Thursday, October 8, 2015

Roskill burning and Australia 'iced over!'

What the hell is he going on about this time, you say. Maybe you used even stronger language. That's OK, I do---regularly. How are those two 'trends' even remotely linked? By radio reports of course. You see, I was driving sedately along the South west motorway, having spent a most satisfying day re some of my wonderful 'supervisee' clients. Perdy was in the car, as she had spent the day bat doggie care; hopefully she was not intent on repeating last night's fiasco! her 'escapology' skills must firmly remain in the past!!!! The radio was set on talkback and eventually the drivel gave way to the news. Firstly there was an item about a 'vegetation fire on Mt Roskill, barely a kl from where I live. I searched the horizon, but there was no sign of any conflagration. I assumed the 'services' had doused the said flames so there was no need for me to evacuate, unlike some of my country-persons in the far south, who had endured some nasty winds and scrub fires, threatening their homes. So we headed n home but before we arrived, we were alerted to another event--this time form our 'cousins' in Australia. It seems that a prominent Northern Territory politician was having problems with his son--whom he had evicted from the family home, because of the son's use of 'ice,' the substance we call 'P' in New Zealand. Just like in NZ, families are torn asunder by this insidious substance. Businesses are ruined and lives put on hold, while the battle to return to normality rages, if one chooses, that is. Therein there is an issue. Just like NZ, the will to put in the resources to fight this blight on society, is sadly missing the mark. Many of the programmes available are expensive and not publicly funded. The extent of the problem is huge. Hardly a town is free of 'P' or 'Ice.' It is my drive to find solutions that drove me to write ROSKILL, a story set in NZ, but replicated in both countries; a story of hope replacing hopelessness. We can do something, we can fight it, but we must invest in programmes to get our citizens off this terrible evil. Click on the kink below, which will take you directly to the Amazon download for the eBook version of ROSKILL. You can download the hard copy from my website, but it is expensive if you live outside the USA. For a cheaper deal, go to my email address and request a hardcopy for $22, posted anywhere in NZ. neilcolemanauthor@gmail.com http://amazon.com/dp/047325655X www.authorneilcoleman.com