Satisfied, loving, open.

I have no particular favourite as I enjoy my life so much. If I were to pin it down to something in particular it would be those days when my sons (now 18 and 15) give me a home-made birthday or fathers' day card.  For many years all I have asked for is to simply create something with a note of appreciation. The things they write vary from unexpected to hilarious to deeply moving and ALWAYS move me to tears.  My younger lad is still in that mono-syllabic grunting phase common to many teenagers but the cards are where he really comunicates his love. Even as I type this I'm choking up!

Needless to say I've kept all of thier cards.

Our old BBQ, a basic, 3-burner, steel framed, gas job, was about to finally succumb to the salty winds that blow in from the south coast, a few hundred metres away. Being a Scot and conservationist the thought of merely dumping it sticks in my sustainability-trained and inclined craw.  So with no clear thought about how I was going to use the various parts, I dismantled the old faithful, secure in the knowledge that the future life of the components would become apparent. Sure enough, the wooden platform parts are about to become a hinged shelf fastened to the garden fence and will be the shelf for the laundry basket which will ease the task of hanging the washing on the clothes line.  All steel pipes and tubes will be used to support retaining boards for raised beds around the property. The welded frame for the central part of the BBQ with the plate and grill will live again as a wood-fired BBQ set in an existing brick and concrete stand.

NZ lamb garnished with chopped rosemary and grilled over and open fire - mmmmm. 

The BBQ is dead. Long live the BBQ!

This is a perfect morning to presence the many gifts of life.  Here in NZ  it's the day after the shortest day of  the year,  I'm getting over a chest-infection, it's a bright, sunny, beautiful day, I'm home alone as all my other family members are away from home for one reason or another yet I don't feel alone.

On waking I made the conscious decision to spend the entire morning being mindful with no distractions from Rebecca or the boys (however pleasant most of those may be). So I started with a 30 minute meditation, the first 10 mins of which was incessant internal babble  before finally settling into a sweet place of peaceful breathing and quietly witnessing energy flows in and around me - mmmmm.  I spent the next 2 hours doing whatever came to mind: stretching, gazing out of the window, presencing the beauty of my world and giving thanks to "who ever is in charge of all this"  Eating my breakfast and thanking all those living beings who contributed. Even presencing the gifts of the wisdom traditions that teach us to do this and how grateful I am to be alive at this time, at this age when we can have the wisom to pick and choose the tools and teachings from the great religions (without being adherents to any of them) so that we may experience the deepest sense of satisfaction and connection, right here and right now.

It's not that often I feel compelled to put into words what I presence so often but today just seemed like the perfect moment to presence and express gratitude.

My wife, Rebecca, and I bought this place in 1998 shortly after we'd got together and needed a biggish place for our new joined-up family with three boys who were then 15, 9 and 6.  Within a few weeks both Rebecca and I had noticed independently that it felt as if the house had welcomed us into it!  We felt like it had chosen us as the house had been on the market for 5 months with no offers which may have had something to do with the appalling decor but even so, it's a big, solid, very fine house. 

The three main things I love about where I live:
- it's in the beautiful coastal suburb of Wellington called Island Bay (yes, it does have an island : Taputeranga) with a wild, rocky coast and fabulous, elemental storms in the winter.
- the garden: wild, tangled and steep. Over the years I've worked with nature to produce, in its own time, what Rebecca describes as a leafy haven into which I've managed to incorporate an organic veggie garden.
- access to the vibrant, coffee-capital of the southern hemisphere, Wellington city and its surrounding hills. Is the coffee good? Put it this way, Starbucks has only about 5 outlets in a  city with 80-100 cafes and a new one every week. Don't believe me?  Come and visit, you won't be disappointed.