Figuring it out as I go
To say that I am not the most diligent gardener would be a bit like saying the moon is a large rock, true, but rather inaccurate, I am a terrible gardener. So when I looked out my study window and saw an explosion of roses I was rather delighted. So I present you with snapshots from our urban jungle:
I finished reading the Wee Free Men today and was tickled pink (again) by the scene in which Rob Anybody and the toad have the following exchange.
‘Visne faciem capite repletam,‘ said the toad. ‘It was the best I could do in a hurry, but it means, approximately’ -he gave a little cough- ‘Would you like a face which is full of head?’
‘And tae think we didna know legal talkin’ was that simple, said Rob Anybody. ‘We could all be lawyers, lads, if we ken the fancy words! Let’s get them!
Since I began training Echo and Fudge years ago I have become somewhat interested in Skinner’s theories of behavioural conditioning as they form the basis of the principles of clicker training. So perhaps that’s why this particular quote in the Seven Habits of Effective People resonates so much with me:
Between stimulus and response, man has the power to choose.
And finally, a real snapshot taken a few minutes ago (with a camera that doesn’t have a flash, so deal with the bad light) illustrating that it is, indeed, a dog’s life.
Love and snapshots,
Trisha
One of my all time favourite authors is Terry Pratchett and I recently started re-reading his book The Wee Free Men, and I loved this piece of advice that one of the adult witches gives to a youngster starting out. In a conversation between Miss Perspicacia Tick and Tiffany Aching, Miss Tick reminds Tiffany of this truth:
If you trust in yourself. . .and believe in your dreams. . .and follow your star. . . you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy.
Love and Pratchett,
Trisha
South Africa is a beautiful land of contrasts and contradictions. Yesterday, Riaan and I had a mini road trip to collect a fish tank, it’s stand and some lights (which are apparently completely awesome, I still don’t understand why, but will concede that they make the fish look prettier.)
On the last patch of the trip when I saw the pigs loaded in the back of the bakkie (pickup truck) I remembered that I had my trusty little Kodak zi8 in my handbag and so I give you some photos of just another drive in South Africa.
Love and photos,
Trisha
One of the thing that living in Costa Rica cured me of is being afraid of getting laughed at if I mis-pronounce a non-English word. As I mentioned in a previous post, South Africa, has eleven official languages. I haven’t checked the census figures yet, but I’m pretty sure more than that are commonly spoken.
I only speak two of the eleven fluently: English and Afrikaans. While I took Zulu in university, it focused more on the academic portions, and my Zulu is not much stronger than the other nine languages. Thankfully, every trip to the super market presents another opportunity to either learn or practice some new vocabulary. At a mi:nimum I would like to be able to say
in all eleven of our languages. At the moment, I have about four of the words across six of the languages (including English and Afrikaans).
Today when I was paying for my groceries the cashier’s home language was Venda, and so I learnt how to say “hello” in Venda. It’s aa, but pronounced more like ah! Which is great fun and I don’t think I will easily forget.
Love and learning,
Trisha
South Africa is an incredibly complex country, and it will always be the land that I grew up in. South African blood runs through my veins, and here are some of the things I love about my current country:
Love,
Trisha