I’d bought this CD, You Raise Me Up, at St Mary’s Cathedral when I took two grandchildren, cousins Lauren and Jackson, on a pre-teen jaunt to Sydney. I remembered our Youth Hostels’ fun adventures together. And Australian wildlife! No regrets.
From Tikipunga to Hamilton there was not one single pothole; traffic was an orderly progression, no hold-ups; and then, the beautiful trees!
I love the bare winter trees. You can see their integrity – their structure, what holds them upright, roots into the good earth, strong trunks, branches, their varied shapes, tracery against the sky, limbs, bifurcations, twigs, all reaching upwards to the sun.
Much later on – leaves, buds, blossoms, fruits, seeds, all appear only because of roots, trunks and branches – foundations to build fruitful lives on. We humans need the same structures.
Judith Durham and The Seekers entertained my drive home – remember Open up Them Pearly Gates? … Just a Closer Walk With Thee? …California Dreamin’? … rich listening. Yes, sticking out for that CD player was so worth it.
July 4 was the 250th anniversary of the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence. A milestone. I’ve just read an interesting article titled “AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL – Forget Donald Trump. The USA is Way More Civilised Than Britain!”
Gwendolyn Needham
Our public library’s magazine shelves keep me up to date journalistically with three countries I love dearly via those magazines.
1. New Zealand (the Listener); 2. USA (The New Yorker); 3. Britain (The Oldie).
All are somewhat erudite, stimulating, comprehensive, and entertaining.
America the beautiful (The Oldie, July 2025) by A.N. Wilson, says America led the way in enlightened social change.
What was revolutionary in 1970 is now normal throughout the world; Americans are unfailingly polite, addressing strangers as “Sir” and “Ma’am”; and “the madness of Trump will soon pass away”.
And Jonathan Ayling, noted NZ ministerial staffer in both Government and Opposition, writes in this paper on July 3 “America’s present problem is that it struggles to live the moral foundations of its freedoms. To renew itself, it must repent of this hypocrisy and return to the radical truths stated 250 years back at its founding.”
America’s 2IC, Vice-President JD Vance, concurs in his new book Communion, where he tells that as a parent, he knew how to get his son into a good college, but was woefully unequipped to make him into a good man. He advocates an urgent return to faith, to moral limits, to goodness, freedom and human honour.
Mayor Ken Couper and councillors have plenty of important long-term work on their plates.
That means we, too, non-councillors, have plenty on our plates.
Together.
The mayor’s Comment Column (June 29) – Building stronger communities starts with everyday citizenship – stresses that you and I are those everyday citizens. We need to have conversations – sharing what we care about, asking, listening, turning up to events to engage, connect, participate, belong.
If you’d like to be confident with human skills and want to give back to a healthy, happy, caring city culture, wait, there’s more … All-age motivational workshops are held monthly, titled Grow Whangārei (Not AI, But HI – Human Intelligence!)
Details from be.free@xtra.co.nz. For progress and success, the humanity within us holds the keys.