One of the highlights of this past week was entertaining an Alaskan husband and wife who have both been bush pilots. We met this couple via the NZ Society of Authors, when I gave a talk about my Alaskan memoirs. Both Gary and I were greatly entertained over lunch at our place, at their stories of flying in white-out conditions, their hunting and fishing escapades involving the Alaskan favourite characters: salmon, caribou, moose and bears, and their ‘near miss’ or ‘lucky me’ stories.
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But the downside of all of this reminiscing is that it sets the mind back to Alaska, that great white place of adventure in the Far North, and unsettles the equilibrium of ‘just being at home’. Any quiet enjoyment of the mundane is thrown askew; hedge trimming, rose pruning or a gentle wander along the country road don’t really seem to cut it when images of rearing grizzlies and murky flying conditions are only a recent memory away.
This weekend I am preparing to fly to Auckland to record another radio interview and head into the TVNZ studios to talk about my writing on TV3’s breakfast programme, The Café.
That more exciting prospect is now looming in my mind, cleverly subverting the ordinary while I attempt to select appropriate attire to wear, wonder about the effects of Cyclone Cook on my travel plans, and enjoy the luxury of the more hectic and exhilarating schedule of a self-published author.
I guess this writing business does have its upsides…
That more exciting prospect is now looming in my mind, cleverly subverting the ordinary while I attempt to select appropriate attire to wear, wonder about the effects of Cyclone Cook on my travel plans, and enjoy the luxury of the more hectic and exhilarating schedule of a self-published author.
I guess this writing business does have its upsides…
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