Life Sentence Pending

by Ebb Then Flood

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Captured up  at my bowls club recently… set up and ready for a late afternoon wedding ceremony, all roses and ribbons. No idea whose. No one arrived yet…..weirdly eerie but in a nice way,not the Billy Idol song ‘White Wedding’ one.

The nuptials will be well done and dusted by now and I wish the unknown couple a happy marriage.

Cynical title to this post ,I know.Probably due to many years lawyering ,dealing with matrimonial property, parenting and domestic violence issues amongst other things.Not a lot of laughs.

But you have to be optimistic about love,so the shot gets a little special rose tinting….

 

New Babylon Hanging Gardens

by Ebb Then Flood

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After yesterday’s post featuring crops in old tyres,here is a shot taken last week of plants out of their usual place.

Rather eyecatching vertical garden of ferns,epiphytes and other non-foliage dropping lovelies built into a wall of the building from which you enter Auckland’s main train station.Mirror glass,which can be pretty awful and impersonal,gives a cool kaleidoscopic effect,and  magnifies the small airborne jungle.Architectural thumbs up from me anyway(not that I know much).

The feature does give out a tranquil,calming aura in the midst of urban perpetual motion,as its creators have indeed suggested – but let’s face it, plants don’t give a f**k whether you’re running late for work or your train…

Re-tread Gently

by Ebb Then Flood

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This shot was taken yesterday at the 25th birthday celebrations of a community organisation that has done of lot of good things in that time for families in its (mainly poor) neighbourhood.

The garden out the back of the centre re-uses old tyres, brightly repainted ,as planters for the food grown there.Lost property from the nearby airport is distributed to those who need it. Waste management and re-cycling are key components of the work .Life skills are taught and passed on. Anything that  can be used is used and those with the time and love can who wish to contribute to the work are welcomed.

Simplicity, sustainability, care and respect for others and our planet are the group’s ideals and practices for growth.

Big corporates and bureaucrats take note!

Collapse Into Fall

by Ebb Then Flood

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“All at once, summer collapsed into fall” – Oscar Wilde

Easter approaches  – almost on cue summer disappears speedily, and the first autumn chills arrive.

Leaves start to fall; beautiful golden, reddish debris will soon cover the ground.

In the Southern Hemisphere ,Easter sits seemingly opposed to the new season, with its imagery of eggs ,new life and rebirth more redolent of  spring.

But not really, as for every birth there needs to be the death of something ; there is no beginning without a  prior ending….I know myself what it is like to have collapsed, fallen and then started afresh in life.

(PS: Grateful for the end of humidity, hot sleep-disturbed nights and mosquitoes!)

Ponsonby Mansion

by Ebb Then Flood

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In Ponsonby during the week having a catch up with a friend and walked past this beauty. Not sure what purpose it has now , but whoever had this built knew what they were doing. Amazingly well preserved, solid as the proverbial brick shithouse but with fiddly, ornate wrought iron work and wooden balcony, plus a turret at the top, like a cherry on a cake. It is not like a turret is an essential, but they push the heights and limits of a design without changing the whole thing, adding no doubt amazing views.So much more  than just a finishing touch – they are ineffably cool and I adore them ! All boxes ticked for me then…

The Monolith Looms

by Ebb Then Flood

20181029_220516 (2)20190121_22390620181114_215452 (2)in onehunga
the monolith looms
on the hill
we all see
what is missing
as keenly
as what
is left behind
the slopes of cornwall park
rolling gentle and green
a central city country estate
shared by joggers and dog walkers
scaring sheep
avoiding bulls

– excerpt from ‘Octopus Auckland: 8 Suburbs’, poem by Karlo Mila

With these words my poet friend Karlo describes the pictured hill ,Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill as it is also known) and the surrounding Cornwall Park near the suburb of Onehunga ,Auckland. Photos are from my regular visits there.Seven other suburbs also get the treatment in her analogy of my hometown as a ‘feke'(Tongan for octopus).

Footnote ,and to clarify some of the stanza: The large pine tree that once graced the summit is gone, mortally wounded in a chainsaw attack of protest almost twenty years ago by a Maori activist. What remains is the striking obelisk in the centre frame. It was conceived in times gone by as a “memorial” to the indigenous Maori people, whom many European settlers then thought would gradually die out.

However,they, like the obelisk, are still here…

Kick Against The Pricks

by Ebb Then Flood

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Carrying on from yesterday’s post, ‘Barbed Wire Blues’, on the theme of things sharp, pointy and generally unpleasant, pictured is a gorse plant. Originally introduced from Europe to New Zealand as a farm hedge plant, gorse has misbehaved in spectacular fashion, spreading everywhere like wildfire and is considered the most noxious ground weed in the country. Most Kiwis would have come off second best in an encounter with this prickly, thorny bastard.

Botany lesson over, the title of the post  comes from an old  Greek saying :”It is hard for you to kick against the pricks”.It crops up in the New Testament too.It has to with beasts of burden being controlled in work like plowing and haulage by a sharp prod.To kick against it would mean the prod would dig in deeper.Not great.

When we go against our own nature  and true gut instincts,and are not in tune with our environment,matters can  get painfully worse,or that is my experience at least .Sometimes best not to fight the tide!

On the other hand,given the modern colloquial  use of ‘pricks’ ,it is tempting to give those people who cause us grief a fair kicking…

Sun Catches The Heavenly Place

by Ebb Then Flood

Eighth and final post in this series of religious and spiritual places.

Late afternoon light illumines this old inner city church.

Factoid: Terrific Gothic Revival stylings ,replete with gargoyle faces.Do love me a bit of  good gothic! Took this one while hanging around before a rock gig round the corner(New Zealand’s own The Chills in fact).In a way music concerts are like church services,the band and the preacher just the same,whipping up fervour amongst the believers,getting their message across any way they can…..

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Methodist Church, Pitt Street, Auckland NZ

Minarets, Domes and Crescent

by Ebb Then Flood

…#6 in the ongoing series…

Factoid: Visited the Jamek Mosque  in Central Kuala Lumpur in 2010. A privilege to don a robe as per  custom and have a look inside (barring the inner courtyard and place of prayer, non-believers being excluded from those parts of the complex).  I think of the warm welcome we received there ,when reflecting on the atrocities inflicted on Muslims at their place of worship in Christchurch last month.

This exterior view shows off the exotic(to me anyway)Indian Moghul -style architecture against blue skies. A stunning place situated at the confluence of the two main rivers running through KL. It may seem a bit weird now but the architect was a British non-Muslim; that’s how colonialism rolls…

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Jamek Mosque, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

Hindu Temple

by Ebb Then Flood

The fifth post in  a series of religious and spiritual places…

Factoid:This picture was taken in Penang on a 2012 trip to Malaysia.Stumbled upon it,not that you could have missed it.

Unbelievably ornate architecture, spectacular colours and figurines of deities and animals, in stark contrast to some of the previously posted more simple examples. Combined with the aroma of joss sticks ,this is a sensory explosion! The hands down winner in this lineup  for employment  of symbols…

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Hindu Temple, Penang, Malaysia

Masonic Temple

by Ebb Then Flood

….#4 in a series…

Freemasonry is heavily steeped in ritual and the use of symbols, such as the compass and square ,and is shrouded in secrecy. You can only see the exterior of this cool building, not what goes on inside , if you are an outsider like me.

Factoid: Apparently the extensive use of symbols amongst Freemasons goes back to ancient times when many members were illiterate .Symbols were used as a communication tool instead of writing. I have  talked of the power of symbolism elsewhere in this blog. Love that stuff. I don’t have a whole lot of  other factoids( as I only know one avowed Freemason) but I am okay with that – why take away the mystery?

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Masonic Temple, Nelson NZ

Temple And Courtyard

by Ebb Then Flood

The third post in this series….this time the sweeping beauty of a Buddhist temple.

Factoid: I had cause to visit this place a year ago. You can light an incense stick from a candle and  make a prayer offering at the altar near the entrance. I burnt my finger in the process. Let out an undisguised and pithy expletive in the close presence of a monk. Hastily apologised. She smiled and said “That shows good self-awareness”. You have to love those who see the positive in anything….

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Buddhist Temple, East Tamaki, Auckland NZ