Open Writing

Our local paper is currently running a series of articles about what summer means to various high profile New Zealanders. For one it is the chance to go fishing, for another it means time on the family boat. Others relish warm days playing bowls or croquet. A noted author said she saw summer as a time to retreat to a shady place in her garden to write and a passionate equestrian spent summer doing the round of the gymkhanas.

When I started to think about what summer meant to me, I could not recall it providing the opportunity to indulge in any particular passion. However, I did realize how my outlook on summer had changed over the years.

As a youngster the beginning of summer heralded the exciting prospect of Christmas, as well as six long week’s holiday from school. This was a happy time spent with my grandmother or going on outings with my parents.

As I matured, school holidays provided the opportunity to earn cash to buy myself some luxuries. I lived in a rural area so there was always work to be had in the market gardens. Many a long summers’ day was spent picking strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes and apples. One summer I joined a team of other young people, to help a local gardener break in new land. For two shillings and sixpence an hour, we followed his tractor picking up any stones he unearthed and throwing them onto the trailer.

Once I left school the beginning of summer coincided with the start of a three-month university vacation in which I worked to pay the following year's fees. By this time, I had said good bye to working in the market gardens for a pittance and had moved on to spending my holidays either as a nurse aide or a commercial cleaner.

Any spare moments I wasn’t working, were spent baking in the sun because of some mad idea I had about wanting to look Mediterranean! In those days there were no warnings about the danger of exposing the skin to ultra violet rays, no ‘Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, slap on a hat, wrap on sun glasses’ health warnings, nor any spray or rub on tanning lotions. If you wanted a tanned complexion you had no option but to get it from the sun. It is a chilling thought those hours spent in the sun may result in skin cancer in the future. Whether or not this is the outcome, it has certainly caused irreparable damage to my skin. If only I knew then what I know now!

Once I’d married and had children the cycle of school holidays started over again. How different their summer holidays were from mine. The thought of getting a job didn’t enter their sweet little heads. They were too busy sitting in front of the television or playing computer games. If by chance they wanted to go to the movies or down to the Mall, where else would the money come from, but Mum?
For the New Zealand workforce the beginning of summer not only means Christmas and New Year holidays, but also that long awaited annual leave.

Not so very long ago, come Christmas Eve, New Zealand closed down for two weeks. Grocery stores ran out of stock because there were no deliveries, cafes and restaurants were closed, it was impossible to get a tradesman, most commercial firms operated with a skeleton staff and city streets were virtually empty. These days, Christmas Day is the only one when everything is closed.

However, tradition dies hard and the majority of people still head off on holiday during December. This is madness, as the best weather never arrives until February when the schools reopen. Every year campers are either flooded out or forced to retreat home because of the wind. This is where we retirees have it over the workers as we are free to go on holiday at our leisure. Naturally we wait until the weather is settled and beaches and holiday accommodation are no longer over run with other people’s children.

When my husband was working he was always one of the holiday period skeleton staff. This meant he took his annual leave during the winter, as a consequence we tended to holiday either in the tropical regions of Australia, Asia or the Northern hemisphere. I am therefore in the position to compare a New Zealand summer with that in other countries. Of course I am biased, but there is nothing like a summer’s day in New Zealand. The air is so much fresher, the intensity of light much brighter and recreational venues are less crowded. It is still possible to find a beach which you can pretend is your private sanctuary.

It seems sad that all the memories I have of the summers of my youth are those of work, however it provided me with a good work ethic which I held until I retired.

These days, the start of summer means the end of the spring equinoctial gales which plague these shores every year from October until the end of December, making outdoor activity very unpleasant. There is nothing more frustrating than the day being warm and sunny, but the wind preventing me from indulging in my favourite activity of lounging on the swing seat on my deck with a good book.

When I’m not lying on my swing seat, summer means drives around Wellington’s beautiful rugged coastline, stopping off along the way for lunch at some café or restaurant, or having brunch with friends while taking in the spectacular harbour views from the restaurant at the top of Wellington’s cable car. On those windy days Wellington is renowned for, we often drive up to the suburb of Brooklyn to watch a movie at the boutique Penthouse theatre, staying on for dinner in the café.

Occasionally, when we feel the need for a change of scenery, we indulge in a luxury break in the Wairarapa, a fruit growing and wine making area a short distant from Wellington.

Some people bemoan the fact that nothing in life stays the same. I agree it doesn’t, life just get better and better.