moon would be in it’s closest fly-past to earth for 2011 in March of that year.  On 14 February he tweeted "Potential earthquake time for the planet between 15th–25th, especially 18th for Christchurch, +/- about 3 days."

A deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on 22 February.

I’m intrigued.  Despite the accuracy of some of his predictions Ken Ring is NOT taken seriously by any scientist, geologist or seismologist.  His predictions are considered to be imprecise, inconsistent and vaguely worded, and his methods blatantly unscientific.

Killing the reindeer!

And yet ..... so many people still buy his Almanac! 

Go figure.

... to see things with a child's eyes ...

The Early morning sun on my favourite tree and piece of real estate 

 “People probably think I’m odd .... buying a loaf of bread and feeding it to the gulls” 

I see some strange sights on my morning rambles ... could have sworn the Pied Piper of Hamlyn ... in fowl form .... was on my beach this morning.  There was this man, walking along on the edge of the waves with a flock of gulls  - black-backed gulls and red-billed gulls ... as well as the inevitable pigeons .... following along behind him like a cloud.  The source of their interest became obvious as I got closer .... he had a loaf of bread that he was scattering around as he walked.  

The Pied Piper of St. Heliers Bay

Just out of interest .... and because I like googling completely inane information ... the collective noun for a flock of seagulls IS a “cloud” ... how bizarre!  

Back to the Pied Piper

he was grinning from ear to ear and thoroughly enjoying

the birds reaction to this
 impromptu meal. 

It's darker in the mornings so struggling a bit with light at the moment.

They squabble with one another ... catch the pieces in mid-air .... take it out of each others mouths .... it’s like a free-for-all at the supermarket! He stopped to chat and told me he’s been doing this for a few weeks now .... on different beaches .... and it gives him such a lift - not just the reaction of the birds but the impact it has on passers-by and fellow beach ramblers.  He’s been told he’s “crazy”.... “weird”..... “a whacky old man”!  I thought he was quite delightful .... one of those “in the moment” souls ... an individual who’s choosing to enjoy something simple in life.

He told me a story about the young woman he’s dating, a Chinese woman .... he must’ve been older than me but there’s no telling peoples age sometimes ..... he looked to be in his mid-fifties but I guess that’s not really much older than me.  He’d only met her recently and told her about his enjoyment of feeding the sea gulls and birds on the beaches ...... she in turn told him that her name in

Chinese means “bird of the sea” .... he believes karma is charting his course and he was meant to meet this young woman. 

He made me smile though ..... I could see in his face the same look I see on children’s faces when they’re feeding the gulls .... wonder and exhilaration.  What a gift ... to still have the

ability to see things with a child’s eyes.

Our ramble this morning was very necessary .... the hounds missed it yesterday because both Julia and I were participating in the Auckland Anniversary Day Market in Mission Bay.  It’s a huge market ... big and very busy .... so many  

She's asking me to come and help her MOVE this branch!

stalls and so many unusual items.  We ate junk food all day ..... so many delicious goodies to try out ...... all just SO yummy!!  This market only happens twice a year ..... Auckland Anniversary Day in January and Labour Day in October.

Our stall ... first time at an open air market using our own tables and
gazebo.  There's a lot we can do to make it all look more professional.

I am in awe of the wealth of creativity and talent out there ... it makes you aware of why it’s so difficult to get sales sometimes ... there are so many people with marvelous ideas and skills that are also trying to fill a niche in the market.  We soldier on .... our sales weren’t bad and the compliments and interest in our work gave us both such a boost. 

We come away from these markets having learned so much ... it reinforces for me the need to always be open to new ideas, new suggestions ... new ways of doing things. 

Our petition is gaining ground ... with the 20 forms my neighbour is getting signed, I have over 100

signatures already .... and we’re only just going into February.  I might need to cast my net wider on my rambles though as the regular “humans with hounds” that I see on a daily basis have all signed up .... I need fresh fodder!

Thinking of the petition reminds me of the GOM ... we saw him taking photos on Saturday morning of people on the beach with their hounds after the time permitted.  Auckland Council have asked for submissions on the current Dog bylaws and Policy as the regulations are set to change during 2012.  

All Auckland residents have the right to submit their proposals and I would assume, from having witnessed GOM taking his photos, that he plans to object to us having our hounds on the beach at all.  This could be war .... the GOM vs US!!

ps.  I took photos at the same time .... of an EMPTY beach apart from the illicit “humans with hounds” .... think I might include the photos in my submission too.