Mums and their bumps.

Six year old Joah’s insights are ahead of his time. Varicose veins and bumps at the front and the back are just right for moms, he reckons. Sarah writes about the makings of a mom as discussed in our home recently. Published in The Witness and available here.

‘My Life is My Message.’ -Gandhi

Gandhi declares ‘My life is my message’ whilst a man in the foreground reads a text message. This bronze statue stands in Church Street, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Copyright Sam Groves.

Art is long, life is brief. -Seneca

Photograph by Ulrike Welsch in 'The World I Love To See'. 1977, Boston.

Common Cents.

“We have to make money now, while we can,” my 8-year-old daughter, Lael, explained to her 8-year-old cousin, Hannah, “or one day we will both be out on the streets…”

Read more here. Written by Sarah and published in the Christian Science Monitor.

Little kitchen helpers…

“WHAT can I do with you?” my sweet, quiet, middle-child, Anna, asked, late one afternoon. I was feeling a fair bit of pressure to finish dinner off, but how could I say, “Nothing.” Read the rest of Sarah’s piece. Published in ‘The Witness’- 2 October 2011.

 

 

Carrie by Ted Kooser.

Carrie
“There’s never an end to dust
and dusting,” my aunt would say
as her rag, like a thunderhead,
scudded across the yellow oak
of her little house. There she lived
seventy years with a ball
of compulsion closed in her fist,
and an elbow that creaked and popped
like a branch in a storm. Now dust
is her hands and dust her heart.
There’s never an end to it.

from Sure Signs, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1980

Ode to Tobacco.

“It was the opinion of the poet Calverley, expressed in his immortal Ode To Tobacco, that there is no heaviness of the soul which will not vanish beneath the influence of a quiet smoke.” -P.G. Wodehouse in ‘Summer Lightning’.

My favorite bands by Lael Groves.

I have three favorite bands. They are the Beatles, Mango Groove and Johnny Clegg. First, I like the Beatles because their history is fascinating. Second, I like Mango Groove. I like Mango Groove because everyone can sing like mad. Third, I absolutely enjoy Johnny Clegg’s music. Because it makes me dance till I’m out of breath. Every time I listen to these bands my heart is booming loudly and I get goose bumps.

Written by Lael Groves.

Bird eats man in Wakkerstroom.

It was horrible. Whilst holidaying recently in Wakkerstroom- the jewel of Mpumalanga- I witnessed something truly awful which, just like one of those irritating Abba tunes, will remain in my head for a very long time. I, along with a couple of other tourists, was standing on a bridge overlooking the wetlands when I sensed I was being watched. Slowly, I turned around with my camera on-the-ready and snapped a photo as quick as I could.

I then heard a loud scream for help and snapped again. By the time I asked somebody to help it was too late. One of the tourists had been taken- Senqu clothing, binoculars, large-rimmed kakhi hat and all.

It was horrible. A local resident once said of this place that “There is magic in the air in Wakkerstroom. If it grabs you, you will fall in love and never leave.” But there is also a man-eating bird which if it grabs you, you too will never leave.

Show me the funny…

We’re counting down the years until our kids can tell actual funny jokes. You can read more about it here.