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20 September 2007 In the Steps of Jack LeighChapter 3: Grey Lynn, Western Springspage 6 We hit the bottom of the graffiti wall
Here's a new line in graffiti: masking tape. We give it a swerve and
head along the fence
past the main gates to the stadium. In the seventies we used to come in here armed with thermos and slabs of fruitcake, and well wrapped up to watch Ivan Mauger, Sleepy Tripp, Barry Butterworth, and a bunch of other heroes. The bikes have long since relocated to Onehunga, but the midgets and TQs still battle it out, much to the outrage of a bunch of joyless yuppie wankers who, having bought houses close to the stadium, then set about trying to get rid of the Speedway because it was noisy. Note the subtle suggestion that the speedway has been there a lot longer than any of the locals.
We move on across the shining tarseal to the lake park proper.
Te Wai Orea: The Waters of the Eel. English and Maori. Hmmm.
A little later I wonder idly why the "NO FISHING" signs are in English and Chinese.
It's daffodil time, still.
The hebes are nursery specimens rather than species,but this is a garden, not a re-afforestation project. This bit, anyway. You mow the lawns, you can plant what you like. The flowers are lovely for all they are man-made.
Kawakawa (Macropiper excelsa) is in full bloom. You can dry these flowers, either ripe or green as they are now, and pop them into a grinder for a delightful aromatic and peppery herb to be added to soups and casseroles. You can do the same with the leaves but the flowers have a more concentrated flavour.
You can also experiment with your curry mix..... Jack's first impression is of hundreds of birds. So is Alice's.
I'm not sure if having Alice on a shortish leash for the next half hour while we traverse this avian multitude does not constitute cruelty to dogs. Ah. An information sign. Remove all droppings. Uh huh. Maybe dog poop is a bigger problem than bird poop. But in the context it seems of small significance. You want a test for twenty-twenty vision: Walk through this park and out the other end with clean shoes.
These signs are all in English only. (A bit further along in Meola Rd there is a similar notice in sign language, at the entry to Seddon Park. I presume the showers are for after you have picked up the dog poop with your bare hands.)
But I digress. Personally, I am far more comfortable with the occasional biodegradable bit of dog poop about the place than I am with graffiti, which I find infinitely more offensive. I have to say I rather enjoy the bins. They are one of the few items around that are free of graffiti.
One of the delights of walking is that your mind — all right, my mind then — gets to wander at large just as much as my feet do.
Here's A.A. Milne, almost: "And then I saw a black swan make It's spring, beyond any doubt
Looks more like a goose step to me....
Speaking of which....
Alice moves across to investigate a swan in the water near the edge of the lake. The swan delivers a hiss that drops Alice right back on her haunches. "Let's leave those black ones and check out the white ones."
There are pukeko
and their Aussie cousins the coots, who, according to local myth, arrived years ago courtesy of an extra strong westerly storm. Don't know about that. Both these and pukekos have huge feet, damned near as big as mine.
Above the lake seagulls are wheeling, and there are shags on an exposed rock in the middle.
Something disturbs the bunch on the grass and I turn just fast enough to grab the pic.
The birds settle a little further on.
Jack talks of "willows trailing in the water". The most recent willow management policy seems to be that willows shall be trimmed at approximately 1.5m from the ground, so now they all have pudding basin haircuts. Another swan and her cygnets.
Ahhh... Isn't spring wonderful!
Canine Parvovirus:Canine parvovirus, says my encyclopaedic memory — potentially fatal to non-immunised dogs — but parvovirus is already so widespread in public areas as to be not an issue. One infected dog stool contributes, per ounce of stool, 35000 times the amount of virus required to be infectious. An area remains infected for 5-7 months. From one stool. The viral particles are extremely small and can be transmitted easily by shoes, by contaminated dust, and so forth. You can safely assume that parvovirus is already present in public places and in a good many private ones as well. [Back] -o0o- GraffitiI reckon that the number of youths in a public place and carrying spraypaint who have a legitimate reason for doing so is so small as to make banning such possession - or purchase, or supply - a no brainer. We already ban the possession of a number of other items in public where the predominant use is likely to be antisocial. (In fact, one of my Polynesian Panther acquaintances in the seventies spent a night in the cells after he was stopped by police and found to be in possession of instruments capable, they said, of being used in a burglary, to wit, a pair of socks. He'd been at a party, got drunk, passed out, and been stripped down by his mates to his underwear and socks, both black, and parked on the verandah. It was about 3.30 am when he woke, the party was over, it was a warm night, and he lived about a kilometre away, so he decided to walk home. I'm not sure that socks made his movements any more silent than bare feet but there it was. A night to forget. Maybe it proves that the police do have a sense of humour.... Or not. They let him go the next morning, but there would seem to be a precedent for pre-emptive action in at least some circumstances.
Whatever happened to "rogues and vagabonds"? Ah, well.... [back]
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