Yesterday as we bee-bopped across the bridge and Mr Wolf got parked for a fleeting moment, the subject switched from sporting success on the court to career success in the class room, and what it was these fab four in the back of my wagon wanted to be when they grew up.
"When I grow up I want to be a dentist" said one while Wai Girl wanted to be a flight attendant and travel the world like her Dad had done.
Little Maraea wanted to be a teacher like her Matua Eruiti and keep her culture and kapahaka alive, whilst Te Akau wanted to teach and play sports just like her Koro and her uncle have done at Kura Mauao.
It was the last career choice that made me do a double take in the rear view mirror as it struck a chord in my own wish list if I had life to live all over again
"I want to be and environmental scientist, like my dad so I can save the world especially our own Moana cos everybody is dumping stuff in it and if we don't stop there will be nowhere for our whanau to catch our kai or a place for us kids to play"
How cool I thought, right in tune with what's going on in our own back yard.
Right now we could - or more importantly our planet and our people could, do with every bit of help it could get and little Awa's dad was doing more than his bit to make sure our kids have somewhere to play and catch kai.
Given the hotter than hangi stone feelings about the recent Rena sign- off perhaps it is time we placed environmental awareness firmly and squarely inside the curriculum and start teaching what the issues are in our own back yard, especially when it comes to environmental disasters such as Rena.
Sir Apirana Ngata, perhaps the greatest Maori academic and tribal leader, prophetically claimed "It is the taiaha of knowledge that will win the wars we as Maori will have to face in the future"
And right now the biggest battle for all of us no matter what culture we come from - or song we sing, is what we are doing to Papatuanuku - our Mother earth.
When it comes to arming ones intellect with knowledge and forming an opinion based on what you know, not what others have shared on face book, then the mana of our environmental warriors should be bestowed on those who have fought for the well-being of their whenua and Moana, not those who throw rocks from behind the safety of their computer screen.
They say that the clock for the continuation of our planet with us on board is ticking dangerously close to kua mutu (The End)
Even the Pope is calling on Environmental Warriors to stand up for tomorrow's generations before it is too late.
The Eco Pope gives the kua mutu clock until the end of the century. I give it a lot less, and some scientists who I have read their reports with much sadness say, it is already too late to reverse what we have done.
How scary is that for our kids to face?
Yes Maori need more speakers on the paepae and yes they need kapahaka kings to take the titles of Te Matatini.
But without a planet to play on there is no tomorrow for anyone anywhere.
What's the time Mr Wolf?
It's time to start teaching environmental awareness so we can grow a generation of Environmental Warriors to take up the taiaha of knowledge and keep our whenua and Moana clean for tomorrows kids.
