A tribute to a fellow traveller-Russell
I met Russell, with his road worker hat, and his brother, Wayne, somewhere south of Pipiriki and was saddened to hear of his death after suffering a heart attack in Whanganui.
Russell said his name for the Tour Aotearoa tracking was Karearea, the NZ Falcon, on our $10.00 bank note. I hadn't noticed his stuffed toy one on his handlebars so took another lovely photograph of him and his bird. He was from Warkworth and was passionate about reestablishing them in that area. He said he had been to Rotorua and done a course on breeding them. I told him of my experience of being dive-bombed by one protecting its nest in the Marlbrough summer whilst working around some bluffs grubbing the noxious tussock nassella, for the county. It was the highlight of my school holidays. We only spoke for a couple of minutes and I had thought of calling him after the Tour finished to have another chat.
I wish to pass my condolences on to his family and share my photographs with them. I hope they appear here but am struggling with Facebook so here goes.
I thought of the poem 'The Windhover' by Gerald Manley Hopkins and how appropriate it would be for Russell.
The Windhover
BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
To Christ our Lord
I caught this morning morning's minion, king-dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
I pray that Russell's soul may ride there in the steady air and gliding, like his friend the falcon.
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