Atchoooo...

what I've been doing for the past two days...

The New Addition

Meet the littlest member of the family

what should his name be?? (it has to start with an S)

Triple Play ~ Scatterling of Africa

Just before I close my eyes at night

I see the storms gathering in the shimmering heat across the highveld in the late afternoon

I feel the heavy rain beat down on my back as I run for cover

watch the rain leave wet puncture marks on a dry earth

it runs noisily as red as blood down the gutters

Right before I sleep I hear the snort of the zebra as it forages

the muffled roar of lion in the distance, beyond the night hills

I hear the early morning sweep of a grass broom brushing sheets of dust away from the front door

and I hear the wind whistle through a mielie crop, a burst of thunder

All night the storm rages, the bright African night sky is cloaked by cloud

When I wake I briefly savour the smell of sun dried linen under a freshly washed sky

I smell the sweet earth after rain and feel the misty dampness drifting off the mountain

as I settle on the verandah an ouma rusk with my coffee

I watch the sun come up across this beautiful unpredictable land

for just a moment I hold her close

this Africa of mine

and I whisper

don't cry for me Africa

I cry enough for the both of us

oOo

a bit of blurb bfore the song, but it is interesting and the song well worth waiting for

~enjoy~

Johnny Clegg opens at the Nelson Mandela Theatre SA 2006 and explains the origins of the song, he is accompanied by the Soweto Gospel Choir

Scatterlings Of Africa

A Stone in my Shoe

Part of the loop along which I run is a dirt road, the ground is dry and dusty as we yearn for rain, the shrubs nearby drip sand, layered there by passing vehicles and the air is so dry my lips dry and crack too easily, the dust makes puffs of dust clouds as my feet hit the surface.

This evening I managed to get a stone in my shoe, it worked itself around my sole of my foot and then nestled between my big toe and the side of my running shoe. It wasn't huge just big enough to be aware of, enough to make me uncomfortable and contemplate stopping. I was in the zone so to speak, reluctant to slow down afraid I wouldn't get my rhythm back. I ran on.

I soon became aware of the discomfort with every step and so I began to challenge myself as to how long I could keep going without stopping. I looked up, 'I will stop at the corner where I can see the pampas grass' I told myself. Well the house with the pampas grass came and went and still I kept moving.

'Ok, as long as I can make it to the blue house with the lavender bushes out front'

I ran on.

Round the bend down the hill and towards the fields of horses.

Eventually the pain became too debilitating to continue, I was hobbling and I was sure I had a blister. My legs felt wobbly as I plopped down against the wooden fence, I slipped off my shoe and tipped out the offending piece of grit. It was tiny, how could I have felt it so acutely?

This is my usual turning point, and I turned to walk home knowing full well I couldn't run anymore with this blister, I couldn't believe I hadn't stopped, it would have saved sooo much pain if I had. What silly challenge had I given myself? What part of not giving up had become a stubborn and relentless, self defeating act? And suddenly i realized the older I've got, the more difficult it is to know my limits..

Was that relationship my last? Did I allow the moody disdain and jealousy and ignore the narcissism because I thought it may be my last relationship ever? Did I overlook and endure the bad because I was afraid I would never regain my loving momentum with anyone else if I interrupted this one? Would I honestly have put up with the crap if I'de been thirty??

Did I think any of the pain and discomfort would simply end without me first stopping?

FlashMob Dance ~ Black Eyed Peas..and more

The Black Eyed Peas performed "I Gotta Feeling" and officially opened Oprah's 24th Season along with 21,000 fans dancing on Michigan Avenue in Chicago...

did you see it???

and then I looked around You Tube and found a whole heap more, and now I have to be a flashmob dancer too..so if you hear of anything going down in your neighbourhood, who you gonna call????

There was this one

and this

Poetry Posse ~ Quatrain ~ 'Celebration'

As posted in an earlier blog (link), the challenge this week is to write a Quatrain, a four line stanza poetry, but this is not your another theme writing week. I decided we deviate from the usual practice. We do a little tagging game.

POETS/TAGGERS, THE THEME THIS WEEK IS

CELEBRATION

Yay! We are celebrating our FIRST YEAR anniversary soonest!

THIS IS HOW WE ARE GOING TO DO IT:

• Poet/Tagger thinks of four words associated with CELEBRATION and post the words on the comment section here for the TAGGED POET.

• Tagged poet will write a Quatrain using those 4 words as the beginning word of each line.

Mine are:

Chairs, Ice Cream, Buntings, Confusion

oOo

Chairs scraped back as people noisily filled the stadium

Ice Cream dripped silently down my hand

Buntings fluttered loudly like a ships sail on an empty sea

Confusion seeped in slowly as we watched an empty stage

Picture Perfect ~ Charming

The

Picture Perfect

theme

this week is

Charming

south africa 2009

Your head tilts as you smile

engagingly

and wrap the world

around your little finger

my little Bella

twice mine

oOo

Dance me to the end of Love ~ Leonard Cohen

Triple Play #4 ~ Strawberry Fields Forever

Welcome to

Triple Play

A weekly challenge which runs from Wednesday to Wednesday, and is open to all

Gary is the host

oOo

Strawberry Fields Forever

I looked everywhere for those bright red berries

but all I found were flowers stretched as far as the eye could see

splashes of colour filled the horizon while their scent filled the air

down here in the valley though anything goes

here we make our own reality

so i closed my eyes and imagined

Strawberry Fields Forever

Triple Play (Gary's Challenge) ~ Feelin' Good

This is Gary's new weekly creative challenge.

Tie a single theme together with a song, some creative writing/poetry and a picture, and then leave the link

at

TRIPLE PLAY

New colour paints my eyelids

hope flutters as heavy lashes unfurl

a new day a new life

Blogger's Choice Awards

* Newsflash*

We have been nominated for a blogger award this week, so if you would like to go over and vote here is the link

.

You need to register before voting ( a little tedious) but lets see if can garner enough votes to win this thing!

Thank you to all the kind folk who have supported the cause by posting the link to their personal sites.

Blood, Sweat or Tears ~ Poetry Posse

the wet moves slowly along

the furrowed worry creases

of his scowl

and wears new paths as it

drips unannounced

from an un-shaven jowl

to the floor

he moves to smudge it

absentmindedly with his foot

this glistening orb

a mesmerizing worry bead

nestled in soot

Happy Wedding Anniversary Alan and Jess

May you always be warmed by each other's smile,
take time to walk and talk a while,
always know deep down you're each other's best friend,
and enjoy the kind of love that grows and knows no end.
Wishing you an 'always' kind of love!

Happy Anniversary!

Picture Perfect ~ Reflective

Its Picture Perfect time

again folks

this weeks theme is the letter R

Reflective

mirror images playing across water

the end of love

I feel you move away long

before I hear the slide of your footsteps

or see the darkness fill your spot in the bed

on the chair

on the first tread of the stairway

I feel the distance long before the

plane takes flight, my stomach lurches long before

the nose tilts skyward so I can watch the years rush by

before the car door closes

before you drive away without looking back

My suitcase and I stand on the curb

and Im alone

long before I hear the ash from your cigarette

sigh quietly and drop like a feather

to the floor