New Zealand painter-poet Gregory O'Brien has just published a new collection of essays and art; pitched as a "field notebook ... my whale survey", Always Song in the Water drifts from his own front lawn in Hataitai, up to Northland and way, way across the Pacific. It's the sort of book that slows you down, reminds you to breathe, and every so often flipper-slaps you with a great little yarn. This extract is called 'A Kindness'.