Christmas is here

I love Christmas and I love my birthday – both are great days to celebrate and spend time with family and friends.

But these events are coming around faster and faster and Christmas this year seems to have arrived 2 months after the start of the year – if that makes sense! This year has whooshed by and I don’t believe I am the only one to think so.

Chris Smith of The Naked Scientist fame had this to say when asked if time is actually going faster, if 24 hours isn’t 24 hours anymore (and I take a great deal of liberty paraphrasing what he said): Nope…it isn’t going faster but we think it is…and why? Maybe because we just do things faster these days; we have email – instant letters whereas before they took a week to get to us and a week to reply – now we reply within minutes or at least within 24 hours. We have cell phones – always in touch and communicating…voice, text and so on. We can fly all over the world and get to our destination quickly and relatively easily. Our cars are faster (and better roads), trains are faster…we have 24 hour TV and radio; we get news of what is happening around the world almost as soon as it happens. We don’t wait for anything anymore – we order books on line and now we can also just down load them off the internet, if we want to look up anything (research, find out) we just Google it. The shops are always open; we have easy credit (no saving for anything)……..everything is instant.

This means that we can actually do a lot more – and this give us the feeling that time is flying…everything goes really fast.

Is this good for us – well who knows. I for one, like/love all the benefits of the stuff listed above and am not quite sure how I (and all of us I guess) would manage without it…imagine no cell phones – yikes?

But it is tiring, and this year has left me shaking my head and wondering how I got to another Christmas so quickly – I can intellectualise all of Chris Smiths reasons but emotionally I cant….it has all happened too quickly.

I haven’t done an E card yet, I haven’t written a Christmas letter of my goings on this year, I haven’t even put up decorations yet – all I have is a little stylised ceramic statue of Mary & Josef holding baby Jesus (Baby Jesus looking remarkably like a pea-pod) and when I light the little candle inside, black smoke comes out of the star cut-out on Josef’s head – it is quite alarming! But tonight I am putting up all the lights and tinsel and glass balls…..Santa must be tempted to visit our household.

And so everyone, I take this time to wish you all a wonderful and love-filled Christmas-time….

Blessings to you all.

Liz

PS. If you want to see the very best Christmas wish ever go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzxkNRvujiw&feature=share

Beginning of the Month Snippets

Good reads:

I have been catching up on my reading since getting back from Spain….

Ape House by Sara Gruen (she wrote Water for Elephants) – interesting and based on real research done in the US on teaching apes to use sign language.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein: Written in a dog’s voice….and a clever one at that who doesn’t try to be cute by referring to a car as a kennel on wheels or stupid stuff like that. There are lots of feel good messages in the book...but not rammed down your throat. Although I haven’t quite finished the book I kinda know that I am going to shed a few tears at the end…a really enjoyable read.

Recessional for Grace by Marguerite Poland: One of the little reviews on the back page says of this book…’an achingly beautiful exploration of biography, folklore and lost love.’ And I so whole heartedly agree…this is an exquisite book, a story that unfolds that you never want to end. The author is a local lass who co-authored The Abundant Herds: A celebration of Nguni Cattle. And you can almost smell and feel the beautiful Ngunis in Recessional for Grace…and you can see the landscapes. Her descriptions are so well written and economically written – she doesn’t waste a word…. Thanks to Stella in my book-club for this one.

Vanilla Velvet:

I found this on the shelf in Pick ‘n Pay where they have the Ultramel custard. Vanilla Velvet is made by First Choice (the long life milk people) and I have a feeling they might also make Chocolate Velvet. This stuff is sinful, decadent and you will never use plain old cream or custard again…..exceptionally yummy and fortunately doesn’t have too much fat..or at least not as much as cream. You would still have to do 3 laps round the block if you over indulge.

The Tax Season:

Now that this is over we can all rest easy and enjoy any refunds received…some luckier than others in this regard. I have to put SARS at the top of my list for good service…and especially as it has such good manners. Today I received an SMS thanking me for submitting my tax return in good time….isn’t that nice.

Getting More Awesome (from Lisa’s Blog) This is especially for those of you who live your lives a little differently to the norm:

As you know, FEAT Canada took place in Vancouver on 15 November. One of the speakers, Jen Olsen, is a mountain guide - one of only seven female internationally certified mountain guides in the World.
Her FEAT talk is online and in her talk she mentions facing her 40th birthday in a few weeks and she adds, "I've been feeling devastated about not having a husband, kids or a pension plan".
She then refers to a quote she saw on Facebook that goes: "Everyone I know if getting married or pregnant... I'm just getting more awesome."
Right on, Jen. I can relate (not about being devastated about not having a husband or children, but that there's a spate of marriages and pregnancies).

Here's to awesomeness!

Restaurants:

First: I have decided to boycott restaurants that don’t have tablecloths or little place mats (paper will do). I have watched in horror as the waiter wipes the tabletop with a grim looking cloth which leaves little greasy trails all over the surface – not just once but many times. In Europe, in the smallest, tiniest café or restaurant, they put a new, pristine paper cloth or mat on the table for each new patron…Why, oh why can’t they do this here…There has to be a business opportunity here for someone methinks.

Second: Why oh why do you get forgotten about in a restaurant…I went out to dins with my sister-in-law Marie-Jose, friend Judy and Lisa last night. We had taken the trouble to make a reservation because the webpage said it was an excellent restaurant and the various and recent reviews had given the place 5 stars. Liars! Anyway, after waiting for more than hour for our food – we were nearly eating the tablecloth and had even begged for a snack or something….…Judy leapt up and said she was throwing in the towel so we all followed her lead and charged off to the desk to pay for our drinks; the guys at the desk were really upset with us and they said they had been busy….been busy? Yes, but what about us? No, they were doing our food now but we said we didn’t want it anymore…..and left. Went to an Ocean Basket at the local mall and got a great fish and chip meal, great service and icy, icy cold wine, had a great deal of fun and the meal was very reasonable.

Senior Moment

Blog by Lisa

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Senior moment By: Lisa http://adventurelisa.blogspot.com/2011/11/senior-moment.html Posted: 28 Nov 2011 12:38 PM PST On Saturday night, my mom and I went to watch the most recent of the Twilight moves, Breaking Dawn (part 1). Our teenage cousin got us both into Twilight; we've read the books and have seen the previous movies. This one was sweet (they really could have put the whole book into one movie) but this isn't a movie review. With youth flooding the ticketing desk, we get directed to the popcorn counter - the lady can issue tickets from the one terminal. We tell her the movie we want to see. We select our seats. She says, "That's one adult and one senior". So I ask, "What's senior - 60?". "Yes," she says. My mom is not yet 60 - she's got eight months to go. But I just couldn't bring myself to correct the young lass; she would have been so embarrassed. Instead I give my mom a big hug. We watch the movie. Lots of smooching between Edward and Bella. Jacob is growing up and looking more dishy; I can see what my cousin sees in him (Team Jacob). Mom and I are Team Edward (although I'm way more into the most delightfully wicked vampire sheriff, Eric - Alexander Skardgard - from True Blood). I don't get what Edward sees in Bella - she reminds me of Frodo from Lord of the Rings. Snivelling. Anyhow... We walk out of the theatre and mom nudges me. "It's because of you". "Me what?" I ask. "She thought I was a senior because of you. It doesn't happen when Judy and I go to movies." Judy and mom are similar age. Indeed, having a daughter with a good dose of grey hair, despite my youthful complexion, would scoot mom right into the 60s classification. We both think it is helluva funny. As we walk she keeps poking me and saying again, "It's you". Two years ago I took the plunge to never colour my hair again. Turning grey at a young age runs in my dad's family. He was completely silver in his mid 30s. My aunt says she was the same. I found my first grey hairs at 21; more in my mid 20s and by 28 I was covering the grey with dyes close to my natural colour. Fed up with being a slave to colour (it's a pollutant, dries out your scalp and hair, my hair grows really fast and I think regrowth looks trashy), I decided to let the grey grow out. I chopped my hair short and it took a year to eliminate the colour residue. At the same time, mom took the plunge too. She reasoned that if her daughter is grey, she couldn't very well still be a brunette. It was the best decision that we both could have made. Grey is traditionally associated with aging. If someone has grey hair they couldn't possibly be young, could they? Of course they can. This is a nice article on MailOnline about "Why are today's women going grey at 25?". I remember a spread in Time Magazine about Hillary Clinton, when she was running in the elections. The article was Hillary and some other women and it discussed whether it was 'right' for them to let their hair go grey or does grey hair make them old and past their sell-by date and thus not credible to be in positions of responsibility - or so public perception goes. Grrr... But look at George Clooney or Richard Gere... grey is sexy then. Ja, just as the article I linked to above says, "While men get given the silver fox sobriquet when they start to show signs of salt and pepper, when it comes to women grey equals grandma. From society’s perspective, a woman with grey hair is over the hill and has reached the end of her reproductive life." In my book, grey is just a hair colour. It's my natural hair colour. Grey doesn't change my brain cells nor add another 20 years to the amount of time I've spent on the planet. But, it does get my mom into movies at R8.00 less for her ticket.

Violent Crime: The State of the Nation

My boss moved with his family, to Cape Town about 2 years ago. He says he knew a couple of people who had been killed in hijackings and robberies in Johannesburg and he felt very unsafe here. So he moved to the Cape and says he feels much, much safer there. Albeit people do get killed there as well, Cape Town obviously has the right PR machine going which gives the residents a feeling of well being – good for them.

But here’s the thing – you have more chance of being killed, beaten up, raped and abused by your nearest and dearest, someone you know….by someone who is really close to you. Scary isn’t it.

At the mo, we are having 16 days of activism against women and child abuse. How does this activism help – well I don’t know but I certainly hope it makes people aware of the appalling levels of women and child violence and abuse in our country. We can bemoan the fact that there is a lot of crime in SA but the real nitty gritty scourge of violence against women and children is seldom given the same emotive outpourings as a robbery or hijacking. I don’t see people picketing for the death penalty for baby/child rapists….. and nor do I hear of people leaving town because women and children are being abused and killed in their neighborhood by their nearest and dearest, those closest to them.

The stats say that one in four women in this country will be raped. I don’t know what the figures are for wife and child killings, violent beatings and maiming. These crimes are not reported separately by the police; they are lumped into the general category of murder and assault with intent etc. And bear in mind that the crimes are only recorded when someone reports a rape or assault or even a killing for that matter.

Rudi Giuliani launched the broken window campaign in New York city which seemed to have fixed not only the city, but the psyche of the people living there. We need a campaign to fix the psyche of our people….that it’s just not ok to beat the hell out of your wife and kids, not so lekker to rape babies, children and women, and it really is not right to kill your wife and kids, hack up the neighbour’s kid up for muti, kill the chick next door or the woman down the road because she said no. And nor is it ok to ‘accident’ little kids just because you don’t want to pay maintenance – chilling!

Have you ever wondered what the diagnosis would be if the country of South Africa was given a psychiatric evaluation? Would it be something like: psychopath with paranoid schizophrenic tendencies?

A society is extremely sick when some of the most vulnerable people in it are not safe. It is very sick when we still hear comments like: well she asked for it; I wonder what she did to cause him to do that; the dress she was wearing was too short. What do you say, or what reasons do you give for a small child who can’t speak yet?

With this kind of violence, the appalling levels of crime against women and children why aren’t making more of a fuss…..why aren’t we ratting to the cops on wife beaters and the filthy sods who are raping their small kids every night. We can’t keep quiet and say this isn’t our business. It is our business.

Camino Wine

Quite a few people have asked me about the wine I drank on the Camino…I guess my blogs mentioned my daily tipple quite a bit *grin*, but also I guess the questions have arisen because I was walking in some very famous wine regions in Spain.

First though: I have to confess that I drink wine because I like it – or if I don’t like a particular wine then I don’t drink it…. I have never, ever had any desire whatsoever to get to grips with the how and why and when wine is made, the cultivars, the process, laying it down or picking it up. I seldom detect the smell of chocolate or vanilla, I seldom remember the name of a wine and I usually only buy a new wine if it has a nice label. About the only thing I know about wine is how to twirl the glass and then you get to see the ‘legs’…and I drink the stuff no matter how many legs it has.

I really do feel like I’m the wrong person to ask about wine…but here goes:

I am sure I mentioned that you always get a bottle of wine with your Pilgrim Meal….more often than not, they just plonked a bottle of vino tinto (red wine) on the table and that was it…sometimes the bottle had a label in the style of labels we are used to, sometimes it had a sort of home made label that just said Jose’s Vino Tinto or something like that, and sometimes it didn’t even have a label. In the villages and small towns you mostly got an earthenware carafe of wine so goodness knows where that came from. You were almost never given a choice of red or white…it was always red.

And very, very delicious – without exception.

When I was there it was harvest time and often saw families, friends, neighbours in the fields picking grapes. And sometimes in the small towns I walked past places where they were crushing the grapes – the very grapey smell became quite familiar. I even saw some guys crushing grapes in the back of a truck…they had lined the bakkie part with canvas and they were standing in there and smashing the grapes with spades…maybe that’s why the wine tasted so good….

One of the most famous wine regions I went through made the Rioja wines and I had the good fortune to drink quite a bit and it is good – but had I done a blind tasting I would not have been able to distinguish this from some of the local no-label wine…which brings me to this point:

I did tastings in 3 wineries (really nice wine – and just before lunch time these were a real treat) and I went to a ‘shop’ in a small town where they do a demo of the wine making process, you do a tasting and you can have a little chat with them about their wine. This was really interesting. This particular company (the name escapes me) has been replanting the locals vineyards with the grapes they want and training the farmers how to look after the grapes in a modern way. The company does not want these small guys to go out of business – the farmers can’t sell their wine anymore – people want the label stuff! So there is a good partnership – the farmer grows the grapes and the company buys them. I asked the man who did the presentation about the chilled red wine…yes, I kid you not. I don’t think I ever drank a room temperature bottle while I was there. He laughed and asked if I enjoyed it…well, yes of course – silly question. But here’s the thing. I have never really liked red wine – I have never enjoyed drinking luke warm gloopy red wine…yuk! But chilled is another story. I digress though. The man in the wine shop said ‘why not?’ Why not drink cold wine especially if you are in a really hot country like Spain (or Africa for that matter). He also said that the small wine makers know their wine and how it should be drunk…ie. Chilled - which is why you get it nice and cold. The big wine makers also know and he was of the opinion that chilled is great…. He said that this idea of being really serious and prissy about wine is very old fashioned and people should experiment….that is why Spain has Sangria after all…

Since being back in SA I have chilled a Cab, Merlot and a Shiraz….very delicious. Please try it.

Now that I’m back from the Camino

I have been back for just over a week now, packed away all my stuff , downloaded all the photos onto my laptop (still doing some photo-shopping and captions), seen some friends and have been back at work for a week. It has been quite hectic since my return.

I have received lots of emails from friends asking for the final blog/newsletter and the photos – I have been thinking and thinking about my final thoughts about my trip so I hope you enjoy this post.

This isn’t going to be about the trip per se – I think you have all received my emails and read along with me on my daily walks. I thought though that I needed to talk more about my observations and lessons learnt….after all, I walked about 760km and all one really does whilst walking is chatter to friends a bit and do lots and lots of thinking about all sorts of things!

So here goes:

Profound thoughts: My friend Marianne emailed me when I was about 3 weeks into my walk and asked if was having any profound thoughts. Well, I thought about this and actually the answer was no…none whatsoever. But, Marianne’s question made me think about what I was thinking … or not thinking. What I was not thinking about was all the small everyday niggles and hassles: he said, she said, irritations at work, or with the traffic or person in the shop. These things just weren’t there…How wonderful it was to realise that I was free of all that sort of day to day rubbish. And then I realised that I also wasn’t thinking about ‘big’ stuff that has been bothering me….even when I deliberately said to myself that I would now think about my relationship with xyz (or whatever), the thought lasted about 30 seconds and was gone….. This in itself was really liberating and even since I have been back this stuff doesn’t bother me…at least for now. I am not sure what the conclusion is here, but I think we often focus on irrelevant things, things that probably will never happen and we don’t deal properly with things when they occur. In our day to day lives we sweat the small stuff (avoidance maybe of dealing with serious/important issues) instead of the big stuff.

Focus and Preparation: Once I got over my initial total panic (this lasted about 4 or 5 days) of where I was and what I was doing (I will write up the funny side of this story another time) I, with the help of a couple of good Samaritans, got very organised and established a routine; and focused on what I was doing. Everyday I did the same thing: my backpack was always packed the same way, I made sure I had adequate water for that day’s walk and some food or snacks, I spent a good deal of time making sure my blisters were well dressed and most importantly, I knew (from my maps) exactly where I was going for that day – how long the walk was, what the terrain would be like and how many options I had for accommodation and if I needed to buy food for the evening along the way. You might think this was the obvious thing to do…but actually it wasn’t all that obvious and I, like many other people had got caught.

I prepared the night before so my departure in the morning would be quick and easy…no messing around and because I loved walking in the dark before the sun came up, I made sure my headlight was in a place and all the things I needed were at hand. You have no idea how many people ran their batteries down on their torches before looking for a place to buy new ones! And then I focused on my walk… focused on following the signs – yellow arrows or the shell symbol. A couple of my friends once took the wrong road and ended up doing an extra 14km on what was one of the hottest days and one of the more difficult routes – they were trashed when they finally arrived at their destination. And the conclusion here….be focused and mindful of your surroundings and the people you are interacting with. Be prepared – you can never prepared enough.

Relationships: I watched some very beautiful relationships along the way: John and his 80 year old mother Connie. He treated her with such love, respect and kindness. She was amazing but took strain every now and again. He was mindful of her age and they bussed it when necessary or spent a few days in a town resting. A number of married couples laughed and enjoyed their way along the Camino. Some Camino romances came to sticky ends – who knows why but one I knew of was because one of the parties failed to mention a wife…and another failed to mention a husband. Some romances just floundered because one of the people was just a much faster walker and had deadlines to meet (different priorities)….one relationship collapsed because the girl would not stop talking! I saw parents and adult children having the time of their lives…and I saw couples in dire straights. I saw friends having an awful time and I saw new friendships flourish. The reasons for some of the couples suffering might have been the following: The physically stronger person striding in front then yelling for the partner to hurry up, telling the partner that their ‘job’ is to do the cooking, washing etc….and not helping with these chores….treating each other (or one of the people) unkindly….so I guess I don’t have to draw too many conclusions here. But: what I will say that if you have problems in your relationship or friendship then don’t do the Camino and if you have a bossy partner don’t even think of doing the Camino. If you don’t have a good relationship from the outset and are not willing to be patient, kind, considerate, respectful, compromise and even over-compromise, mindful of your partners needs and quirks, shortcomings, slowness, physical abilities, etc etc then it would be best to go by yourself…..

The toilet issues: I think most people in business know of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. When I was still doing really serious work we used to refer to the bottom 2 levels on Maslow’s diagram as the ‘toilet issues’…..these covered the basic needs like: food, shelter, who many hours do I work, how much leave, lunch hour, food for overtime, my security etc etc…. the challenge was getting the employee to the top level – the self actualisation level – where their focus was away their basic needs and they actually become a contributing and creative member of the company. So where is this going: To follow on from the Relationship section above I met and saw quite a few people who had dreadful days because they could not get coffee in the morning….and they made life pretty miserable for everyone around them. Or, they could not start until they had breakfast…and there may not have been anywhere to have breakfast or coffee. The fact that they did not buy something the day before (even a banana or apple for breakfast) amazed me. One of the women I walked with was like this and after about 10 days we just left her behind…it was all to much…the constant drama about coffee first thing in the morning, the breakfast – and what was for breakfast, the heat, the people along the way, the beds, wanting to rest but when we stopped for a rest she would say she didn’t want a rest, if she wanted to eat she almost refused to move unless she got food and then sulked if she didn’t….the total focus was on her physical needs. I also watched a young man yelling at his partner because she refused to run around this small village another time looking for a bar that sold coffee…there were no bars in the village…there was no coffee anywhere. He was going mad – why he could not shut up and go onto the next town was beyond the situation they where in…how awful. This behavior is immature and quite frankly unacceptable….Conclusion – grow up….sweat the really big stuff! And another conclusion here is, I think, as follows:

Patience and Acceptance: There are some things that are just beyond your control….like no bar or coffee place in the village – so mumbling, yelling and muttering and generally making an unhappy scene is a bit stupid – isn’t it? Being stuck in traffic – same thing…live with it …not much you can do about it……waiting for a hostel to open and they don’t open on time…well live with it - what use is getting annoyed, yelling, sulking going to achieve….well nothing actually….make the best of the situation and chill….

Being Grateful: Everyone I spoke to along the way confessed that they had had a melt- down moment and shed tears - for all sorts of reasons. And I had just tootled along quite merrily, lending a shoulder when necessary and patting backs. But also having a slight little nag at the back of mind and wondering if there was something wrong with me….no meltdown for me! But ah ha. I had my meltdown moment 3 days before I got to Santiago. I was sitting in a bar, drinking my lunchtime beer, watching Spanish TV (their Soaps are very dramatic and I got very fond of one of the quiz shows) and I suddenly thought that I had a hell of lot to be thankful for…here I was, feeling the fittest I have felt for decades, in the most beautiful countryside, having the time of my life, lovely company, good food, beer and soap operas, no injuries (except the blisters), in my 5^th week with about 720km under my belt, I had made it…yeah.. and just about to finish the Camino…WOW..what a lucky girl I was…and all this suddenly hit me….and I burst into tears, almost brought the bar to a standstill…bar lady gave me a pile of paper napkins….I sniffled and snuffled, ordered another beer and really and truly counted my blessings and was extremely grateful for absolutely everything….thank you, thank you, thank you everyone… and I am still counting my blessings…I am a very lucky girl!

Liberating: Without a doubt this was one of the liberating times of my life. I only had to focus on walking, staying well and fit and injury free. I had none of the normal day to day hassles and issues. It was amazing - it was a truly amazing time and amazing journey.

Would I do it again: Hell yes...or something similar. I love this way of seeing the countryside, meeting the people and really getting the flavour of the place. I loved meeting people from just about all over the world, I loved the pace of the journey and every minute I spent there. I was so out of my comfort zone when I first arrived on the Camino but I adapted and went with flow.....I surprised myself just about everyday with what I did and what I had achieved. So, yes, I am looking for my next adventure...with relish.

Photos: Will be on facebook soon.

Love and happiness

Packed for Spain

Thanks to Lisa, my bags are packed and I’m ready to go….(argh..that was so corny *grin*)

I have mastered downsizing. I have decanted lotions and potions into fairy sized containers; wondered how on earth you wash dirty hands with those little, less than paper thin leaves, had Lisa toss out my allergy pills which I had packed just in case – the fact that I have never had an allergy in my life didn’t stop me from packing them…out they went, tossed over Lisa’s shoulder. I have the barest minimum of clothing, toiletries and even a few tiny little bottles of whisky.

I have culled all the stuff I subscribed to: blogs, newsletters, daily newspapers and asked friends not to send me jokes. I have had nothing to read this past week or so…..and no jokes to laugh at.

My life feels very simple all of a sudden.

So off I go – leaving tomorrow night and returning on the 20^th October.

Take care and be well

Love and happiness to you all.

August Bits and Pieces

Finding closure

I am often puzzled by this expression. It is usually trotted out by people who have little or nothing to do with the grieving person/family. Things are said like: they must have the funeral soon so they can find closure, they must find out what happened so they can find closure and my very best is: it has been 3 months and they still haven’t found closure……they must find closure! I understand the expression but remain puzzled that there is this pressing need that people find closure (so soon/quickly) and they just have to find closure. Whatever happened to the mourning process? Just because the post-mortem has been done or funeral conducted it doesn’t mean that everything immediately gets back to normal and all is hunky dory again.

Good Read

I am reading a fascinating book called Country Driving – A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler. I have nearly finished this 550 page whopper about life in China. Peter Hessler is an American journalist and has lived in China for quite a long time, is fluent in Mandarin and tells a good story. Why is it fascinating? It gives a pretty good snapshot of the Chinese psyche and provides a fascinating story of how China has developed into the economic force it is today …..and a fascinating insight into the drive and energy of the people.

The First Green Tree

I drive down Roberts Avenue (eventually turns into Commissioner Street) every morning on my way to work. A long section of the road is lined with beautiful oak trees. There is one little oak tree along the way (badly pruned to smallness or just a baby tree?) that has sent out all its bright green new leaves – almost as if the large oaks have bullied it into testing the weather before they produce their new leaves.

And on this subject: Yeah…thank goodness spring/summer is nearly here…enough of the cold weather.

Senior Moment

Not me…..my little cat Bracken (16 and a bit years) had a senior moment the other day. On our way back from our daily walk she got distracted, I didn’t notice and carried on – turned the corner and when I got home I realised she wasn’t following me. I waited a little bit and then decided to go and find her. She was sitting at the pathway to another house – and if a cat can look anxious, she looked anxious. I called her and when she saw me she was delighted and ran to me. I think she just forgot for a moment where she was…..

Excuses

Every so often when I have little book spring clean I put one book aside that I bought ages ago….should I chuck, shouldn’t I…and it stays. So the other day when it ended up the keep pile I thought I would whizz through to refresh my mind.

The name of this book is: The Idiot’s Guide to Coping with Difficult People. You may well ask why I bought it…well it’s because I don’t cope or deal with difficult people very well at all and I am usually end up feeling like a loser or really awful.

Does the book help? Sure it does. Does one always follow the good advice and insight it dishes out in well thought out chunks – of course not. Or….maybe only sometimes. Would you be better off following the advice – most definitely.

The book covers relationships with family, parents, siblings, bosses, lovers, h

usbands and wives and friends. During the quick refresher read I did, I noted one point that kept coming up in all these relationships and that was: If you keep making excuses for a person there is something very wrong with that person…. Or if someone else makes excuses for a person…ditto. And what do I mean by this? Here are a couple of little innocuous examples:

• He is very angry/aggressive because his father left home when he was young

• She is so self centred because her mother spoilt her

• He drinks because he had a difficult childhood

• She behaves like that because she has a difficult job and is very stressed

• He has so many hardships in life – that is why he is so difficult to get on with/beats his wife/doesn’t communicate with anyone.

For as long as people (usually their nearest and dearest) are making excuses for the way a person behaves…that person doesn’t have to do anything to make themselves more agreeable or likeable or get involved in your life/the kids life/your folks and friends/take the dog for a walk etc. They can behave like miserable spoilt brats – and they get away with it. You are the one who bears the brunt of it.

One of the really funny examples that popped up was: He is so brilliant – he just can’t fit in with this world – he can’t relate to anyone because he is so clever - that is why he is so distant/anti-social/disagreeable/rude/obnoxious – need I go on? What rubbish – if he was so brilliant he wouldn’t behave like a jerk…so Mummy/sister/wife encourages this bad behaviour by making out he is so brilliant….and thinks he is too good for lesser mortals - hahahaha.

When you make excuses for people you are enabling them to cop out of taking responsibility for their bad behaviour. They are the ones who end up not doing stuff, they don’t get asked to help out with things and generally they can sit back and watch everyone else slogging it out and tip toeing around them.

So what do you do when someone tells you about this really amazing guy/gal (possible future employee/girlfriend/boyfriend) but says you must treat them carefully because they had an alcoholic father/was adopted/is so clever it is difficult to understand them/is rude because they are a perfectionist……what do you do? Well the best thing to do is run a mile.

A couple of things

From Lisa's Blog: adventurelisa.blogspot.com

Playing catchers with running loops

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 11:59 AM PDT

About 11 years ago I had a running buddy who was faster than me; lots faster. We had a few running 'games'. In the first, we'd battle with each others' pace for the first part. I'd then turn around while he ran a distance further. My objective was to get back to the start before getting caught. The second game was when we'd run routes that linked up at a mid-point; my route was a bit shorter. The first part of the challenge would be to get to the mid-point before the other; and then the race was on to get to the finish before the other.

The fun of these games is that you can run with someone else without running with them, if you follow.

My mom, Liz, is preparing for her first walking adventure in September. She's doing El Camino in Spain; all 790km. She got her backpack last week and so she's been walking with it most nights. Sometimes I walk with her but as her walking pace is far slower than mine, I often find it frustrating and unless I load on layers of clothes, I get really cold because the walk doesn't warm me enough.

I do enjoy going out with her and together we motivate each other, especially on evenings like tonight where the cold front and icy wind from the snow-covered Drakensberg has settled on Jo'burg.

Sometimes we play 'the loop game' where I run bigger loops, meeting her at various points along the way. This evening we had our best loop game yet. Liz's walking distance has increased beautifully as she is steadily getting walking fit - plus backpack conditioned. On today's loop run I got in 11.2km; she did 6.9km. There were three meeting points, plus finish. For me the fun is catching her before she gets to the meeting point - she nearly got me on one of them!

So, if someone slower than you wants you to get out on the road with them (support, encouragement, company), go for it. But suggest this loop game, which is fun for both of you.

I'm the pink track; Liz is the green track. Stars are meeting points.
When we meet up I sometimes walk with her for a bit before splitting off again.

Try something new for 30 days

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 03:03 PM PDT

Great TED Talk by Matt Cutts (only 3:27 - nice and short). In this Matt suggests trying things you've always wanted to do for 30 days. This resonates with my '35 Days of Running' in May/June; it was an incredibly rewarding experience.

The 30 day activity could be additive or subtractive.

Additive activities may be to ride to work; to take a photo of something specific (yourself, partner, child, growing flowers, buildings) or just a photo; to cook a different dish for dinner; to draw a picture; to write five pages of that novel that has been burning in your heart... every day for 30 days.

Subtractive activities could be things like cutting out sugar or chocolates or coffee or tv for a month.

The best part of this concept is that one month you may want to cut out sugar and the next month you want to run every day. No activity is a life sentence - it's just a month.

I've got lots of things to put on a 30 day list... what to attempt first?

Packing for Spain

Because I will be carrying all my stuff on my back for 7 weeks, I have become incredibly conscious of how much things weigh. When I am looking for T shirts I get quite annoyed when the label doesn't tell me what the weight of the garment is. I have managed to replace my daily vitamin pill intake with one pill a day that offers what the current 2 do. Tiny saving I know….it all counts. My back pack weighs 1.73 kg and I think I can go to a max of 6 kg for the rest of my stuff.

Every time I think of the weight issue I am reminded of how I actually got to this point – Walking the Spanish Camino!

In early March this year I was watching one of Lisa’s FEAT (Cape Town show) presenters on uTube. Allyson is a young woman who set off to climb the highest volcano in the Atacama Desert – I think her journey to get there and back was about 7,000 kilometers on a bike. I was incredibly impressed with her. I liked her talk but mostly, she just inspired me. When I had finished watching her I said to Lisa “I can do that”. But here’s the thing – I just knew there and then that I could do an adventure – not necessarily the exact same thing Allyson had done, but an adventure none the less. And 48 hours later I had my very own one…..

There was something that Allyson said though, that has stuck with me – I find it so funny that every time I think about it I laugh, chuckle and chortle. But: it is also a big fat wake up call and kick in the ‘you know what’. I think of her words almost daily. Allyson said something along the lines of: “I had to get my life in order. I started going to gym and lost a great deal of weight – 80kgs of which was my husband”.

De-cluttering is not just about cleaning out the cupboards and giving the extra cups to charity. It is about getting rid of the dreadful boss, the unhappy and unsatisfying relationship, and the toxic people who sap our energy and strength; the people in our lives who make us feel kak (good Afrikaans word!) and don’t treat us how we deserve to be treated (and loved) You also have to get rid of the heavy memories – pack them away where they aren't constantly bringing you down and inhibiting your happiness. Memories are of things that have happened – and there is not too much you can do about it now – except of course, if you keep repeating the same behavior, same kak relationships and so on… the best thing you can do in this case is go see a counselor.

We all learn, I hope, as we go along on our adventures….and perhaps the biggest lesson is to keep it light.

The link to Allyson’s talk is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbKB507UwTo

Too much noise

I have been following the court case (not 100% conscientiously) about Jub Jub and the other fellow who were speeding / racing down the road and ploughed onto 6 schools kids; 4 kids died at the scene and the other 2 have been left mentally and physically handicapped.

Jub Jub and friend were dicing down the road in broad daylight and they were apparently also drunk and on heroin or cocaine. The thing that has kept me listening to this on the radio is that these guys have showed no remorse whatsoever and appear to feel quite hard done by. In fact, the case they have put forward is that they weren't driving fast and that they weren't drunk or drugged. Their attorney kept the police, who took the alcohol and drug tests, in the witness box for about 3 days and tried to discredit everything they said. They also tried to discredit the cell phone video clip of the race down the road and the collision. I listened to what the medical pathologists said about the death causing injuries and I would not have liked to be a parent in that court room…and the expert conclusion was that these injuries could only have been caused as a result of a collision at very high speed.

There is so much noise about the drugs, drink and speed and not enough about the fact that they were driving the cars that ploughed into 6 kids, killing 4 of them. There is no getting away from the fact that the cars belonged to them and they climbed out of them after the accident.

And here's the thing. These guys are guilty of killing the kids. Instead of trying to discredit the evidence, police, witnesses and experts surely there comes a time when the right thing to do is to just admit you did wrong; to take responsibility and be accountable for your actions. Surely there comes a time when they have to stop ducking and diving and making excuses for their actions. They chose to race their cars at high speed down the road; they chose to drink and take drugs. Someone needs to tell them to fall on their swords.

The Journey

I might not have the saying quite right but it goes something like: It’s all about the journey, not the destination.

I know deep down that you do have to do ‘the work’…that everything can’t just land on your plate; that there might just be a bit of pain along the way but the destination will be all that much sweeter when you arrive. I must confess that I chuckle darkly at this and mutter to myself that whilst these journey issues might build strength and character….who needs character anyway?

But seriously though, my little journey towards my departure date for Spain and my big walk, is becoming quite sweet in itself, with a few character building moments.

I take to the streets just about every evening and am walking greater distances and really enjoying that ‘fit and healthy’ feeling. In fact I am becoming an exercise geek….I decided to do a quick walk the other day on my return from the Cape but then commented to Lisa that “I cant just walk that little way, I will do this longer route (always good to tell someone where you are going). I have also shed a lot of weight….and still been able to eat the occasional chocolate and ice cream….and fish and chips – yum. My clothes are too big for me now and my jeans are held up with a grotty old canvas belt. My smart trousers don’t fit at all. Sweet.

My flight is booked and visa application is in. I had a stressful, gripping moment a week or so ago when the Visa people asked for a whole lot of additional information. I hate the fact that to get the visa you have to buy the air ticket….I mean what happens if they turn you down….so I fretted and stressed (still fretting and stressing) about this and was madly trying to think of alternative places to go….but here’s the thing – I want to do Camino – and that’s that. So, as I write I am still waiting to hear from the Embassy and I am trying to be very positive about it….hmmm - this is where the charcter bit comes in I think...

On the subject of Camino, I hear about lots of people who have done it…I have been told about friends of friends, family of friends, numerous film stars and other famous people who have done Camino. I get really excited, well maybe not about the film stars so much but certainly about the friends of friends only to hear that they did one or two weeks….a hundred or so kilometres and I am doing all 790 kilometres of it; how does this make me feel? Well sometimes I feel as if I might have a screw loose and I begin to question my sanity. But sane or insane I am going to Spain and am now so excited about this that I wish the destination, that is: arrival in Spain was not 2 months away….I wish I was leaving now and could start Camino.

And guess what: I picked up the BA inflight magazine on my way back from Cape Town this week – it was all about fabulous, famous walks all over the world - I am already planning my next one.

Epiphanies

One of my favourite quotes goes something like this: ‘You can’t solve your problems with the same mindset that created them’. It’s a pretty powerful quote when you think about it and you can substitute the word problem (you may not have a problem as such) with a word like situation….

With this in mind I want to tell you about my friend's epiphany (with her permission of course) because it is such a good story and makes one sit up and do that little mindshift.

She is changing her life. The house she shares has been sold and its time to move on, by herself (and 3 cats). She says she was fretting over her requirements for a new home – she had to have a house with a large garden for the cats because they were used to large garden after all, a very, very, secure neighbourhood, no traffic on her route to work, and of course worried about the expense of maintaining a large separate property etc etc…and needless to say, this is what she had to have and wasn’t finding; and was getting into a great state! But then she decided to move to Cape Town, flew down there with the check list of what the house must have (ditto above requirements)…. And couldn’t find what she was looking for in her price range but did find something else…a charming cottage that has a very, very small garden….not much space in the house and only 2 bedrooms (good grief). But nonetheless, she put in an offer which was accepted and then spent a sleepless week wondering which furniture to take because she had to have all her stuff, books, ornaments, and really couldn’t get rid of anything. So during all this sleeplessness she must have gone to sleep because she says she woke up in the middle of the night, sat bolt upright and had this epiphany. I wish I could repeat exactly what the words were that she said to me (she can’t remember either) but it went along the lines of:

‘You are changing your life, moving to a new place, new house….you are making a new life so why on earth do want to drag all the old stuff along with you….get rid of the old stuff….start afresh….’. I think this can also be termed ‘getting rid of the baggage!’ And in this case its not just the material stuff…she is selling her business and really starting afresh, she is going to do new things in a new place. She says she will do any sort of work (so long as it’s legal *grin*) for a bit of money…she doesn’t have to tie herself into her ‘professional label’!

Marvellous.

May Musings

Dark, dark winter

Is there anything wrong with the colours in this picture (apart from being coloured silk worm cocoons)? No, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the colours…in fact they are bright, cheery and pleasing to look at. So, why then, winter after winter after winter after winter do the shops stock clothing in black, grey, brown and beige…and I don’t care how they try to “dress” up the colours as slate, charcoal, sand, camel or whatever; they are still dull, boring black, gray, brown and beige…for goodness sake. And every so often there is a jacket in bright red – if you wear this you will stick out like those ‘art photos’ that just have one colour….or a hideous purple/ maroon; and that awful bilious orange that makes you look jaundiced…not to mention the “turquoise” that looks like someone dumped a can of black in the dye…..very ugly colours….and we get them every winter…Ladies go into the guys shops and check out their lovely colours and prints…..hmmm

My route through Johannesburg CBD

I take quite an interesting route into work everyday…through the centre of Johannesburg. It is quick and easy and I am now fearless when it comes to taxis or malfunctioning traffic lights. I pass 2 brothels, countless building in various stages of decay and really interesting shops…some in the decaying buildings (without water & electricity) and others in refurbished places that look quite nice.

What fascinates me though, are the names of some of the shops – the past couple of days I have made of note of the ones I really enjoy:

Various plays on the Mr Price theme – Mad price, Safe Price, Crazy Price, Fair Price and the best is Sir Price.

A number of pubs/taverns – The Trust Me Tavern, Culture Pub and Current Pub

There is the Curtain Designer & Comfoter, Flower-Visa Wholesales (Dress shop) and the tattoo shop is called The Chronicles. There is also the Ama Photophoto shop and the ‘Global International Importer’. There is even a City Farm (who knows what this is).

The ‘Business Centre, Internet & Saloon’ and the ‘General Dealer, Communications & Take Aways’ will look after all your needs.

But very, very personal favourites are: The Blessed Miracle Wholesaler and Divine Grace Fruit & Veg

Mother's day

Lisa's Blog

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Note from Liz: I am pleased to say that apart from my calves being a bit stiff today I feel great! This was a super hike...lovely scenery.....and just lovely to be out in the bush. By the way...I wasn't wearing long white socks.....those are my lily white legs....good grief! The rest of this blog is by Lisa.... Mother's Day hiking at Suikerbosrand - with my mom Posted: 15 May 2011 02:11 PM PDT As my mom and I were both under the influence of a nasty flu bug last weekend, we postponed our Mother's Day hike to this weekend (Mother's Day was 8 May here in SA). And a good thing too - we woke to a beautiful day with blue sky and mild temperatures. A few months ago my mom started walking regularly. She did Tai Chi for the past five years and has been wanting to do something different. After watching the DVD of talks from FEAT Cape Town, she decided that she needed an adventure. She will be doing the 700-odd kilometre El Camino walk in Spain in September and the journey will probably take her five to six weeks - fabulous! To celebrate her progress we had decided to go to Suikerbosrand, a nature reserve in the South of Jo'burg. I've written about my runs there a number of times (type Suikerbosrand into the search block). My mom was tasked with carrying my small backpack loaded with water and some fruit for a midway stop - practise for her. I took my camera along to take photos. The main hiking trail is a 10km loop and it has some very technical sections that are rocky underfoot and a number of climbs. For someone who has never really been on trails, it isn't an easy first hike. My mom did brilliantly! This is the furtherest that she has probably ever covered under her own steam and, to make it even more difficult, it was on a tricky trail. It took us four hours, which is a long enough time on foot. By this evening she was feeling it a bit and I'm sure she'll remember (fondly, I hope) her walk tomorrow morning when she gets up - and Tuesday morning. It's an odd time of year out there - not the fresh green of January. The grasses now have dropped and they're brown. But in the little valleys the trees are still green. We saw two buck in the distance and a small herd of zebra - also a distance away. That was it as far as the wildlife went. By the time my mom gets back from El Camino she'll be a walking machine; I'll take her on the two-day trail, which we do in a few hours. It goes through my favourite valley in the reserve and we should see more animals on that side. Mom, well done! I'm very proud of you. xxx I took the opportunity to try out my hard-earned yoga headstands 'in the bush'. Really not easy on uneven rock with strong winds (approaching storm, thus the dark clouds). But, I got it up and even zapped the L-shaped headstand, which I've been working on. Mom did the arty thing taking pics. In a non-rocky, non-windy envionment I can bring my toes down to the ground and lift them up again - straight legs. Hip-hip-hooray for yoga!

The thing about friends….and other stuff

Old friends

The night before the Easter break I received phone calls from 2 old friends – I hadn’t spoken to them for ages. Within seconds we were chatting away, making silly jokes and laughing our heads off…even when we settled into the serious stuff about families, friends and work we still managed to raise laughs. This, I think, is the best thing about old friends:– it is that wonderful comfortable feeling of being with a person who has known you for donkey years, warts and all, the good and bad (and I guess the ugly moments) and they still love you to bits and you love them to bits. And conversations are so relaxed, funny, interesting (and having someone so interested in your doings), sometimes sharing sadness and pain, no competing, no point scoring (they know you too well *grin*) ….just a good old chin wag and enjoying the moment.

The other friends that I also love are those newish friends who are just like old friends… wonderful and ditto all the above.

And the other old friends that you don’t see or hear from for what seems like decades who suddenly contact you and you are instantly back to where you were….I loved getting an email titled Mad Cow Disease from Frances apropos my walk in Spain…. I immediately started laughing about some of our exploits.

I am very blessed - thank you friends.

The little drummer girl

A number of people have been in touch to find out about how my drumming lesson are progressing. Well here’s the thing….there comes a time in life when you just have to bite the bullet and accept that your next career is not going to be that of rock star. You have to suck it up and admit to yourself and others (or they keep encouraging you to carry on and not ever give up on pain of death) that you have absolutely no talent whatsoever and never will have. Nor any rhythm for that matter – a little of which helps a lot in this game. I am still totally gob-smacked as to how drummers manage to keep all 4 limbs belting out different beats, at differ times, in different directions, all at the same time….and their lips aren’t even moving counting out the beats, in fact they are probably adding a 4 part harmony …. Amazing.

So, a fairly unused set of drum sticks and hardly used practise mat going to a good home…you know how to contact me.

Last but not least

My young niece Chloe posts some very funny things on facebook; but this one took the cake.

She posted it on the Monday morning after Will and Kate’s wedding:

“A prince got married and the bad guy died…a real Disney weekend”

LOL

In Training

It is a little difficult living in close proximity to adventurers without getting biten by the bug. After a conversation with Lisa a few months ago about finding my own adventure I now have one….it isn’t Japan as I first thought (that will have to wait a while) but I have decided to do Camino de Santiago or The Way of St James.

The route is a very ancient one and starts just the other side of the Spanish border (in France) and finishes in Santiago near the top end of Portugal. See map…..I have highlighted the route I will take in yellow. Initially I thought the walk was about 610 kilometers but subsequently found out that if I want to do the whole of this particular route it is about 790 kilometers.

Which made me take a very large breathe; and in addition to buying the book and researching on the internet, I decided to get really stuck into some full on training. My 8 weeks of Ashtanga yoga proved to me that I do have terrific stamina but I needed to put in a lot of time on my feet. Having a daughter who is an adventure and expedition racer has it’s advantages and the one thing I know from her is that at the end of the day it is not so much how fit you are but whether you little feet will stand up to the first week…if they do, without looking like lumps of rump steak, then you should be just fine. The other thing about having an adventurer daughter is that she is a shoe and foot expert….and she has heaps of advice regarding very, very light weight gear – because I will have to carry all my stuff.

So, I have been in walking training and loving every bit of it. I put on my little backpack filled with a litre of milk and some canned chickpeas and will slowly build up this weight until I am used to it. Since I started walking I have more than doubled my distance and my previous long walk is now a quick one for when I don’t have a lot of time. I also thought I could only walk in the morning (hmmm…talk about avoidance tactics) but have since found that I love walking at any old time – long walks in the mornings over the weekend and longish walks in the evenings after work. Next weekend I am going to walk to my brother’s house – which will be my first really long walk.

I am a bit anxious about Camino…if all goes well, it will take me about 6 weeks. But one thing that does worry me is that if I cant find a bed for the night I will have to sleep under a tree or somewhere... other than a cosy room!!! I have never done that before so am feeling a bit nervous about that. By the way, I am planning to go during September and October.

I guess as well, the whole object of this rather long posting is to tell you about a small little glitch that I have encountered in my training. I can’t breathe properly. On the slightest little incline I sound like I have never walked more than 2 steps in my life. Even going up the stairs at home made me sound like a huffing, puffing steam engine. I gasp and splutter and I thought I probably had TB. So, a few weeks ago I took myself off to the doctor and whilst she tested for TB (I don’t have it) she also did a lot of other tests and x-rays and it turns out I have emphysema….. It is really freaky and I am now on a puffer called Foxair and it is helping a bit. I go onto some other drugs a bit later in the year and hopefully that will slow it down. You can’t cure it!

But here’s the thing – I gave up smoking 16 or 17 years ago….and my doctor said “well thank God for that”. But here’s the other thing that is so freaky…this is how I feel (breathless, puffless, gasping) on just over 2/3 lung function. I can only guess how I will feel as I lose more lung function…..But the very worst freaky thing is: how can people who already have emphysema still smoke? If I feel like I do without smoking, how can they carry on doing all this damage? Things that are really bad for me are: being around people who smoke – second hand smoke is a no-no, and air pollution. So I will run a mile if you smoke around me and I really should move from my office – it is almost underneath the M1 highway that goes around Johannesburg; and if my car is all gritty and dirty then I am breathing in that air as well….

Doing the Camino will be terribly exciting and I am so looking forward to it; it will be a wonderful adventure. But what I really want to preach about is smoking – emphysema is most usually caused by smoking so give it up…..now!

Is it really important?

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From: Lisa's Blog - Thank you Lisa Is it really important? Posted: 07 Apr 2011 02:20 PM PDT As I heard the news this afternoon of another earthquake just off the North East coast of Japan, slightly closer to the island that the quake of 11 March, I again had thoughts of just how fragile and insignificant our everyday activities really are. I love writing - articles, releases, blog posts; I love assembling content and interacting with people through AR.co.za and FEAT and other work projects; I enjoy reading magazines, surfing websites; I devour books; I love my family, friends and kitty dearly. But, if a tsunami hit, what - if anything - of my daily activities would be important? None of the above, except of course for family, friends and every other person encountered in the ensuing chaos and devastation. Ah... my poor kitty. I'd definitely try to save her but when you're in a situation like that I don't think that holding on to a terrified kitty with her claws embedded in your flesh is an easy task. As for the content on my laptop, books... it can all go bye-bye because in the big picture, it just isn't important. And yet this is what consumes most of my waking hours. Why? Because it is what is done. We've got to work to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, cat in the luxury to which she is accustomed and all the trappings of society as we know it. My various hobbies, sports and activities fill the non-work hours. I just think it is weird that most (actually, almost all) of the things in which I invest my time, skills, energy and passions are not really important outside of life as we know it. Thankfully I'm really good at organising stuff, people, activities, projects - handy in chaotic environments. Ah man, another earthquake and an accompanying tsunami warning for the same area... Japan, my thoughts are with you. Just read on BBC that tsunami warning was lifted 90-minutes after it was issued.

Sweet Sixteen

We lost our very beloved cat Kibby about 17 years ago – one day he just disappeared and we never found him. His disappearance left a huge empty space in our lives and even writing this makes me think of him and that hole is still there. He was a splendid cat; beautiful, clever and charming….he was much loved.

And then round about the beginning of May 16 years ago, we woke up one Saturday morning and decided that today was the day to go off to the local SPCA and get us a kitten. The first cage held some really ropey looking kittens and whilst one tiny tabby caught our eye, the SPCA assistant insisted we look at all of them. We slowly walked up the passage, and saw heaps of very beautiful kitties; some with chocolate brown fur and blue eyes, others just too cute for words.

How do you decide?

Well, on our slow walk back to the first cage we saw this tiny little frantically waving paw at about our shoulder height sticking through the chicken wire. The skinny, scrappy little tabby had hauled itself up the chicken wire and as soon as we were close enough it latched onto Lisa’s hair. The little kitten was bellowing and we just knew she was saying something along the lines of “me, me you Twits…me I tell you”.

So we told the assistant we would take that one and as the guy was filling out the forms he said out loud, Tabby female…and we said “oh no…we wanted a male…” and this little kitten burrowed into Lisa’s neck and wasn’t going to let go for anything. What could we do….we took her.

When we got her home, we soon realised that she might have come from an alley way. Certainly didn’t know that doing her toilet inside was a no no and she threw herself at the oven, like a wild animal, when I roasted a chicken that night. But after a day or so she settled down…a little nose rub in the toilet mess and she went outside thereafter. She also, in the first week or so, discovered that she was a lost princess – and promptly became a bit of a picky eater and just knew that all soft, comfy things to sleep on were her divine right. She also managed to infect me with ring worm in the first couple of weeks. She was riddled with it and it took many months of almost daily special baths (for her) and medication to clear that up.

Here we are...2011….and she is just about to turn 16. Her 16^th birthday (decided by us) is on the 1^st April…and yes, sometimes she behaves like a complete fool and clowns around like mad. Throughout her 16 years she has charmed us, charmed our friends and family and gathered about her a loyal following. That is our Bracken, aka The Great Brackeroo….

And, if you are madly pulling on your shoes to rush out and buy Bracken a birthday present, she suggests that you might like to give a donation to the SPCA, Animals in Distress or other such organisation….she would just love that.

When the Chips are Down

How people react when the chips are down is quite telling. Usually, we only see people getting all miffy and fraught when they have not had enough sleep, the traffic has been bad (as it always is – so what the point), they’ve had a tough day at work, the geyser burst, the baby cried all night and so on.

But what happens when there is a whopping great disaster? Listening to the radio this last week on the utter devastation in Japan I repeatedly heard reporters talk about the remarkable kindness, care and support they saw the Japanese people extend to each other on the streets, in the hospitals and shelters. That’s how you behave when the chips are down.

On Friday last week, listening to the radio reports as the tsunami was breaking over the coast of Japan I was horrified and kept wondering about those poor people and how the hell you actually live through that nightmare and devastation. I hadn’t seen any TV coverage at that time but just hearing the radio announcers say things look “good grief, I cant believe that’s happening”…sent shivers down my spine.

So I did something – I sent a little itty bitty email to the Japanese Embassy in Pretoria and when I hit the send button I thought, what an itty bitty thing to do… And now, here’s the thing. Yesterday I received a very gracious reply from the embassy, addressed to me personally, not a bulk letter; thanking me for my concern and extending their best wishes to me.

That’s how you behave when the chips are down.