Happy Thanksgiving!

Summer clothes have been put away. Sweaters and socks have been pulled out and freshly laundered. Winter coats and boots have been sized out and wait for the first flecks of snow that will tinge the air. This past week we saw much rain in my part of the world. Blissfully sunshine streamed through windows yesterday and today. Thanksgiving weekend promises to be a wonderful one and for that I give thanks. : D 

Despite the rain, I wandered through the garden this week in a spare moment. Frost has not bade goodbye to growth and colour in my world as of yet. I was pleasantly surprised to find many plants still flourishing. Today I share my soggy sojourn in the garden with you. I shall be off to my sister's house this weekend stuffing myself full of turkey and mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and pumpkin beer. Happy Friday and Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!

Toad Lilies

Toad lilies are some of my favourite fall flowers. They are quite delicate looking, but serve to brighten up the rather dull surroundings this time of year.

Dahlia

This gentle dahlia might be shyly hiding its bloom, but it still brings smiles to my face.

  

Berries on the Burning Bush

The burning bush offers up some treats for any bird who happens to have a yen.

Thistle

Oops, missed one! A nasty thistle will make anyone howl in pain if they don't watch their step in my front yard.

Common Dandelion: Waiting to blow its babies throughout the yard

Next years crops should be bountiful with this little guy ready to let fly with his seeds of renewal. Oh well, yellow carpets are pretty, I guess.

Thursday Fun

Oh Dear,
What can the matter be?

The bathroom's not clean
and it seems it will never be...

The laundry piles up
and it stretches to eternity

The garage has a mess
that is just darn embarrassing 

The counters are gone
buried under paper's cluttering

But the children are coming home soon...
Yes, today
and then we will whisk away
and forget it all in play
with cousins, aunts, uncles
and Grandparents in the foray
Yeah!!!

Peace

There are waffling spirits that swirl around. A crease furrows my brow that I do not like. So I will counter with a little bit of peace sent out via an old song about Peace. I surround me in a colour bath and drift off to dreams of family and love and togetherness.

~Peace to you ~

my rock

-rock-

My dear

your birthday nears

thoughts drift to you

remembered.

-Grief-

once held

in stagnant arms

enfolded life in limbo

waiting

-life-

slowly rises

with drifting skies

to patch a path

renewal

-tomorrow-

silver linings

bright coloured mittens

a few favourite things

hope

~

"Let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing"

quote from "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran

Wednesday shall break in a scant few minutes. I must hasten to bed, but offer up a cinquain poem of hope.

Something I cling to, crave and try to hold in my heart

with memories

Happy OneShot Wednesday.

The Reunion

Heaven Lodge welcomed us back, but our stop the second time was brief. This was just a layover now to regroup before our next leg of the journey. I gladly succumbed to a hot shower to wash away the sweat from our trek through the wilds of Chimanimani National Park. The scalding water could not wash away the memories I held of star-filled nights unblighted by city’s illuminations though. We re-fuelled our bodies and the van, then pointed Arnie North towards Harare and hopefully our lost companion.

With no communication, we had no way of knowing if Brett would be in Harare or not, so we made haste to get there as quickly as we could. Our haste was well met by giant bear-hugs from dear Brettski alive and well to greet us. He told us of his adventures in agony on the bus ride South, the flight to Johannesburg and straight to hospital, and x-rays that suggested that he had probably already passed the stones by the time he arrived. He was smiling and fine, and had been in Harare for 2-3 nights already by the time we got there, we discovered with glee.

We were joyous in our reunion and decided to celebrate. We played tourists and went curio shopping at a local open-air artisan market, where I bought soap stone carvings, a sarong, a crocheted vest and t-shirts for family back home. We splashed out by dressing up for a decadent meal out to Rani’s, an Indian restaurant, where we allowed ourselves to be catered to our every whim. It was fun pretending to be sophisticated, when we normally lived out of a backpack stuffed with six pairs of underwear, two t-shirts, three tank tops, one sweater, one pair of jeans, two long-sleeved shirts, three pairs of shorts, a sarong (newly purchased!), a dress, a skirt, a pair of pajamas and one towel (or something like that). Miki and I even put on makeup for the occasion! We held our forks daintily and discussed the state of the world, glorying in this break from our reality. I followed this up with much deserved phone call home to share my recent travel stories with my family and hear tell all the news from that part of the world. On a roll, I called my family in Cape Town to check in with them as well and see if there was any news from there. I was delighted to hear that I had received some letters and they would be forwarded along to me en route. With my ear aching, but my heart warm, I called it a night. The city had been good to me and friendly Harare was okay in my books.