Friday, April 10: Sometimes in the dreamy, drifting moment of waking in the morning, I think life is the same as it’s always been. Then the realisation seeps in, no, I’m not going anywhere today, there’s no work, no play, and, this Easter, there is no trip over the Kaimais to the Mount.
I can barely remember an Easter when I’m not at the Mount. This year, our bach is rented for the winter and I’d be staying with friends, visiting my family in Papamoa, walking on the beach, a last swim if it’s warm enough, long dinners, laughter and good company. Raising a glass to our absent friend, Bill, who loved the Mount as much as anyone. “Let’s go across to the beach,” he’d say, “I can hear the sound of the surf.”
Today, the Mount is well beyond my bubble so I turn out (again) to walk in my neighbourhood, where the Claudelands Events Centre is now a Covid-19 assessment unit, and bold sandwich boards announce this at several entrances. I’ve got to know Claudelands’ quirks, corners and side streets more in the past two weeks than I have in the 17 years I’ve lived here. It’s a mixed suburb of wooden bungalows, concrete flats from the 1960s and ‘70s, and a tonne of infill housing. I’m seeing the same faces on my walks, a woman with two large huskies, a young dad biking with his small boys, a man always reading on a comfy couch on his front porch. An overgrown garden is now neatly weeded and marshalled, a bonus of lockdown, a peeling fence is painted, there are trailers laden with garden rubbish in several driveways, waiting for the dump to reopen. Someone’s cooking a midday roast today. Its fragrance drifts through an open window.
Close to home, there are neighbours talking in the sunshine, tui clacking in the trees of A J Seeley Gully, and they’re also feeding in the kahikatea off our deck. It’s a good place to be. Although, sadly, our driveway drinks event tonight is cancelled on account of highly esteemed microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles saying this is not advisable in lockdown.
There is a quick soup for lunch (see recipe below), with a slice of beautiful crusty golden focaccia bread made by Emme, who lives next door. She delivers her treat warm from the oven this morning.
And the really good news is that Penny’s chocolates land in Papamoa just in time for the weekend.
Happy Easter, Henry, Libby, Penny, all family and friends.
Spur-of-the-moment soup: sizzle a peeled chopped potato, sliced garlic, spring onion and chopped broccoli in oil and butter in a heavy-based pot for a few minutes. Cover with chicken stock, add chopped blue cheese (I find a wizened leftover piece but it blossoms in the heat). Bring to the boil, simmer until tender, use a stick blender for a smooth puree, or a potato masher if you want it chunkier. To serve, stir in a spoonful of sour cream, if you have it, and chopped herbs.
Top tip: check www.mightylocal.co.nz for a list of great Waikato food and drink now available online. Collective lockdown initiative.