One of the things that parents of growing children experience is getting to know what music is popular among teenagers. At the moment, Taylor Swift is of course on everybody’s lips, but there are many others. One of the songs that mad me stop was “I’m sorry Mom” by Marino. I have no motivation, I…

Recently, I went to buy some over-the-counter medicines from Chemist Warehouse, ordering them online, so that they were ready to collect when I got there. I was told to look at the instructions, but otherwise was not given any advice. As I walked back home I reflected on how impersonal that shopping experience was in…

A few weeks ago I was tramping in the upper Waimakariri Valley with my children. We came to the hut early in the afternoon and gathered firewood from the nearby riverbed, where floods had deposited plenty of branches that had now dried out. As evening set, the valley became still. Not a breath of wind…