Tag Archives: life

Shine a Little Light

Plumbago 2

Haiku 286

Whatever gets you

Through today and tomorrow

Shine a little light

Keane, Hamburg Song

Staan Sterk!

Shadows

Shadows

Haiku 285

Shadows sometimes glimpsed

From the corner of my eye

Where you used to be

Dear WordPress friends. Thank you for your kind, heartfelt comments on my last post.

The love you shared gave me strength,

And it is what makes the world a better place.

post script: The photo is of an Arum Lily by my stoep, with shadows cast on it from the sun filtering through the leaves on the grape vine above.

Lost

Dandelion Rainbow 1

Haiku 284

Today you’re not here

And all the years before me

I will face alone

I try to keep my Blog light and entertaining, with little personal info.

But you, my friends here on WP, will be wondering about my long absence this year.

Seven months ago I lost a sister suddenly to natural causes, and two months ago, after a long illness, my husband.

Still, life goes on and you just have to pick up the pieces.

So here I am.

Happy New Year 2022

Red Skies 2

Haiku 282

Oh my! Omicron

Bye Bye 2021

Here’s to moving on!

Another year that has passed as, “Meh!”

No-one in my neighbourhood could even summon up the enthusiasm to make a little noise last night! I guess after 2020 we all hoped that 2021 would be so much better. Well, it wasn’t as bad as 2020, but neither was it great. So, we’ll just have to wait to see what 2022 has in store for us.

I offer my condolences to those who have lost loved ones to Corona.

Thank you all for your continued support and friendship here on WP.

Here’s to a brand new start in 2022.

Cheers from Scifi.

Happy New Year!

Blue

Blue Sky

Haiku 281

Blue infinity

Soul-searching outer reaches

Introspective thoughts

So, I’m sitting in the garden by the pool, under the shade of the giant Eugenia, sipping my vodka, at the end of another hard day, when I hear the sound of the ice cream van, driving past my house, playing Music Box Dancer on an infinite loop.

Instantly, memories flood my inner core, of a long, lazy afternoon in Yorkshire, when my best friend Hilary and I chased the ice cream van around the neighbourhood on our second-hand bikes, buying cheap frozen ices at each stop. I was ten and she was six months younger.

A simpler, happier, time.

post script: If you’re wondering, the leaves you see in the blue sky photo above are from my ancient apple tree, not the Eugenia. And I only include them in the shot to prove that it is indeed the sky, and not a random blue picture. Yes, our sky really is that blue.

Mr Mole

Cape Golden Mole 1

Haiku 279

From small to smaller

They only want to survive

All life is precious

We’d just had another of our Cape Storms, with strong winds and rain. My pool was full of leaves blown off the trees. I went round with the pool net, skimming as many of the leaves off the surface as I could.

I spotted a butterfly lying flat on the surface, wings outstretched. I thought to myself, “Well he’s gone,” but scooped him up anyway.

Cape Golden Mole 2

Then I noticed a large dark leaf, that seemed to be moving. I realised it was a mole!

The poor thing must have fallen in last night. It was exhausted, cold and barely alive, but still bravely trying to swim and survive.

I quickly scooped him up in the net also and laid it on the lawn. I made sure he was at the top so he could breathe, and went to fetch my camera.

Cape Golden Mole and Butterfly 3

When I came back, I was amazed to see that the butterfly had crawled out of the leaf mess and was wafting its wings, trying to dry off, while perching on the edge of the net.

The mole wasn’t moving at all. Poor little thing. I must have been just too late.

Still, I had an idea! Finding a small twig I pressed it gently under the mole’s forearm – and gave him CPR!

I didn’t want to actually touch him in case he sprang to life and bit me!

Cape Golden Mole and Butterfly 4

The mole was still motionless, but I don’t give up easily. I carried the net full of leaves, mole and butterfly over to a sheltered spot in my garden and emptied it out under the fir tree.

Then I tried to get the butterfly off the net. I placed the net next to the brick wall by the pool pump, and encouraged the butterfly to go onto it, but it was having none of that and turned away back to the netting. How did it even see?

So I held the net right up against a branch of the olive tree – and the butterfly stepped on to it. When I checked a short while later, he’d flown off.

Cape Golden Mole 5

Back to Mr Mole. I watched him quietly for a while, then noticed he was moving very slightly. He was still alive! Amazing!

I don’t know if you can see from the photos, but he had the most beautiful iridescent fur, with shiny colours of gold, green and violet. I think he was a Cape Golden Mole, occurring only in Sub-Saharan Africa.

I thought the best thing I could do for him, was to cover him with a few leaves, for camouflage and warmth, and just leave him be.

When I checked on him later, he’d also gone home.

Waking up on Saturday morning, I never dreamed that a few hours later I would be giving CPR to a mole! It just goes to show; you never know what each day will bring.

A Red Rose For You

Red Rose 1

Haiku 275

Start the week brightly

Magnificent creation

A red rose for you

Red Rose 2

This is the first rose to open in my garden this early summer.

However, it may be the only bloom that I get from this “rose bush”, because it is actually just one lone stalk!

Still, it is magnificent; large and beautifully scented.

One is enough.

I dedicate this rose to all my loyal readers. Thank you for your support, comments and likes. They are always most welcome, but especially over the last years of Lockdown and isolation, which have been harsh here in South Africa.

Background

Background bokeh effect

Haiku 269

Not in the limelight

Never underestimate

Your background power

While looking through my photos, I came across a few with lovely bokeh effects. This one in particular stood out.

And it made me think!

The object I was focusing on only shone because of the amazing blur, or bokeh, behind it.

Just like life!

If it weren’t for those of us in the background, no-one would be seen to shine!

So here’s in celebration of all of you out there, who, like me, are a Mr Spock and not a Captain Kirk!

post script: So what is the photo? Surprisingly, this was in the background when I was taking a close up of a freesia. It is dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves of a honeysuckle behind the freesia. No I’m not going to show you the whole photo, because today is the turn for those in the shade to shine!