Archive for June, 2011

For the last 4 minutes and 18 seconds, I have through the power of U tube been reminded of  ” our last Summer”. This beautiful Song from the then sensational pop band ABBA, brings flooding back to me memories of the Summer of 2010….not here in New Zealand but rather the Northern Hemisphere Summer. Meeting old friends, making new friends, visiting familiar places, and seeing  places for the first time.

As I look out of my office window now, I see threatening rain clouds, a change to our unbelievably mild ( warm) winter is about to change. Ski fields are praying for the powdery stuff ( snow) ….this is the latest snow in 50 years….whilst we here on the coast are counting the days until our next summer arrives. Just last Thursday we passed the shortest day ( and the longest night) and whilst it is meant to get colder , physiologically  something in our brain tells us that the sun every day is going higher in the sky….even if the days are getting longer…. something like 45 seconds a day, summer is coming!!!

There is no doubting that the majority of us would rather enjoy warm weather than cold weather, (particularly when it is mixed with grey overcast cloudy conditions) .

All of us dream of the times when we had the Summer of Our Dreams, whether it was 2010, or any other year for that matter.

Dreams are what keeps us going. Dreams make us get up to work on a colds grey winters day. Dreams often involve when we had good times with friends….for us the Colin’s and Marys, Susan and Emma, Anna, Wheidy, Sandy and Luca  and the many other people stretched across the globe from our fantastic Summer of 2010. And with dreams comes the hope and prayer that we can repeat the same again and hopefully again and again.

Sure it is impossible to reproduce exactly the events of your previous Summer of Dreams , but then there is always the opportunity that maybe your next Dream Summer will be better than the previous one.

One thing I found interesting was an article written by a New Zealand Reporter recently travelling to Bamyan Province , one of 34 four provinces in war torn Afghanistan.

The New Zealand Army are doing  great war recovery work in this area restoring essential services, schools , hospitals etc.

I have never been to Afghanistan, but I believe from reports and looking at photographs, the Alpine vista is absolutely stunning in sheer beauty…a photographers paradise.

Yet interestingly the local  people of Bamyam, think of America and Britain as places where they would rather be…why? because they see those countries as ” paradise” not the tranquility and beauty on their own back door step. But I do concede opportunity is maybe the driving force  that drives many people to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

Whether a non English speaking alpine herdsman can make it in London or New York remains to be seen, whether his dream will be merely a wish or an unfilled dream is highly likely.

If you do have dreams ( a summer dream at that) do everything to preserve it.

Talk about it to those that made the dream so special, look longingly at photographs or videos , or read the diary describing that dream.

And as the darkness (4pm) starts to encroach on my Winter of 2011, I want to leave you will a statement that I hope you will ponder.

In the old testament the book of Deuteronomy , has often been called the book of Remembrance.God wants us to remember that every blessing we receive depends on our remembering just what he has done for us, but also his laws and principles regarding life on this Earth.

I will write again soon!!!

Lindsay Walker

28th June 2011.