MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Aren't we humans fickle?![]() Farmers are crying out for it and when they get 10 or 15mls of scattered showers they then shout defiantly ‘ too little, too late’. But who they are shouting to or pleading with is unsure as only time and the inevitable change of seasons will give them the moisture they so badly require which could then well be ‘too much, too late.’ From my own farming experience, after a dry spell , rain is never too late. I therefore had to grin when, with some ominous-looking clouds overhead, I heard someone in the street quoting the old rhyme ‘rain, rain, go away, come again another day.’ Despite the ever-diminishing Adam’s ale languishing at the bottom of your tank, if your daughter is getting married in a beach ceremony this weekend, you’re not really prepared to accept rain under any pretext. Likewise fruit growers and winemakers are justifiable pleased with the long dry spell which, though it can have a bearing on fruit size, generally delivers a lovely sweet ripe fruit of superior taste and quality which should carry through to the end product. But wait, there’s more. By Easter we are well into national rugby competitions but only the very brave (or well paid) would be prepared to put their bodies on the line on such hard and unforgiving ground. After Easter, traditionally the last long weekend of summer, we have the Art Trail and Walking Weekend plus outdoor markets so we surely don’t want it to rain then. This is closely followed by the end of school term 1 and a fortnight’s holiday which, as temperatures are still very pleasant, is always more enjoyable without the threat of rain. Aren’t we humans fickle? The fact is, every day is a day closer to the onset of winter. Last Wednesday, the 20th, was officially the Equinox or Winter Solstice, when the sun can be observed to be directly above the equator. From then on days shorten and we swap our summer with the northern winter to put up with lashings of rain we don’t really want or need, flooded drains and sections, fallen trees and road slippages. This is when we build a deep appreciation of our volunteer firemen and St John on whom we call for help and who are always there to oblige in the worst possible situations saving property, people and pets. This is simply a reminder to do our best in our own situation and accept that we are simply little fish within the big pool of life relying on many other elements to get where we want to go, while also trying to second-guess things that are way beyond our control. Ain’t life great. Cheers, Rob and the team. |