last evening after a day spent thining grape vines and bud rubbing in the speedy's vineyard . . .

(to catch up: after the crazy lady's house, robin and i went back to carolyn's for a week where we spent thanksgiving and hung out with her family and hugged because we were safe again and made fun of each other because that's sometimes what you do when you really like a group of people. we forced ourselves to leave carolyn's to come to the speedy family in marlborough on the north tip of the south island. nice family. pam, the mother, rules hard. pam and david have a vineyard of sauvignon blanc grapes that they sell to winemakers.)

david took us on a truck drive throughout the 70 acres of their property. at one point during the drive at the peak of one of their hill-tains as david was driving over uncharted bush with plants growing taller than me said, "i should get in here and trim things up a bit." i couldn't help but think while you're at it, maybe make a road or something. cars here really work. new zealand may be the only place i have been where it makes sense to have an SUV. and they actually use them as utility vehicles. as i think back to week one of ownership of our 1988 toyota corona when it got stuck in the mowed grass on flat land, i can't help but wonder if we should have gotten an SUV.

at three different points of our driving expedition we came across fallen pine trees that blocked our path. never were these trees huge, 18 inches diameter at the max, but still, they were ENTIRE TREES. at each impass, robin and david would dexterously grab a branch and with what seemed to be little effort remove the trees and roll them down the hill-tain. during each of these moments i flitted around running from side to side trying to find a way to help. by the third tree, i recognized that my role was most helpfully filled when i stayed away, so i simply walked behind the two capable people dragging a tree. i even stepped in (dried, thank god) sheep poo. i don't think i have ever felt more useless.

as if life could get much more perfect, the speedy's have an outdoor bath that connects to the hot water supply. without meaning to, be it a midnight bathroom run or waking up to turn over, i have seen the milky way more times in new zealand than i have seen it combined before. there is so little light at the places we are staying that the stars are most incredible. well done, stars.

with the christmas season quickly approaching, robin and i have been gearing up for what we are referring to as "christmas in the car '09." we bought maybe the ugliest felt wreath with a whorish looking gold plastic angel on it for our rearview mirror and a 10 inch white plastic christmas tree. does santa come to cars? merry christmas, everyone!

outside for more bud rubbing (bow chicka bow wow) and singling the grape vines! and to think, i now know what that means!

love,
maggie