December 18th 2020: Are you a mudlark?
Last week on Radio New Zealand I heard part of an interview with an Englishwoman who likes to mudlark. 'Mudlarking' is a term that I hadn't realised summed up one of my favourite past-times. It mainly pertains to sifting around in the mud once the tide recedes and looking for 'treasures'. I've done that around parts of Auckland and also enjoyed rooting around in the banks of Te Auaunga (Oakely Creek) after a downpour.
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| Old glass bottles found when 'mud larking' |
I've always liked old and interesting things. While many of the students I went to school with could afford whatever they liked, I learned to find a great bargain at the Sunday flea-markets in Takapuna. This hunting turned into a life-long habit and it wasn't until I lived in Avondale that I discovered the remnants of a landfill's past sliding into the water.
What I like about digging around in the mud is the very fact of the earth I'm on and in, and I become absolutely absorbed in my task. I get a real 'hit' when I find something whole and unchipped, a piece of the past has come to greet me.
In a past blog I speak about Oakley Creek and my love of it, how I imagine the past and how sad it was when I read what became of Mr Edwin Oakley (1824-1886).
Now that I no longer live in Avondale, I don't frequent the Creek much at all. These days I'm at my beloved's place most weekends and then back at my flat during the week. When I think of the past, going way back, I imagine how people must have felt when all those layers of restriction and repression were placed upon them.
I imagine how someone like Edwin Oakley felt when he tried so hard to make a success of business enterprises and eventually went to Hawaii and killed himself. His brother had done the same years before, and when I read that, my heart ached for them and their family. I have walked those little pathways and sung to his spirit, but perhaps he found rest in Hawaii. The information I found was from a blog called 'Timespanner' and it is very thorough. If you are interested in the history around Avondale and beyond. The same writer and researcher has a Facebook page too.
https://timespanner.blogspot.com/2012/07/updates-for-oakley-creek-history.html
As Christmas approaches and the possible pressures of gift-giving are upon us, I like to think of how easy it is to feel joy and excitement from something as simple as digging around in a bank or in mud. Obviously, what to do with the bottles once I've cleaned them is sometimes a quandary - they don't really have much monetary value and I guess a lot of people would rather buy a vase from Briscoes.
I am feeling so content and grateful for all the good things (and even the 'bad') in my life. I have a few wonderful friends, people who understand the value of not judging others and communicating clearly.
This is a time of year when we think of friends and family who are no longer in our lives for a myriad of reasons - or perhaps they never were part of our lives to begin with.
Yesterday I saw a friend, Sarah J, who deepens the bonds of trust and love every time I see her. She is a wonderful witch, full of moonlight and magic. I know she isn't judging me, and that's rare. We are raised in a culture in which people are trained to find fault in ourselves and in others.
I have always seen the good in others. I am a mudlark after all. I will dig and dig and I will find treasure. Sometimes, if the bank is too steep and there are too many pieces of sharp glass, I have to move on, but it doesn't mean it was a waste of time or that I made a mistake.
If you've seen the sheen of old green glass and you've dug it up with the enthusiasm of a child, then you'll know the joys of mud larking.
Apply it to yourself and others too. You're looking out for treasure, not focusing on what is broken or 'wrong'. When you look out for beautiful things, they have this way of showing up.
Merry Christmas.
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