BBM received two compliments which motivated his use of his scooter… a young man who oooh-ed and awe-d and commented that he could hardly wait to be of an age to use such a cool ride. The other compliment came from the gardener who commented on the ‘tricked out’ scooter. So, we have been using all the footpaths and bike trails around Kapiti. A couple days I was walking for about two hours while we discovered new paths. The scooter has speeds from ‘Turtle’ to ‘Rabbit’. BBM waits until I give the all-clear and then he takes off across the street. We meet all kinds of people who are wanting to stop and talk. It certainly fulfils our need to socialise after being cooped up inside over rainy periods.

My walking beside the scooter has caused a learning curve for both of us. I keep reminding him of leaning forward when he goes up the curb, and turning to stay on the foot path so that no more wheelies occur than necessary. Coming straight off the road too fast sometimes means BBM hits the raised grass verge on the other side of the foot path – causing the front wheels to come off the ground. So, the other day, all the way to the beach I was reminding him because we hadn’t been out for a few days. I figured I was helping him remember the little things and making our outing a smooth operation. Until we were on the way home again. That’s when I realised that all my help in reminding him had actually gotten on his nerves. He took off, crossed a street, went barreling up the ramp, turning sharply to stay onto foot path on the other side. He then turned to me and sarcastically/cheekily asked, “How did I do?” Ha. I patted him on the arm and replied just as sarcastically/cheekily back, “Well done you!” It’s difficult to know these days whether I’m helping or hindering.

Fishing is on hold. Fishing has been on hold. Well, put it this way, fishing is going to be on hold for the foreseeable future. And, that’s OK by me. I bought BBM a drone to go fishing with. It has waited for the perfect weather. It has waited on just the right rigs for the surf casters. It has waited for a proper cart to carry everything down on the beach… particularly two outdoor lounge chairs with cup holders. All of the above has come about, the right weather, the right rigs, good outdoor lounge chairs, etc. Nothing is left on the list to tick, except for us to go drone fishing. We have even done two dry runs with friends. No fishing gear was taken out of the cart – only food and drink. And, we proved the outdoor lounge chairs work appropriately… the two guys fell asleep and then insisted it had rained while we two women were on a beach walk. The proof was that both of the guys were wet down the fronts of their pants… from the level of where their wine glasses had been held. It seems they had both fallen asleep and when one woke and spilled down the front of him, his startled yell meant the other jerked awake and spilled down the front of himself too! Silly. Fishing is well on hold. And, that’s OK by me.

It was never about the fishing or boating for me. It has always been about the time spent with BBM. So, if friends are also willing to pretend that it’s all about fishing, that’s OK by me.