Despite the weather starting to feel a bit like autumn, I hope you all made the most of our national holiday and took some time to reflect on this great nation of ours, and on how lucky we are to live in our southwestern corner of the Pacific Ocean.
This comes from the ''why are Green Party bumper stickers often found on the oldest cars with the dirtiest exhausts'' file. Unfortunately, I've had to condense it a little for space reasons but I think it will resonate with quite a few readers:
''At the supermarket checkout, the young cashier suggested to the 'much older woman' that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags aren't good for the environment.
''The woman apologised and explained: 'We didn't have this green thing back in our day.'
''The young cashier responded: 'That's our problem today - your generation did not care enough to save the environment for future generations.'
''But back then, we returned milk bottles, lemonade bottles and beer bottles to the shop, which sent them to the plant to be washed and sterilised and refilled
''But we didn't have the 'green thing' back in our day.
''Grocery shops bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, such as household rubbish and as schoolbook covers.
''But too bad, we didn't do the 'green thing' back in our day.
''We walked up stairs, because we didn't have a lift in every supermarket, shop and office building. We walked to the local shop and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go a couple of kilometres down the road.
''But she was right. We didn't have the 'green thing' in our day.
''Back then we washed nappies, dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine, had hand-me-down clothes from brothers or sisters.
''But we didn't have the 'green thing' back in our day.
''Back then we had one radio or TV in the house - not a TV in every room with a screen the size of a small country. We blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do it for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded-up old newspapers to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
''Back then we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We pushed the mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working and didn't need to go to the gym to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
''But she's right - we didn't have the 'green thing' back in our day.
''We drank from a tap or fountain when we were thirsty, instead of using a plastic bottle. We refilled pens with ink instead of buying new pens, and replaced razor blades instead of throwing away the whole razor.
''But we didn't have the 'green thing' back then.
''People took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked, instead of turning parents into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's expensive people-carrier, which cost the same as a whole house did before the 'green thing'.
''We had one power socket in a room, not an entire bank of outlets for a dozen appliances, and we didn't need a computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites thousands of kilometres in space so we could find the nearest pub.
''But isn't it bad we were so wasteful because we didn't have the 'green thing' back then?
''We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off ... especially coming from a tattooed, multiple-pierced smart-arse who can't work out the change without the cash register telling them how much it is.''
Health and safety
Musselburgh sunflower grower Peter Begg has kindly provided details of the stepladder he used to measure the height of his prize bloom, just in case the fun police are after him (and/or us).
He says he is a little concerned that, perhaps in error, the photo focused too much on the sunflower and failed to ''do the stepladder justice''.
''There was no intention on my part to put myself at risk ... and that is why I did not look up or reach any further when measuring,'' Mr Begg adds with tongue firmly in cheek.
''This stepladder was well capable of supporting me. Firstly, I purchased it from a large, reputable, home handyman store. Secondly, it is rated at 120kg, which I checked before purchase.
''Thirdly, it has sizeable rubber feet on the legs. Fourthly, it has a step size of 230 x 360mm, with large rubber grip pads and rubber grips on the shoe soles.
''Five, it has a heavy metal safety clip to stop folding up while in use. And six, the top rail surround is significantly higher than the top step.
''The ladder was firmly placed on dry ground ... You wouldn't normally use it outside, or use the top step as routine, but, feeling safe due to the above, for the moment of the photo I carefully stepped up to the task at hand.''
Thank-you Peter. Next time I will run a ''show us your stepladder competition'' instead.
Keith Murray's St Clair Beach green flash ''was all over in a flash, so to speak,'' he says.
''I was not sure that this was actually the celebrated 'green flash' until I read Neville Peat's piece and saw his photo.
''My photo shows that you can see it at sunrise, from little old Dunedin, if you are lucky. I agree with his explanation that it is a refraction phenomenon, during which the violet and green rays of the sun peek over the horizon just the instant before the sun rises.''