LIFE'S EVENTS

My sister and I will be doing a road trip to Wellington after Christmas and New Year. We will be (once again) going down to sort out living arrangements for our youngest sister. We last did this a couple of years ago when we moved her from the ramshackle 'family home' that she'd been living in since our parents died, sold that and purchased a small one-bedroom cottage in a safe, almost gated, community in Paraparaumu not far from where she had been living. 

All was going OK for a few years but recently her health and state of mind has deteriorated to the point where she requires a bit more care. Richard and Shelley will understand this. My sister (not the youngest one) who has been in close contact with the younger one's carers, the community she lives in, health authorities, doctors and relevant government departments has been able to secure a place for her in an aged care facility on the Kapiti Coast, one that will cater to a younger client. We will be relocating her to this facility soon.

Over the last few years we have made many trips to visit and support our sister but usually fly down. This time, given the moving logistics we've decided to drive.

The last time that I drove to Wellington from Auckland with my sister was in July 1995 when we drove down for my father's funeral. This was in winter but we had clear weather all the way. When approaching Wellington, driving down the Kapiti Coast we were suddenly in a snowstorm. Wellington doesn't have snowstorms the way that other parts of the country do and, in fact it is a very rare and unusual occurrence. 

What was also very rare and unusual was that at the time this happened I had just put a Van Morrison album (tape) in the car's tapedeck - 'Hard Nose the Highway'.

The first song to play on this album was 'Snow in San Anselmo'.

In this song Morrison recounts a trip to San Anselmo, California where, on arriving he experienced snow.

Snow in San Anselmo

My waitress my waitress my waitress

Said it was coming down

I said it happened, it hadn't happened in over 30 years

But it was laying on the ground

It was a very rare event and imprinted on his memory.

Snow in Wellington is a very rare event and this experience also imprinted on my memory especially since I was at maximum levels of grief and vulnerability, travelling to bury my father. The serendipity didn't go unnoticed either but, being an atheist and a sceptic I didn't draw any religious or paranormal conclusions. It was strange though and my sister and I commented on it.

I'm not expecting any more mystical events on this trip but - who knows?

We were born before the wind
Also, younger than the sun
'Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic
Hark now, hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly
Into the mystic
Yeah, when that fog horn blows
I will be coming home
Yeah, when that fog horn blows
I wanna hear it
I don't have to fear it
And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float
Into the mystic
When that fog horn blows
You know I will be coming home
Yeah, when that fog horn whistle blows
I gotta hear it
I don't have to fear it
And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float
Into the mystic
Come on, girl
Too late to stop now