Posts by Jackie Clark
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Up Front: Lighting the Dark, in reply to Tess Rooney,
She has to be muzzled, by law (she bit a suspicious looking person over a year ago), but yes, it crosses my mind that no-one else is there at that time of night, and I could likely unmuzzle her when we're there.
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I was, literally, walking through the dark with Ruby, last night.
The park I go to to exercise her at around 6 is now pretty dark these nights, and generally I feel safe. As a woman, however, my first thoughts as I enter are what I would do were I to be jumped on from behind.
It's a very large park - around 4km, and because Ruby is offleash (and there are hares out and about at the time of night) she's off and running having a lovely time.
She's also muzzled so were an attacker to appear, my thoughts are that, given she is scared of suspicious strangers, and has a very scary bark, that would scare them off. Then I think, well, would she come back when I called out for her in that situation? Could I get her near enough to me to remove her muzzle? Because it is at the front of my mind, and I have no compunction, that I would use her as a weapon if needs be. And then I worry about that too - about what would happen if the attacker tried to hurt her? No, I decide. Let them try. Unmuzzled, feeling threatened, she would bite, without question.
These are the thoughts that rumble through my mind, as I watch the shadows behind me (part of the park is lit from an industrial site over the road), as I scan constantly.
I'm pretty tired of it to be honest.
And the changes are a long way from coming.
I like Emma's piece because it suggests that it's possible, and I know that it's possible. It's an ongoing discussion, and much as I would wish that people would just hurry the fuck up, and do what's needed to be done, I understand that this is all a process. -
Up Front: Lighting the Dark, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
I'm going to pash you so hard the next time I see you.
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Speaker: The secret Christchurch…, in reply to Shulgin,
I’m here, in Auckland, Shulgin. If there’ anything I can do, let me know. Email me. Even just for a talk. If you need a friend, I’m here.
Also, I'm a bit of a dog person. Well, a complete dog nutter really. So there's that. -
I love chutneys and relishes. Just so you all know.
And my birthday is soonish.
So.
Just saying. -
Capture: One picture of you, and no more, in reply to Isabel Hitchings,
This is such a lovely photo. Such halcyon days it recalls.
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At some point in the future, not right now - I'm in the middle of doing my appraisal - I'll write a long and fluent post on ECE and how far down this track we already are. For the moment, I would just say that what Jolisa has done is important.
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Capture: One picture of you, and no more, in reply to Steve Barnes,
And so it has. I never noticed that.
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Capture: One picture of you, and no more, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
So stylish x
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Capture: One picture of you, and no more, in reply to Kebabette,
I cannot even tell you how much I loved your photo. I teared up immediately on seeing it, mostly because my own grandad Jack was such a huge part of my life. He died when I was 21 (and it was his bequest of $1ooo that enabled me to go on my OE), my first death of someone I loved, and the first time I saw my mother grieve.
I’ve looked at most of the photos of myself taken over the years, and I keep coming back to just one.
This is my best friend Carol, and I, and our dear friend Sue. It was taken on the occasion of our Rangitoto College 7th form class reunion, which we organised ourselves. As most of you know, Carol died on August 22nd last year. I had loved her for 33 years, and she was an integral and vital part of my life for all those years. She was the person who had loved me the longest, and the best, for all of those years. She was my plan B. Her life and mine were so intertwined that her death has left me unsure of who exactly I am. She was, and I’m not being hyperbolic here, pretty much the biggest part of me. I’m slowly rediscovering my identity without her.
What I like about this photo is the sheer love and affection we had for each other, and it also speaks to me of what friendship has been, in my life. I love my family, but I am not very close to them. They haven’t always understood me, nor my choices in life. It’s something I have always missed, and have sought to have with my friends, instead. And I have been very lucky whilst acknowledging that I work very hard to maintain my friendships. As someone said the other day, I seem to attract “women of worth”. I would like to think, instead, that I gravitate to people of great heart, and openness of spirit. Carol was the greatest of those women.
