The launch for Upturned was as good – better – than I anticipated. It was all that I could have dreamed. And more. So cool to have Zoom as a part of it and thereby allowing Mary and Sarah from The Cuba Press in Wellington to be present, as well as some of my family who couldn’t be there (Steve and family in Christchurch and Chris and family in Berlin, Germany.) Ah. The wonders of modern technology.
My two sisters had wanted to also be present, but alas, Jill in Wellington was called to a meeting at work that she couldn’t get out of and Susan in Australia could see everything, but couldn’t hear a thing – and to make matters worse, we didn’t even know she was there. “And I even got dressed up for it,” she told me later.
A friend in Gore wanted to be there too, but I bungled that by not sending her the correct link … So modern technology is only as good as those with the competence to make it fly.
Claire Beynon launched Upturned beautifully and warmly. She did me and my poetry the honour of reading deeply, intuitively and thoughtfully, immersing herself in my book and engaging with the poetry.
It was a wintry night, cold and wet, so I was especially chuffed that so many turned up. Whanau and friends (and some people I didn’t know … ) I heard someone say that it was a happy launch. Job done! I couldn’t be more pleased.
Next day we headed for Christchurch to catch up with family there. There we watched our grandchildren excel in their respective sports – both of them winning player of the day.
A visit to Christchurch’s wondrous new library followed. Of course we had to hunt down my books. Upturned can no doubt be added to the others soon. The family is growing. Feeding the Dogs we found tucked away in the collection stack.
Saturday night we watched rugby on TV – my sister joining us. A close game made it good viewing. However, the wrong side won. Just.
On Sunday it was time to battle our way back to Otepoti Dunedin through the rain and annoying clouds of spray from heavy trucks.
Today I cleaned windows, but a fairy tale interruption from my granddaughter made that onerous task more bearable.
The story was of Emily the mouse weathering a windy storm on the ocean to find shelter in a cave. A fairy tale with a good ending. Who could ask for anything more?
11th Letter In 
I lingered over this lovely post Kay, so much happiness and colour to counteract the grey wet days. What a gift! Talking about gifts, somewhere packed away in the kitchen I have a vase just like that one, a gift from my workplace when I got engaged to Nigel 🙂
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Oh that’s cool! My vase was a leaving gift from staff at the Early Learning Centre I started.
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