Back in June I found my brain inventing conspiracy theories all by itself. Interestingly, back in June 2020, New Zealand was contemplating that a trans-Tasman travel bubble might open up in the last quarter of 2020, while the ski fields were hoping it might come sometime sooner. The National Party was demanding a timeline inContinue reading “Patterns & Conspiracy Theorists”
Author Archives: janecshearer
Ferrets and dichotomies
What do you see in this picture? Is your reaction immediately positive, negative or neither? Do you see a bunch of cute little furry animals, or a bunch of born killers? Do you see something different if you think versus if you just react? Ferrets are bad, right? We don’t like ferrets because they wilfullyContinue reading “Ferrets and dichotomies”
Hope & reality
In the New Year I suddenly realised how long it is likely to be until we see Sarah again, given that she currently lives in the UK. This shouldn’t have come as a startling revelation, but her Christmas card expressing the hope that we might meet up somewhere in the world in 2021 brought itContinue reading “Hope & reality”
The crevasses open
When you are mountaineering or ski touring on a glacier, you need to be prepared for the inevitable crevasses. Crevasses form as the result of differential rates of movement in the ice – such as when the glacier goes over an edge and falls down a steep section of the valley. When you look downContinue reading “The crevasses open”
Hijabs and hair
Its summer time and summer is for swimming (amongst a few other things). We were at Lake Wanaka the other day and many people were lying and playing on the edge of the lake, including two young women who were paddle boarding in hijabs. They looked like they were having a great time, wobbling aroundContinue reading “Hijabs and hair”
A meaning of ‘whanāu’
We got to do my favourite thing on Christmas day – ride our bicycles. We rode our bicycles from home over the Crown Range to Wanaka to have lunch with some of our extended whānau. Our ‘whānau’ is quite extensive, that’s the way we like it. There are many people who come and stay withContinue reading “A meaning of ‘whanāu’”
It’s the little things
Our toilet cistern was running continuously the other day, which reminded me of the Hubble Space Telescope. While you might find it a stretch to compare our malfunctioning toilet cistern with a telescope located in low earth orbit (about 540km above the earth), there is a relationship between the performance of the two. The HubbleContinue reading “It’s the little things”
Christmas characters
The approach of Christmas takes me back to feeling like I am at primary school and we have been told that Folk Dancing is today’s special activity. Oh how I hated Folk Dancing. Folk Dancing came into the category of ‘enforced fun’, you were supposed to be having fun, except you were not remotely havingContinue reading “Christmas characters”
Human Endeavour
I alternate between being hugely impressed by the scale of human endeavour and terminally frustrated by human failings. We cycled into the back country behind where we live in Gibbston to have a night away from connectivity. Two hours of cycling and nearly another two hours of walking got us to this little hut, inContinue reading “Human Endeavour”
To those that have, more shall be given
Known as the ‘Matthew effect‘ in honour of the Gospel of Matthew from whence it comes, the principle of those who have much being the recipients of more, has been embedded in society since the times of the Bible, and probably before. The Matthew effect is very much in force in the New Zealand propertyContinue reading “To those that have, more shall be given”