I miss the planes

Life is slowing down all over the planet. People everywhere are being discouraged – even banned from congregating en masse. No going to the footy, no going to movies or the gym, no going out for dinner or out unnecessarily.

Many people are beginning to work from home. Wouldn’t that be great ! I have no job, so I feel like I’m always home lately. My heart goes out to those working in essential services (medicine, health, police, couriers, banking, retail) who can’t work from home. They have to keep going; to take care of us should we need them.

I am concerned that many people are not taking “social distancing” seriously. Going out and about; doing the things we all did without a thought until a few weeks ago. Not just people in the at risk age groups, but young people too.

Remember, you might be taking all the precautions – it doesn’t mean you are invincible. None of us are immune. You might not have any symptoms, but you could still be infected and give it to your grandparent or a friend from BINGO.

The other day I was messaging my niece. Her family, spanning FIVE generations, have agreed to not see each other for at least a month. They don’t even live too far apart from each other in the scheme of things, but they have made this choice to protect each other.

For me, well we share a house so we see each other all the time, but one of us works in health – where exposure to already immune-compromised people makes our hygiene habits critical. But a lot of thought goes into planning a trip to the supermarket to replenish essential supplies (if you can get them – no thanks to the idiot panic buyers and hoarders).

Our borders are closed; only citizens can enter the country. It is the same in many other countries too. I can leave – but I can’t come back. Even if I did leave I would need to go into “self isolation” for 14 days on arrival.

Aside from the measures our governments have made all across the planet in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, and the public service announcements we see online, tv and billboards and hear on radio reminding us to wash our hands (still amazed we need to be reminded about this)…what else can we learn ?

We are a social bunch, so some of us will struggle with these new rules. We can still be social though. There are online options for staying in touch with people – you can even PHONE people. Remember when we used to do that all the time; without a thought ?

Being mindful and taking time to reflect have been messages promoted by “alternate” health practitioners to help people take control and help them reclaim some calm amidst the crazy busy lives many of us live. But mindfulness and reflection aren’t “new fangled” things. They have been around forever. You can practice mindfulness yourself. You don’t need to pay someone. It is all about slowing down, taking time, being in the moment, reflecting, relaxing.

While you are working from home, just at home or trying to keep the kids amused, take a few moments for yourself. Listen to the birds, admire the flowers, be transfixed by butterflies dancing, watch the leaves as the breeze tickles them. You can do other things too – go for a walk (fresh air and open spaces are good – even now), bake; but take your time and enjoy the process – it will taste better ! knit, craft, read a book, PLAY with your kids, read to your kids.

Take time to write down and record some of the things which are going on in what seems to be a crazy situation. The world is slowing down, we all have time and we should take advantage. It’s what I am doing – you could just write it in a notebook, a diary, in a word document (like a digital journal) or blog. The problem with our digital online world is that none of us are really sure how anything will be archived, or how information might be accessed in the future. We can go to libraries either in person or online and read old newspapers, some of us are lucky enough to have diaries, journals and letters written by our ancestors. We can glean information from these about how past events like this affected our families. Spanish Flu, World War One, rationing, World War Two, industrialisation, fashion, education, the Depression, exploration across the planet and into space, mining disasters, shipwrecks – it’s all there, but what will we leave ?

All of my genealogy buddies are revelling in this enforced time at home to get on top of filing, tidying resources, checking facts have been correctly cited with source information, RESEARCHING, contacting DNA matches (because we all have time to reply to message now – right ?).

What’s going on in our home ? A spot of gardening, a jigsaw or two, genealogy (duh !) extreme cleaning, reading, baking, catching up on all those tv programmes and movies that we haven’t been able to cram in, applying for jobs (because - never give up), the occasional walk and a bit of just sitting, taking stock and watching the world go by; albeit more slowly now.

What do I hope is going to come out of this ? That we will be better people, that we will care more for each other and our planet. Look at how quickly pollution has decreased – even disappeared – as countries have slowed down and workplaces have closed down; hear the birds now that that industrial noise is quietening, see the water clearing in canals and the sea life once more visible.  The virus is threatening us, but at the same time healing our planet.

I do miss the planes though as our world slows down. It was a bit mindful for me watching them flying overhead returning from a journey or just beginning a new adventure. The sky is empty. The world is getting quieter.

We can do this. Take care of yourself, distance yourself from your loved ones and friends, cherish life, help the planet heal and we will heal too.

STAY HOME.

STAY SAFE.

WASH YOUR HANDS

DON’T GO TO THE SHOPS EVERYDAY.

DON’T HUG or SHAKE HANDS.

PROTECT OUR ELDERLY POPULATION.

PROTECT YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS WITH COMPROMISED HEALTH.

PLAN FOR THE FUTURE.

#52Ancestors, Week 13, The Old Homestead

Two possible homes spring to mind as subjects for this topic.

Both of them, I feel should be heritage listed. But I think the current owners might have different ideas.

Along Northbank Road running next to the Wairau River, past Onamalutu and heading towards Tophouse and St Arnaud, on the opposite side of the braided river to State Highway 63, is Fabian’s Valley Road. It is not always open to the public and crosses private farm land. It is rough metal and at times verges on 4WD territory. Sometime before you reach Fabian’s Valley Road you will have crossed an unremarkable bridge over Bartlett’s Creek.

Still standing along Bartlett’s Road, past a small cemetery, is a cob cottage. Built, most likely in the early 1850’s. It is a survivor of large earthquakes including the Kaikoura 2016 7.8 quake and quite likely the Wairarapa 1855 8.2 quake, storms and timeworn neglect.

The first time that my parents visited was in the early 1980’s. They went with a cousin also researching the family, and met with yet more cousins still farming the land. At that time cattle called it home, and the work to try to save it was just beginning. I wish I could find those photos to include – maybe later.

In 2014, I went to see if I could find it too. It seemed much more cared for, although obviously used by locals who had left their beer cans behind. Sacrilege to us ! The cattle were still there, but kept away by a fence and the creek, which would have been their water supply was so close. I imagine at times it must have been INSIDE !

This was the home of my great-great-great-grandparents John and Maria Bartlett. They had left their home in East Chinnock, Somerset, where their families had lived for generations working as weavers, sailmakers and glovers, and bought their young family to Nelson New Zealand in 1842. Their youngest children including my great-great-grandfather were born in Nelson, in the Matai Valley. There are Bartletts still in the area, I believe, who are connected in some way to John and Maria. Maybe they were orchardists, apple growing was a big industry in pioneer Nelson and still is. Perhaps they were farmers.

At any event, something prompted them, and other families to move over to Marlborough in the early 1850s. Was it gold ? Was it simply the availability of land ?

The cottage itself has two rooms possibly three, judging by the remnants of a partition wall, downstairs. One obviously the kitchen still with an old coal range; a staircase leads to a loft space upstairs. Timber shingles are still on the roof in places, but most have been replaced by corrugated iron.

In this home Maria raised her family. The older children were now adults, some marrying in the district within the first years of their arrival. Others like my great-great-grandfather were still very young. Someone ran a school for the local children. Whether this was in their home or at another nearby location I do not know. I don't think it was Maria, more likely a daughter or daughter in law. When she and John were married in 1825, they had both signed their names with “x” on the marriage register.

Tragedy came to the family, not long after their arrival. On 19 June 1860 John was drowned in Spring Valley Creek while crossing it on his way home from a meeting. He had safely crossed the Wairau only to come to grief in the creek not far from his home. His son Joseph and son-in-law John Ward were following and found him. Three years later on 18 December 1863 another crossing went awry, this time on the Wairau River. It claimed the lives of son Joseph and son-in-law John Ward. They are described in the newspaper report as shearers and had crossed on horseback. John Ward’s horse arrived home rider-less which alerted family members to the catastrophe.

The river, which looks shallow, gentle and mesmerisingly blue normally, can be treacherous when in flood. Life goes on though for our pioneers, both young widows married again. Maria died just three years later. Her son Thomas, who had married his brother Joseph’s widow, stayed and raised his family there. His descendants were farming there still as recently as 2016, maybe even now.

Today, the large sheep runs and sheep farming as a whole are being overtaken by grapes and more grapes. This is Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc country.