August 3, 2024

I'm paraphrasing Garrison Keillor's classic opening to his long-ago weekly monologs about Lake Wobegon (his home town) when I say that it's been a quiet week in Waitakere Gardens.  At least for us.  

A bit of flu and some tooth troubles have slowed us down. Therefore, my post will be very brief.  

We're plodding through mid-winter here of course, and that means that clusters of the days are cloudy, many are rainy, most are windy, and all of them carry at least the threat of any or all of these conditions developing, even on those that actually show some sun.  

Therefore, I've suspended trying to take sunrise pictures.  Until today.  It looked half-way decent to the northeast and as Jeanne and I shared our pre-dawn coffee, I decided to give it a go. The following is what I saw.  

It was 7 Celsius, or 44 Fahrenheit, as I snapped these from our balcony at about 7:20 a.m.  The out of focus fronds at the top of the picture show just a little breeze pushing them to the left.  Above the roundabout, which lies directly below this shot, the winds often swirl every which way.  

It's now just past noon and already Jeanne has a batch of potato bread rising. There's also a pot of very young chicken soup on the stove.  Both will age as the day progresses and mature into a very fine dinner.  

I intend to cook some rice on the side.  I like to add some cooked rice to my bowl of soup. I find if we cook rice in with the soup, its texture suffers badly. As John Pinette used to say, "That's a nay-nay." 

That's it for today folks.  We have a long, lazy afternoon and evening ahead of us. I intend to go downstairs for a cup of coffee soon and sit by the fire for a while. Jeanne has music on, a mix of jazz and tunes from the '70's, and a new book by Stephen King on her lap. Soon, the odors of baking bread and chicken soup will fill our lives. Not a bad way to spend this winter day. 

And that's the news from Waitakere Village, where all the residents are strong, good-looking and above average, in age. (Thanks again, Garrison)      -djf  

If you're interested, go to YouTube and type in "It's Been a Quiet Week in Lake Wobegon."  You'll find lots of audios available of Garrison Keillor talking about his home town.  John Pinette is also all over on YouTube. He was a stand up comedian.