It’s just before 8am, and the sun is climbing over the hills of the Hutt Valley, as seen from my desk on the 8th floor overlooking the harbour.
I’ve just walked in to work. There’s something melancholy about walking to the work in the dark - 6.45am - put on a coat, the MP3 player… leave the circle of light, wife and daughter sleeping, walk up the steps with the Durutti Column’s minor chords ringing; along the side of the hill and it’s still dark (Radiohead, Stone Roses) and no cars yet; at the top of Orangi Kaupapa Road there’s a view of the harbour emerging in the gathering light; pick my way down the steps towards the Botanic Gardens where a Grey Warbler close by startles me out of Beth Orton and I stop for a few seconds in a fruitless attempt to find the secretive bird.
But back at my desk, just when the sun seems a certain thing it’s closed off by a passing shower. Another grey winter’s day has started.
