Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Best wishes for Christmas day


Christmas day.
5 30 am.

The sunrise is spectacular,  the sun bright orange, turquoise  and green coming up through high cirrus cloud,  dead flat calm, the tide a very low one so my ship is well down below the level of the riverbank, sitting just aground in her berth.

The birds are just awakening,  setting out their territories for the day with song,  the Terns patrolling the river and occasionally plummeting in to pick up breakfast,  two King Shags ( Cormorants) are fishing just outside my bunks window, there are kingfishers sitting atop the pilings at the end of the jetty and Wellcome Swallows flitting around the stern.

Its full summer here in New Zealand of course, we’d expect about 24 degrees C today, and the forecast is for a warm, gentle day.

Perfect, I am due at my sisters place at about 11, have been told to bake an apple cake to help the festive lunch.   I’ll go for a paddle on the river while that’s baking, if I get on with it I’ll be able to do that before the flood current gets strong enough to be annoying. 

More birds, the resident flock of White faced herons have just flown in to join the Oystercatchers picking over the mudbanks while they are exposed, and I can hear the Canada Geese making their wakeup noise just across the way. I see that my pet pair of Mallard duck have just splashed down and they’ll be expecting breakfast.

Time to wish you all a very merry Christmas,  Summer solstice, midwinter celebration or which ever celebration fits your faith.

Time I got up, and got on with the day.

Kia Ora E Hoa.  E Haere Ra.

John Welsford