Ides of March; Pacific Rim
Getting a day to live over again might be a good thing and we got to do it on the Ides of March. Our result was a lot better than Julius Caesar’s.
We see on the news here in LA that the drug stores are selling out of potassium iodide, the pill to prevent cancer from radioactive contamination. There is concern that a radioactive cloud could be released into the atmosphere from the damaged reactors in Japan and then travel thousands of miles to the West Coast. We missed the earthquake in Christchurch, the tsunami in Westport and it looks like we’ll miss the contamination here in LA. Living on the Pacific Rim isn’t for sissies.
Dragon Boating, Sheep Busting and Lesson Learned?
On the Fourth of July, 2009, I went to my first rodeo in Interior, SD, population 67. One of the remarkable competitions I observed was sheep busting. 5-year old children were placed on sheep, and then the gate was opened, the sheep was slapped on the butt and the sheep took off with the child gamely hanging on. Many fell off in the first few seconds and a few last 8-10 seconds. All of the children, but one, wore no protective clothing of any kind. That one wore a helmet. Why? Because he might have hit his head or fallen off and gotten kicked in the head, I suppose. But what was that child being taught?
And when the children in New Zealand go out dragon boating every day, rain or shine, no matter the wind, what is that teaching them?
Now back in the US, I think of our children and grandchildren and wonder what we are teaching them when we require that they wear helmets when they ride a bicycle, or when they go skiing, and wear lifejackets when they go sailing, and wear all sorts of protective gear when they go skateboarding, and we take away diving boards from swimming pools, require that fences be put up around swimming pools, require car seats for children, helmets for motorcycle riders (in most states), when we build swimming pools with the “deep” end being 5’ deep. Whatever the cause (lawsuits, insurance requirements, safety, protecting the lives of our children), I believe that all of this is teaching our children and grandchildren to fear life, or in the words of the plaque in Wellington, to fear the verb. We made it through without all of this, why can’t our kids?
While some of our children here (but not the sheep busters) are being taught fear and an expectation that an active life will lead to injury or death, it appeared to me that the children of NZ are being taught courage and that their society expects them to live an active life free from unreasonable fear.
If personal injury lawsuits are the problem, should they be abolished as they appear to be in NZ? On the other hand, will that lead to our cherished big corporations running roughshod over the consumer in the name of earnings for its shareholders, something it is pretty good at now even with the threat of personal injury lawsuits? Or should limited liability for corporations and other entities be abolished? Lots of things to think about.
Things I will remember
Sky Needle; Sugar at the helm in an American Cup boat showing the Kiwis how to sail in a big wind; liquefaction; Mayor Bob Parker and Christchurch earthquake; beer battered blue cod; Queenstown; “You’ve gotta change your attitude, mate”; paragliding; $94 fill up; learning to be old; landing attitude and trim to best glide speed; grass strips, uphill/downhill; Geordie Hill Station; foot rot; sheep dog; Matt and Jo’s “white truck” [Lexus SUV]; tenure review; golf at Jack’s Point; ridge flying; saddles; ag planes and strips; flying through rain showers and snow showers; dawn at the station, hills clothed in overnight snow; cruise climb; soft field takeoffs and landings; jet boat; flying a Gypsy Moth; Staggerwing and Bill; Mt. Aspiring, the Matterhorn of the Southern Alps; beach landing at Big Bay; Sydney Beach; Milford Sound; Sutherland Falls; Lake Quill; Mount Cook and Harper Saddle; glaciers; earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and tsunami warning in NZ; Queen Charlotte Drive; Picton and Marlborough Sound; dragon boating “rain or shine”; Matt and Jo; Megan; and Sue, our fishing and hunting guiding, field hockey coaching, and flight instructing co-pilot who took such good care of us and taught me the thrills of flying in the mountains.
Good night to everyone who kept up with us. Your messages were always welcome and made us feel closer to home. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Love, Dad, Nat, Matt and DB
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