Winter Washing

(lemon and honey from Julia's garden- the taste of Aro!)

(where we sit for breakfast, dinner, and good conversation)

(big wash day!)

(reading nook)

(drying socks in the window sill)

Sunday was a big wash day. While enjoying the rare afternoon sun I tried to think of things that make me happy in the winter:

Folded clothes, looking through Julia’s photography books, clean sheets, interesting reading material, listening to the news with a cuppa, art projects, fresh flowers, fresh clothes, making plans to contact family and friends back home, making plans to visit with friends here, flipping through South Pacific Lonely Planet guide, wondering around libraries, window shopping, blogging.

We all do dumb things. I did something very dumb this winter. After I got back from the conference in Christchurch, smack in middle of winter I choose to read all the suicide case study books available in Wellington, looking for qualitative research and social patterns. It was terrible- the teenage suicide testimonies left me in a strange haze, don’t think I’ve fully recovered from them. The subject matter is terribly sad. Thankfully winter in starting to wane.

The sun sticks in the sky a little longer.

To be a healthy person we all have our little tricks to cheer. These are important tricks that keep us strong mentally (which is just as important as physically!). Reading brings me happiness, so does being warm. I have taken many baths while reading in the tub this winter!

Here the books I skimmed, worked over and read in the past two months:

Brenda Ueland- If You Want To Write (inspiration for a teacher and author)

Nada Awar Jarrrar- Dreams of Water (Characters revolve around Lebanese war)

Banana Yoshimoto- Short Stories and Novels (I’ve read most of them, simple, Japanese)

Lonely Planet South Pacific & Micronesia (just to make myself feel warm)

William McDonough- Cradle to Cradle

Paul Farmers Life- Mountains Beyond Mountains (Great for my tutorial on development geographies)

Jeanette Stance- Green Tea: Haiku & Other Poetry (her mothers poetry is on the bottle in the photograph)

Sophie Dahl- The Man With the Dancing Eyes (dumb)

Richard L. Morrill- The Spatial Organization of Society

Alan C. Acock (hehe)- A Gentle Introduction to Stata (Logistic Regression!)

Clark and Randel- Statistics (Believe it or not, I was asked to tutor someone in stats, oh dear)

Ron Savage- Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture (Great Reference for youth studies)

Anna Cypra Oiver- Assembling My Father (Suicide studies)

Lorraine Moir- Breaking the Silence: New Zealanders Talk about Suicide (Suicide studies)

Carla Fine- No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving Suicide of a Loved One (Suicide studies)

Bronwyn Donaghy- Leaving Early (Teenage suicide study)

Susan Rose Blaunder- How I stayed alive when my brain was trying to kill me: one person's guide to suicide prevention (Mental illness/suicidal behavior study)