Posts by JacksonP
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Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream.*
*Poe's law.
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A couple of years ago I was in Kaiaua on the Miranda coast, and spotted this ghoulish head built into the climbing wall of the playground.
I had this immediate flashback to the one recurring nightmare I remember from childhood.
Around the age of 11 we moved into a house on the clifftop in Whakatane, which we knew to be adjacent to, and partly on, an old pa site. I’m still investigating the history of this, as it has become more and more of interest, but in brief up until the early 1800s it was home to many chiefs of Ngāti Awa, most notably Te Papaka, for which the site is named. Papaka meaning crab, after the way the chief was said to walk.
In 1866 the land was confiscated by the crown, and when Te Kooti started raiding the district in 1868, the constabulary built a redoubt on the site to use as a look out.
As an adventurous 11 year old, I would run out the front of our house, across the lawn and through the fennel, over what I now know to be the location of the pa, and later the lookout platform used by the constabulary, to the edge of the cliff, and sometimes over it.
So to the dream.
It was a dark and stormy night… wait that’s Peanuts.
It was dark. So dark you couldn’t see shapes, only feel fear. I’m being chased across the lawn and through the fennel. I have no idea what is behind me, but as we come onto the headland there is a building without walls, that has multiple staircases going up, and around, and up, running away from this unknown terrifying goddamn thing, up and up…
… then I’d wake up.
This went on for a couple of weeks, as I recall until one night, after being chased in terror to what seemed to be the top of the building, there were no more stairs. Running to the edge I had to decide whether to jump into the abyss, or turn and face (oh god) the thing. Which I did. It looked like the disembodied head above, more or less.
I stopped having the nightmare after that. Although I’m still a little bit afraid of the dark.
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Another from the the Waioeka gorge. Thanks for joining in Jos. :-)
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Closeup.
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Capture: Tribute - Dr Chris Ward, in reply to Joe Wylie,
Indeedy. A really sweet bunch of images here, such a great tribute to ChrisW.
Thanks Joe. I'm really grateful that people have joined in. I know the family will appreciate it too. Has reminded me why I started this little whare in the first place. :-)
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Saturday, indoors.
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Snap, from yesterday. :-)
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Lunch breaks on challenging days are best spent photographing flora and fauna. These from Wintergarden yesterday.
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The Nīkau berry. Apparently edible when green, but it was also used as bird shot by early colonialists on account of its hardness.
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In the garden with a flash.
