Journey

As adults what will our boys remember of their childhood?  Family holidays, tramping and hunting adventures, football games, swimming anywhere we could find water, counting birds and planting trees, shared meals with family, and the relocation of our lives to RM House and Starship Hospital followed by changes due to the support required for Rory.  We have tried to replicate the good things from our childhood for them.  When I was a girl I played with the neighbourhood kids in the gully (reserve) in our community.  There were eucalyptus trees in the gully and we used to delight in watching the Gum emperor caterpillars grow, spin a cocoon and emerge as huge moths.  I have never been able to find one to bring home for the boys to observe.  Yesterday there was a row of eucalyptus trees where we parked our car for the tramp and Colt and I discovered a large caterpillar.  We brought it home in a spray of foliage and it has done nothing but eat.  We watch eagerly for it to start spinning a cocoon. 

This week Sean took Rory to Medicross and Orthotics NZ to check on his ankle.  It is sprained and can take 12 weeks to heal.  Once it has healed we can look at a permanent brace to lock his ankle and knee together to reduce the damage to his ankle when he falls.  He had a second fall in the middle of the week in his bedroom getting dressed.  We all spent 24 hours inside together during the strong winds of Cyclone Gabrielle.  Rory stayed Friday night with Sam and Caitlyn then spent Saturday with Support Carer Jo.  Sean, Colt and I made a 5.30am start to walk a new track in the Matemateaonga Range.  We didn’t quite get as far as we had hoped but it was a wonderful day exploring a new forest accompanied by Toutouwai NI robin and thousands of noisy Chorus cicadas.