The world of Putaruru goes on its inconspicuous way in the
eyes of the world, but who knows the joys and sorrows of its inhabitants? I was walking along a quiet street and
wondering why there were people gathered near one of the houses. A young woman came to me and asked if I had
seen a little girl. Suddenly the world looked different. How well I knew the
feeling of a mother when a child was missing!
I did not suppose I could do anything to help. There were plenty of people there already,
and I did not even know what the child looked like. All I could do was pray in my heart that the
little girl would soon be found alive and well.
She was. I read about it in the
local paper a few days later.
A change in our lifestyle is that the Bishop in Tokoroa
arranged that we have a Home Sunday School in Putaruru, to be held at the home
of Keith and Ann Silva. I was not
happy. How many times have I seen Home
Sunday Schools, even Dependent Branches, come and go? The first Sunday I was
disobedient, and went to Tokoroa to church, but afterwards I repented and
started going to the Putaruru meetings.
There are certain advantages. I
can have a walk on a fine Sunday morning.
The meetings are only supposed to run for two hours, so I get home
earlier. Ray does not have to drive to
Tokoroa and wait for hours in the church parking lot.
Ironically, the first Sunday I attended, I was home no sooner
than had we gone to Tokoroa. The meeting
was 45 minutes late starting, Keith and Ann were running around trying to herd
up those who had promised to come but had not. Then the meetings ran
overlong. As it takes me almost as long
to walk across town as it does to drive from Tokoroa, I figured I could forget
about having a longer afternoon!
However, things have improved in that regard. We usually manage to get started less than 15
minutes late, and the two meetings run more or less to time.
Keith figured there are about 18 possible recruits, but so
far there have not been more than two or three 'inactives' at any one meeting,
and mostly they are children. So far
only one inactive adult has attended
more than once. The venue is pleasant. The Silvas have a very large living room and
plenty of chairs and sofas. Ann provides
a big lunch afterwards. I do not stay
for that. Partly from disapproval of food as a bait, partly because I am not
good at socializing, but mainly because I do not think it right that Ann should
provide food each Sunday and I do not want to consume it.
To my surprise, I have been enjoying the meetings. This is because people come from Tokoroa each
Sunday to support us, two missionaries, one of the Priesthood leaders and a
companion. We do not have to provide
Sacrament Meeting speakers from our small group very often, and so far the ones
from Tokoroa have been good talkers. At
first the missionaries were the sisters, because the only missionary with a
driver's licence was a sister from Idaho. The others, including her companion,
were all from the Islands, and had never driven a car.
The last two Sundays we have had particularly good Sunday
School lessons, as Pete Treanor was visiting. Last Sunday his wife Susan (used to be Susan
Wright) was with him. The only inactive
had had to leave. Ann and Keith were
doing something else. One was teaching
the one child present, and the other off visiting someone. So we had a tremendous discussion, the
Treanors and I, with a little input from a Tongan missionary. It will not always be so, because the lessons
are supposed to be geared to the people we are reactivating. But make hay while the sun shines!
When we go to Matamata we often pass an 'art deco' house. I think it looks disconsolate, but it always
interested Ray, because he wanted to go inside and see what the lay-out
was. One day he had his wish come
true. We were walking by and a woman
came out of the door and asked if we would like some persimmons! I had gone a little ahead, but Ray kept the
woman talking, which was not difficult, as she was as much of a talker as
he. So we were invited inside. My
impression was, What a mess! The couple
living in it have just moved in, and as far as I could make out, were doing the
place up in lieu of rent. The parts they
had done, were done tastefully, but the rest seemed to be filled with
junk. Ray was able to look beyond that,
and liked the design of the house. Even
had it been spotless, I do not think I would have liked it, but that was in
part due to the location. What is the advantage of big bay windows when all
they look upon is a busy street? The
family did not like living in town. They
had been working on a farm for subsistence wages and could not make do. There were two little girls, who missed the
country and their animals. We finally
got away. With the persimmons, which turned
out to be very good. Someone had given
them a crate of them and we suspect they did not like them.
On our way home that day dropped in at The Sheep in Tirau, for Ray
to talk to one of his many girl friends.
She gave us two huge cheese and bacon scones. The café at the back of
building gave the rest of the staff leftovers from the day's baking. We ate them for our dinner with a bowl of
soup. They were flavourful, but heavy as
lead. Like something I might bake!
Another day also we were given food. Do we look anemic? Midge, of whom I am sure I have written
before, was across the road from his house shouting for something. The young woman who lived there came out to
speak to him. He was offering her a
cake. She was explaining that she could not
eat the ingredients as we walked by.
Midge turned and called after us, “Dad, Mum...” We went back to meet him. He explained that his neighbour had given him
two cakes, and he had eaten one and wanted us to have the other. I asked him why he did not save it for
tomorrow. Midge, usually as deaf as a
post, actually heard me, and said, “Tomorrow never comes!” In fact Midge seemed particularly lively that
morning. It ended with us taking the
cake. Ray carried it with him all around
town. As it was well sealed in plastic
wrap, we thought it safe to eat the cake, though it had been in Midge's house
and in his hands. We did not like it
much.
We received from Olivia an announcement of her
graduation, with a great photo of her.
She included with it a personal note that touched us. She thanked us for
the genes we had given her!
To us she has always seemed a product of the Ellis
family. Yet she has us in her too! We
received another memorable letter from a grandchild. Elder Calvin Petty wrote asking his Gramps
why he joined the church and why he left it.
It was a marvellous letter, and prompted Ray to reply in honesty. The reply was excellent also. I copied both out for family history.
Ray has been able to do a few thing for our
next-door-neighbour Kath, who was recently widowed. But he was not looking
forward to driving to Hamilton with her.
While she was ill, and somewhat disorientated, her daughter had taken her driver's licence
from her. Now she had to go to have a
driving test and pay $400 to get it back.
Ray did not have to drive her, just sit in the car as she drove. While Ray does not enjoy her type of
conversation, he had no worries about her driving. He says she drives better than he does. She got her licence, and Ray is glad!
One day we drove to Lake Okareka, a favourite place
of ours, and walked along the lakeside.
The walkway has been upgraded, even to 'milestones' for those using it
for running and jogging. As usual there
were a lot of black swans in one place where the water is shallow. A group of them were beside the track. We were surprised to hear their soft little
sounds of communication. We had only
heard their loud raucous calls before.
Ray likes a T-shirt I bought him.
With a picture of skull and crossbones, it bears the legend:
WARNING
Listen only as
directed, do not exceed more than 1 hour a day.
See the local pub if symptoms persist.
GRUMPY OLD BLOKE
Packed with complaints, unwanted
opinions and
tired old storiesro
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