It’s good to have some rain. Very good indeed. Of course folk further south may not agree with me!
Yes, rain is good. It tops up the reservoirs, clears out rubbish and algae from rivers, freshens the gardens, clears the air.
And encourages a whole new generation of biting insects. Just a short walk down the drive has me swishing my arms and slapping at buzzing, whining, biting things. I’ve gone through half a bottle of Calamine lotion in a week.
Illustration Friday: Tales and Legends.
Maui, the Maori demi-god. A trickster (in the ancient sense of the word), Maui’s escapades are a large part of the folklore. Perhaps his best-known adventure is the story of his great fish. Or perhaps it features so large in my memory because it is the island of my birth!
Maui’s brothers would never take him fishing with them; told him he would slow them down; he was so skinny they might mistake him for bait!
So Maui secretly made a strong fishing line (with a little magical help!) and fashioned a hook from the jawbone of his ancestress. Before his brothers’ next trip, he hid aboard their waka (canoe) and did not reveal himself until they were too far from land for him to swim home. The brothers were not pleased with him and laughed when Maui asked for some bait. Undeterred, he struck his own nose so hard that it bled and he smeared his blood on the hook and cast his line.
Soon, the brothers’ laughter and teasing died away as a tremendous weight jerked the line and began to drag the waka. They pleaded with Maui to cut the line, but Maui was determined to land his fish.
And when they saw how big it was, the brothers began to hack at it, each trying to cut a larger share for himself. That is why, today, great scars can be seen in the gullies that furrow the North Island of New Zealand.
As in many other folk tales, there are different versions of this story. If you go here you will find more links.
Here is one example of a very old form of decoration, from Kerala, in the south of the Indian sub-continent. You can find an explanation of the technique and more pictures here.
And here
And now…back to my slap dance!
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