http://www.berylfletcher.co.nz/2009/04/20/of-soup-and-winter-and-literary-prizes/ Award winning New Zealand Author Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:44:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://www.berylfletcher.co.nz/2009/04/20/of-soup-and-winter-and-literary-prizes/#comment-105 Peter Wells Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:45:11 +0000 http://www.berylfletcher.co.nz/?p=81#comment-105 I recall the photo of you in The House at Karamu in which you are wearing a beautifully handknitted pullover with a very complicated pattern near the neck. My ancient mother sits knitting every night while she watches television. As a 93 year old she tells me she doesn't like 'wasting time'. Every so often I stitch together an embroidery I find in a junk shop, turning it into a cushion. I find the rhythmical (sp?) trance very calming and inward. I don't really think of anything but the mind, left free to wander, meanders off. And the mechanical repetition calms me down better than any pill. Sometimes I think writing, or rather typing at a computer is like this: it actually calms me down. Perhaps this is why people no longer run out onto the streets to demonstrate. We are all, as humans, calming ourselves down by repetitive tasks like typing on computers.... I recall the photo of you in The House at Karamu in which you are wearing a beautifully handknitted pullover with a very complicated pattern near the neck.
My ancient mother sits knitting every night while she watches television. As a 93 year old she tells me she doesn’t like ‘wasting time’. Every so often I stitch together an embroidery I find in a junk shop, turning it into a cushion. I find the rhythmical (sp?) trance very calming and inward. I don’t really think of anything but the mind, left free to wander, meanders off. And the mechanical repetition calms me down better than any pill. Sometimes I think writing, or rather typing at a computer is like this: it actually calms me down. Perhaps this is why people no longer run out onto the streets to demonstrate. We are all, as humans, calming ourselves down by repetitive tasks like typing on computers….

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