When Kris was celebrating an important birthday!

For Kristina Anna-Marie Martin (nee Morch) from Evan the Dad

Kristina, once you were 7 and now you are 40!


Once upon a time when you were little you would ask Daddy – “Tell me a story Daddy, then I can go to sleep.” And many stories were told, many forgotten but one not only remembered but often told to other little children since the Rastus story became very famous. Well famous to those who heard it. How many? Who knows? I heard only the other day that two real, grown up ladies had heard the Rastus story and they were living in Belgium. So there, it is world famous, at least in Brisbane, New Plymouth, Greytown and Brussels.

Rastus the little Eskimo mouse
Lived together with his Mummy in a house.
The house was BIG
Mummy wore a wig
They kept a cow and a little round Pig called “Pig”

One day Rastus said to his Mummy
Mummy I ‘m feeling funny in my tummy
Mummy said, “Now why is that?”
Rastus said, “I was chased by a cat.”

I walking down past Clark’s Beach Store
When all of a sudden guess what I saw
Three mad women in a holiday camp
One was in the Post Office licking a stamp.

So I started to run and just for fun
Told the cat to, “Kick my bum!”
“You naughty mouse,” said Mum with a grin
Then what happened, did they let you in?

Oh yes they did, and guess what I saw?
Horse and Scoobey and another two more!
They were all eating ice creams, two at a time
Then Tina saw me at the end of the line.

Tina the biggest, was scooping them out
And when they were HUGE she would shout
Here’s yours Jo, Scoob and Horse
She looked at me and said, of course
One for the mouse, and what’s your name?

Well I couldn’t tell a fib so I told them Sid
And I blushed and held my hand out too
Well what a feed, more than a mouse did need.
But we hung in there and soon they were gone.

So I had a quiet snore, didn’t need any more
And talked with Tina cos’ she knew the score
She could talk in ‘mouse’ and it was her house
So we talked and talked some more.

It was time to go and I said, so
Whenever you have to go from here
I have lots of friends like me, here and there
So you never need to be alone.

And so it was they moved away
But even then I could see
That Tina would talk to mouses like me
Cos’ I still get calls from my mates o’er the sea.

So why was I feeling funny in my tummy
33 years ago?
Well large ice creams might be the score, but
A very real friend is so much more.



Greystone, New Zealand 5 November 2006