22 Oct. 10
Some time ago when we were down at the boat I was just standing on the walk-on watching the water when I noticed some small fish ripping away at what looked like a piece of white bread. They were darting in grabbing a small section of the bread in their mouth and then tearing a small piece off. Then my mind started up and I had to take a closer look because logic sense told me that the bread should be easier to eat as it would have been made quiet soggy being in the water for a while already. It was then that I noticed that the piece of bread was actually a white spray mask. These small fish where tearing away and swallowing a spray mask. I started to see imagines of these tiny fish floating belly up down the river in a few days time. This was at about the same time Lola and I had been painting the black board on Yrumoar. After painting I had to go and clean the paint brushes. The paint was water based so cleaning the brush required that it be rinsed under the tap. Whilst rinsing the brush I gave some thought as to where the waste chemicals go and it was nice to watch the paint dissolve off the brush and disappear into the drain. Then I looked towards the water and noticed that the drain empties out straight into the estuary and all I could see was this discoloured green chemical filled liquid running into the water. I immediately started to panic. Now what? What are my options? Do I stop cleaning the brush and just dump them straight into the dustbin so that they can be shipped off to a dump site and slowly leak poison into the ground water as they rot away? Where does the answer lie? It seems no matter which way I go I am going to be wrong.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Swallow doing its antics
22 Oct. 10
This morning I was standing outside waiting for the kids to get ready for school and watching the swallows fly in the fresh morning air. Sometimes I wish I was more articulate in English and could explain exactly how a swallow swoops through the air flapping its wings rapidly for a few seconds and then spreading them out and soaring into the rising columns of air, fanning its forked tail open and closed all the time changing direction so fast that it is impossible for a human to even begin to react to a change of direction that fast. Swallows are by far my favourite birds with their dark almost black colour having just a tinge of dark blue. They have a large wingspan for such a small bird, about the length of a standard classroom ruler, with a small body half the length. The tips of their wings are curved backwards allowing them to look a bit like a cartoon batman.
These tiny birds take off at the end of summer in the southern hemisphere and fly halfway across the earth to somewhere in the north. This fact amazes and fills me with awe every time I see a swallow doing its antics in the sky.
This morning I was standing outside waiting for the kids to get ready for school and watching the swallows fly in the fresh morning air. Sometimes I wish I was more articulate in English and could explain exactly how a swallow swoops through the air flapping its wings rapidly for a few seconds and then spreading them out and soaring into the rising columns of air, fanning its forked tail open and closed all the time changing direction so fast that it is impossible for a human to even begin to react to a change of direction that fast. Swallows are by far my favourite birds with their dark almost black colour having just a tinge of dark blue. They have a large wingspan for such a small bird, about the length of a standard classroom ruler, with a small body half the length. The tips of their wings are curved backwards allowing them to look a bit like a cartoon batman.
These tiny birds take off at the end of summer in the southern hemisphere and fly halfway across the earth to somewhere in the north. This fact amazes and fills me with awe every time I see a swallow doing its antics in the sky.
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| Swallows on the lifelines |
TEFL
20 Oct. 10
Yesterday I was supposed to appear in court as a witness against someone that we arrested about two years ago for theft from one of our clients, but something came up and it slipped my mind so I missed the court appearance. Now today I am sitting here with a niggling thought in the back of my mind that I may be arrested for not appearing.
Lola signed up to do a TEFL course hoping that we can get some employment as we travel to keep the kitty full or at least to contribute towards the kitty. I am not sure what I could do to help as my skills are limited to electronics although I am very handy with most things and can fix or build almost anything.
Yesterday I was supposed to appear in court as a witness against someone that we arrested about two years ago for theft from one of our clients, but something came up and it slipped my mind so I missed the court appearance. Now today I am sitting here with a niggling thought in the back of my mind that I may be arrested for not appearing.
Lola signed up to do a TEFL course hoping that we can get some employment as we travel to keep the kitty full or at least to contribute towards the kitty. I am not sure what I could do to help as my skills are limited to electronics although I am very handy with most things and can fix or build almost anything.
Look out for buses
11 Oct. 10
A couple of days ago one of our employees decided to make a u-turn in the road without first looking in his rear view mirrors. I can only imagine the surprised look in his face when he discovered a huge bus bearing down on him with no way to stop. How he managed to escape the accident with no injuries still amazes me as the vehicle he was driving in was almost broken in half by the accident and the drivers seat was rolled up and placed on top of the passenger seat. On Saturday night another one of our vehicles was totalled. The business that I am in feels like a NASCAR event on occasion where vehicles are disposable like toilet paper. Unfortunately we are not in the business of wrecking vehicles and every time this kind of event happens another log is thrown into the river blocking my path and slowing down our future plans.
It is becoming harder and harder to remain positive in the face of the challenges that are being placed before me. I am constantly looking for ways to shorten the time till we can leave but the obstacles seem to be collecting instead of diminishing. Money is definitely the root of all evil and we cannot continue without having a sufficient amount of the evil in order to survive.
A couple of days ago one of our employees decided to make a u-turn in the road without first looking in his rear view mirrors. I can only imagine the surprised look in his face when he discovered a huge bus bearing down on him with no way to stop. How he managed to escape the accident with no injuries still amazes me as the vehicle he was driving in was almost broken in half by the accident and the drivers seat was rolled up and placed on top of the passenger seat. On Saturday night another one of our vehicles was totalled. The business that I am in feels like a NASCAR event on occasion where vehicles are disposable like toilet paper. Unfortunately we are not in the business of wrecking vehicles and every time this kind of event happens another log is thrown into the river blocking my path and slowing down our future plans.
It is becoming harder and harder to remain positive in the face of the challenges that are being placed before me. I am constantly looking for ways to shorten the time till we can leave but the obstacles seem to be collecting instead of diminishing. Money is definitely the root of all evil and we cannot continue without having a sufficient amount of the evil in order to survive.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
“Come on you Yachties must all know this.”
30 Sep. 10
I still remember the first time that somebody called me a “Biker”, I had been riding motorcycles for pretty much most of my life but this was the first time that I was referred to as a “Biker”. I can recall and replay the event in my mind quite clearly even now about six years later. The memory of the event and the feelings that the word made me experience. If I think about it for a while I am sure that I can still smell the slightly sweaty leathery aroma of my bike jacket and the sticky clamminess that came with the wearing of that jacket. The hairs on my arms that would start to slowly one by one release themselves and be free again to move with the breeze a short while after removing the jacket. The way that the wind would make your helmet move forcing your head to follow the involuntary motion as the wind roared past the outside of the helmet the instant that your right wrist twisted open the throttle.
We had just arrived at a small pub after an exhilarating Sunday morning breakfast run from the vaal dam. And this would be our last stop of the day before splitting up and heading off in our separate ways back to the reality of normal life. We had parked our cycles on the front porch directly outside the main entrance door to the pub slightly but not quite in the way of the regular patrons. After our second or third final beer we paid the bill and were on our way outside when it happened. Another group of motorcycles had just arrived and a tired looking older man walked up to me and asked if I knew this new group of people. I eyed him suspiciously and asked him why he was asking. He answered me with the statement “I thought all you Bikers were in the same gang”.
And there it was “Biker” the word that is synonymous with large bearded and tattooed roughnecks. Large men on large machines chasing around aimlessly and without a single responsibility in the world, taking what is needed without a second thought, and having absolutely no fear of reprisal from authorities.
This is of course the myth or urban legend that some may believe the word “Biker” represents, however for me it was a word that gave me a feeling of belong. And now years later a whole mixture of emotions and memories.
Today a new memory was born whilst we were sitting at the yacht club having a catch up conversation with Greg, a lady walked over to our table and asked us when would be a good time to go to Greece in the Med. I looked at her with a surprised look on my face thinking to myself why would she be asking me? I have yet to visit Greece, infact, I have yet to go anywhere out of Africa. She looked back at me and continued her question with the conversation “come on you Yachties must all know this.”
And there it was “Yachties” a new word, but with a whole new bunch of memories and feelings still to be made.
I still remember the first time that somebody called me a “Biker”, I had been riding motorcycles for pretty much most of my life but this was the first time that I was referred to as a “Biker”. I can recall and replay the event in my mind quite clearly even now about six years later. The memory of the event and the feelings that the word made me experience. If I think about it for a while I am sure that I can still smell the slightly sweaty leathery aroma of my bike jacket and the sticky clamminess that came with the wearing of that jacket. The hairs on my arms that would start to slowly one by one release themselves and be free again to move with the breeze a short while after removing the jacket. The way that the wind would make your helmet move forcing your head to follow the involuntary motion as the wind roared past the outside of the helmet the instant that your right wrist twisted open the throttle.
We had just arrived at a small pub after an exhilarating Sunday morning breakfast run from the vaal dam. And this would be our last stop of the day before splitting up and heading off in our separate ways back to the reality of normal life. We had parked our cycles on the front porch directly outside the main entrance door to the pub slightly but not quite in the way of the regular patrons. After our second or third final beer we paid the bill and were on our way outside when it happened. Another group of motorcycles had just arrived and a tired looking older man walked up to me and asked if I knew this new group of people. I eyed him suspiciously and asked him why he was asking. He answered me with the statement “I thought all you Bikers were in the same gang”.
And there it was “Biker” the word that is synonymous with large bearded and tattooed roughnecks. Large men on large machines chasing around aimlessly and without a single responsibility in the world, taking what is needed without a second thought, and having absolutely no fear of reprisal from authorities.
This is of course the myth or urban legend that some may believe the word “Biker” represents, however for me it was a word that gave me a feeling of belong. And now years later a whole mixture of emotions and memories.
Today a new memory was born whilst we were sitting at the yacht club having a catch up conversation with Greg, a lady walked over to our table and asked us when would be a good time to go to Greece in the Med. I looked at her with a surprised look on my face thinking to myself why would she be asking me? I have yet to visit Greece, infact, I have yet to go anywhere out of Africa. She looked back at me and continued her question with the conversation “come on you Yachties must all know this.”
And there it was “Yachties” a new word, but with a whole new bunch of memories and feelings still to be made.
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