Five Random Words.

Today, I am playing Five Random Words. My words were chosen by Violet Sky., at my request, so it is an optional game.
I like these games. I never know what I am likely to come up with, until I begin to write.

Well sometimes I think about it, and do have an idea, but often it is not until I am in the process, that it flows.

BOATS
Boats tend to make me rather nervous. I seem to have a type of motion aversion/sickness. I once travelled on the InterIsland Ferry from Wellington to Lyttleton. It was an overnight journey, with hard bunks to sleep on. I spent most of the night sitting on the edge of the bunk, watching the horizon through the porthole. It was the only way I could prevent the feeling that I was about to vomit. I rocked & rolled for days after that trip. My sense of balance was well & truly out of whack. The service no longer runs, but I would never have wanted to repeat my night of sailing.
I have done the InterIsland trip from Picton in the South Island, to Wellington, in the North Island. That is a much shorter trip, but depending upon the weather, it can be rather unpleasant, or quite mildly enjoyable. Cook Strait is notorious for being unpredictable, so it is not always plain sailing, so to speak. Not very pleasant with small children though! Nervous mothers and boats do not mix!
I did think I would love to go on a cruise, but we never did. I have been on Yachts, sailing in Auckland Harbour. I have wished I was anywhere but on the yacht! I have ridden on the Harbour Ferries on Sydney Harbour. Mostly those trips have been pleasant.
I once went for a Dinner Cruise, on a Chinese Junk, in the Harbour at Singapore.
My brother & I once travelled on the RiverCat up the Parramatta river, & that was a lovey trip. Much more pleasant than a stuffy train.
I have ridden on boats on the canal waterways on the Gold Coast. I detested the smell, and the noise.
No, you can keep your boats, I will always prefer to fly.

SPOONS
As it happens, I am rather particular about spoons. Which spoons for what purpose. Gom is inclined to eat his icecream with a soup spoon, if that is the first one he enouncters in the cutlery drawer. As far as I am concerned, the only use for soup spoons, is to eat soup. Dessert spoons are for dessert. Teaspoons are more versatile, I will use them for all sorts of things, from cups of soup to sneaking slurps of Chocolate spread from the jar.
Has any one else noticed how there is a dearth of Tablespoons these days? Once upon a time, any self respecting canteen of cutllery contained at least two large tablespoons. Now they are like hens teeth, ...unable to be found except in the set of measuring spoons. Or at Garage sales of deceased Mother's odd collection of utensils, which the family regard with disdain.
I still wonder where the teaspoons of my life have all gone. I suspect they must sneak off with the odd socks, to dance in some secret dimension. How else to explain their mysterious disappearances?

LANGUAGE
Language is a tricky word to write about. I have only one language, English. The English I know and speak is not exactly the same as the English others speak. Much of it is the same, but there are the words which have grown over the years and generations, and have come to mean different things, in different countries, though we may all speak 'English'. Even in New Zealand, where I grew up, there are regional differences in the use and meaning of certain words.
Then there are the 'colourful' language words, some of which are universal I suspect. Some words regarded by the English as 'swear' words, are quite meaningless as such to another person from a different language speaking background. A Dutch friend once told us how he could never understand why anyone would want to use the term bullsh!t as a swear word. He said to him, it simply meant the feces of the bull, and therefore was unremarkable.
My mother often complained about the improper use of terms in everday use. We could not convince her that language is a living thing, and therefore is constantly evolving with time and use.


BEARDS
Ah yes, beards. Not everyone's choice. My brother has a full beard, which he grew when he was quite young, and he has only shaved it off once since he first grew it. Our mother had nagged at him for years to get rid of it. She used to hate finding hairs in the handbasin, after he had trimmed it up. It seemed no matter how careful he was, there were always some hairs to be found. I don't know that his wife cared one way or the other. She had only ever known him with a beard. When he did shave it off, everyone was horrified, including himself. When he had first grown the whiskers, he was a very thin man. When he eventually shaved it off, he was a much larger man. I think he frightened himself, as much as anyone, at the stranger who looked out from his face. Of course, he regrew it, and I am sure he will never take if off again.
I don't recall ever going out with a man with a beard. Gom once grew a short lived moustache when they were 'in', back in the day.


POTATOES
Last word. Potatoes. We love our potatoes, and would hate to be without them. We like them most ways you can cook or eat them. In New Zealand we also had Kumera, which were the equivalent to Sweet Potatoes here, in OZ. The sweet potatoes they call Kumera over here, just do not taste the same.
We were suprised when an Australian girl bemoaned the fact that her NZ inlaws were feeding her potatoes every day, and she felt this was causing her weight gain. We grew up with potatoes being a daily accompaniment to meals, and never felt they were 'fattening'.
I still love the New Zealand South Island potatoes the best of all. I am not sure why, but perhaps it is the soil, or the fact that it is colder than the North Island, but somehow, they just taste wonderful.
Though my MIL & I were worlds apart in every way, she could cook the best roast potatoes I have ever tasted.

So that wraps up my five words.
Violet Sky got hers from Ian at and I still think so..
I am sure, if you would like five words from either they would oblige.... or I would be happy to provide five words if you would like some.

Crowded House, Distant Sun.