Weather has been wet as usual, and weather reports say we haven't had a week without rain in Aucks this year. If it's not raining, its drizzling or cloudy, or showery and the moments of sunshine aren't enough to dry out everything so anyone doing laundry has to pick and choose their days or let it all pile up.
It's like we are lockdown again except it isn't COVID anymore but simply being plagued with rain. Or maybe just the winter blues. Some people claim they have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and get prescribed either Vitamin D tablets or if they can afford it, trips to sunnier climes, like Fiji and Raro.
All this rain is very good for the water table. Maybe this will sustain is in times of Summer droughts. All I know is if the puddles don't dry out we're in for damp, dank mould and mildew and possibly outbreaks of TB and general miasma.
The problems is we are on an an isthmus and the only way out of Auckland is up North or to the South, if you go further East you end up in the bogs and fens of Thames and if you go West you crash into the surf at Piha, if you aren't hit by landslides down Scenic Drive.
I have been plotting my escape, the easiest route for me would be to go up North (rather than brave the motorway South to the airport) however, thing is I can't take my garden with me. Also I feel it would be a faithless act to up and leave for greener (or drier?) pastures just because of a bit of rain. Also if I stay, why not turn the backyard into a rice paddy? Mum might be pleased to have homegrown rice instead of importing the precious commodity from Thailand.
My solution is to scatter fairy dust over everything, i.e gypsum aka Calcium Sulphate in hopes that the clay will accept this attempt to bind and poke holes in it so the water can drain and perhaps form underground caves underneath the garden. Could work.
I could also invest in a broadfork, or shoes with big spikes in it to aerate the ground, or just commandeer a school rugby team to run roughshod around the lawn, turn it into a mud wrestling pit, and once the ground is throughly rucked over, start planting again. I had this vision when I worked at the Orchards Retirment Village for the neighbouring Glenfield College (battle) fields. I remember saying to my boss look at all that green space we could turn it into an amazing garden. Then the residents of the retirment village would have something beautiful to look at rather than a muddy pasture and two rugby posts. He just thought I was crazy and reminded me that I missed a spot leaf blowing.
He was no fun.
