300th Post Retrospective

I thought quite a while before deciding on the subject of my 300th post.  That's quite a milestone after all. I had been throwing around some ideas that I thought might work,  bouncing them off the ladies when they weren't looking, and it was Allie who first suggested some sort of retrospective. That, I realized, made a lot of sense. 

So here I go. In this post, you'll see a few pictures you've seen before, and many that you have not. I've dated them, although the date doesn't really mean much for those that show only scenery. Still, it might be interesting to know when I took them. 

I have no idea how many photos I've shown you since I started. There were only two on my first post, but for a very long time now I've presented at least a dozen or more on most posts. That means that I must have displayed at least a couple thousand pictures of New Zealand. 

Obviously, I have used my blog to share the best of our lives with you. Sometimes the photos have been of objects, like benches, or flowers or fish. Other times they have been of food, the moon, etc., weather or buildings.  And a great many of them show us having a wonderful time. Does it look as though we live a life of nothing but travel, adventure, entertainment and wonder? 

Well, we have been blessed with the opportunity to enjoy a great many happy times.  And, truth be told, Allie works hard at providing the boys with as many opportunities for enrichment as possible. But, like every family, we have encountered very real challenges as well. Threats to our well-being have come upon us many times.  We've worked very hard to overcome the difficult times and have largely been successful. I hope that as you look through this photo album of mine, you'll remember to pray for us. I know that your prayers over the past years have helped us to accomplish what we have toward building the good life here you see on view.   

And it's true that we live in an amazing place. To this Yooper, Aotearoa is about as exotic as can be imagined. I wonder if I sometimes, or maybe often in these posts, sound a bit over-the-top enthusiastic about living here. I do get excited when I experience things that I've only read about before in my life and never thought I'd experience. That's my excuse I guess. My apologies if my enthusiasm gets tiresome. 

But I'm also aware, and have mentioned occasionaly, that Michigan boasts wonders every bit as awe inspiring as NZ. I loved seeng Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula some time ago, but in writing about it said that I had Never seen anywhere with more gorgeous rock and water colors than at Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior. And I have never felt the same feelings in the rainforests here that I experienced in the frozen Gourley Township cedar swamps in the winter. I have seen those swamps on frigid but sunny days and during no-holds-barred blizzards, and tell you honestly that there was something magical each time about being in them. And what about standing in front of the Manabezho Falls on the Presque Isle River in the spring and watching the river split in two to form the island I've reached by traversing the swinging suspension bridge? Completely unique. A world-class experience. 

I have never been old before. It's not like there are classes I could have taken in how to do it right. At least, I never heard about any being offered. But untrained or not, I think that each of us, as we ease our way into this time of life, will discover something unique about ourselves and how we react to aging. Something exclusive, arising from our own psyches, our attitudes, likes and dislikes, habits, weaknesses, and so on.

What I've found so far in my journey through old age, is a feeling of delight. Of a heightened awareness and appreciation of how wonderful so many things can be. The reason for part of this feeling might just be my retirement. After a life time of so very many manic Mondays, I am finally, finally free. 

I remember so well my first summer after retiring. I picked gallons of chokecherries. I stood alone under the trees along River Road and Seven Mile Marsh Road and several times simply stopped, and starred into the distance. I could not believe that I had made it through my earning years and would no longer have to 'suit-up' each morning, make the commute and satisfy a boss. 

So my feelings of delight started well before we came to New Zealand. 

Along with this feeling of delight comes a feeling of gratitude. Gratitude not only for being able to live an extraordinary retirement lifestyle now, but also for all the experiences that I enjoyed during my working career. I've known so many wonderful people. For having gotten me through the hard parts. For having provided me with a good living so that Jeanne and I can relax now.  

I'm not looking forward to the act of dying. But I do think that once I've passed that inescapable step, I'll know a level of delight and gratitude that I can't even begin to comprehend now. Maybe the pleasure I feel now of being retired and living in this exotic locale is meant as a hint to me of what I'll feel when I make it to all humankind's ultimate destination. Till then, just like I did during my working years, I'll keep plugging away. 
As you've seen in my past selections and will see in this batch of pictures today, plugging away is easy in these surroundings. Especially with such a family as I have. What a life.  

In my very first post, I asked you all to come along on our continuing adventure. With my 300th post, I repeat the invitation.                                                                            -djf

First ever blog post picture. Hiking on Rangitoto 12/4/14



Second blog picture. 'Flat whites' just off Queen Street in Auckland  12/4/14

At very low tide on Te Atatu Peninsula 10/01/12

Those are miniature mangroves in the mud with air roots showing.

 At the Winter Gardens 12/28/12

Playing with our magnet people 10/13/12

A senior flash-mob happens along Queen Street. 11/09/12  

Mt. Eden  12/07/12

 Army Bay Beach  6/30/12  

Watching the recycling truck, 10/06/12
I remember this one so well...Hearing the truck coming the boys and I rushed out the front door on Applebox Lane to watch the excitement. After the truck moved on, I looked down Espalier Drive and saw that our activity had been duplicated at two more houses. I waved at the nearest pair. It was Tiger and his grandfather who lived just across the street. We grandpas grinned at each other celebrating our shared fun. 

 At the look-out above Lion Rock, Piha 10/31/12

Kerikeri Beach 8/31/12

I'm touching lava on Kerikeri Beach. Who'd have thought?  8/31/12




Hunua Falls 11/12/15




Kerikeri Falls 11/22/17

   Mini-train stopped on a bridge to one of Auckland's reservoirs, 1/18/13

 Amiri is playing Abe Lincoln at school and Arram is proud of him.  7/30/14

Huia Overlook 2/16/13




'Breath deeply the scent of a cave, Its odor carries hints of its mystery.  Accept its cool caress. 1/24/15



Zombies deep underground at North Head 4/12/15




At a park in Wellington 1/21/16

  On the ferry to Rangitoto  12/27/13

Allie battles the Tasman Gale of 1/05/14 



From our hotel room balcony in Rotorua, aka 'Sulfur City'  12/13/14

'Inside the machine' at Sky City, 5/27/15

 Looking toward Auckland from the top of Rangitoto 11/30/12

 Bilbo's house in Hobbiton. I read that 360,000 people visited here last year.  11/25/13

Fin whale surfaces in front of our whale-watching cruise boat 11/18/13

On Bethells Beach 12/15/12

Possible captions for this photo: (care to comment with one of your own?)

 'When you absolutely, positively have to catch a fish.'
'If this guy tells me a fish story, I'm going to believe him.'
'Must be a postman on his day off' (neither snow nor rain nor heat ....) 
'He catches a fish the old-fashioned way, He Earns It.'
"I think I hooked a big one honey. Quick, get the boooat....."

  Hmmm, not a hobbit hole. "There's a breeze coming out of here, Mom."  6/09/15

  We were younger then.  8/31/12             -djf