Joss Miller reflects on the joy of valuing others' opinions.
Poet John Keats once said something along the lines that a thing of beauty is a joy forever.
The contents of a well-written article can also inspire and uplift in a way that is timeless. The ODT has some very good columnists plying their wares.
Jim Sullivan produces quirky stories from his beloved Maniototo. We have learned that he is more than a journalist; also in his writing is the voice of the ghost of a miner past at the Vulcan Hotel. Here, he is known to have entertained travellers from distant places such as Tauranga with tall tales of days long gone. As a lawn bowler his main talent it seems is as an acute observer where his recent account of a match between the Patearoa A and B teams was worthy of an Oscar.
Joe Bennett frequently becomes apoplectic at the mention of the name Trump but keeps his emotions much more in check when expounding on the positive aspects of dogs — his own in particular. His recent analysis of a wasp in its death throes would be worthy of publication in a scientific journal.
John Lapsley in "Wit’s End" consistently highlights the follies of humanity; a topic on which there is no shortage of raw material. His reflections on the challenges of international air travel is worth another read as one is scanned, sometimes interrogated, deposited like flotsam in vast terminal waiting areas, woken up mid-flight to eat barely palatable food, to eventually arrive in a semi-comatose state at some distant destination and to then have to figure how to correctly place a passport in a machine to be able to exit Customs.
Elspeth McLean in "Moths Collide" continues to probe and expose bureaucracy and hypocrisy in its many forms while still baking some of her Aunt’s excellent recipes.
She also extols the benefits of getting closer to nature albeit not necessarily on a bike.
Anna Campbell, of AbacusBio, treads delicately across the rural landscape dispelling any myths that farmers are basically a prototype of Fred Dagg as she points out a number have literary bents and could certainly hold their own with the latte-drinking business types who populate our urban centres.
Importantly she discusses complex scientific issues and developments that will likely have a huge impact on the food chain as we know it.
Then there is Gwynne Dwyer postulating on most things under the sun. At times he sounds less a journalist and more like some old-style prophet predicting the end of the world.
His views on the state of the planet are often mired in deep pessimism and gloom.
Perhaps he should take a trip down under and absorb the stunning beauty and peacefulness of New Zealand to distract him — at least temporarily — from his fixation on worldly woes.
Surely there are many good reasons to be optimistic for the future.
Let’s celebrate another year of excellent ODT journalism, the sole newspaper it seems in New Zealand that features a regular opinion page section.
Bring out the Christmas cheer and long may the observations, wit and occasional wisdom of its writers continue to brighten the landscape in 2020.
- Joss Miller is a retired Dunedin lawyer
