Bits & Pieces

Time flew today, and is still crashing past. I looked at the clock at 9, and the next I knew it was nearly 1! So here are a few brief snippets from a distracted brain:

* I finally saw Narnia yesterday with my son and my dad. Great movie, a bit of artistic license taken but great! It stayed along the lines of the book in many ways, and didn't swerve so much as to be distracting. The only downside was watching it with dad, who insisted on telling us what was going on at inopportune moments... :) Eventually got my son to whisper to him, "We DO know the story, you know!" It helped. A little. Ah well! :)

* Article research is both more enjoyable and stickier than I thought. I met up with a guy that helps out in conservation of the local river yesterday, then talked to two others of his organization. One was extremely helpful and friendly. The other was the chairman, and he wants to see anything I write about their actions before it goes to press. Not that there's anything damning in my article - it's not specifically about their work here, but rather using this river as an example for what's going on nationally. Let's hope he'll approve.

For the third article I've been in contact with every political party that has an email address in SAfrica - around 7 of the 50-odd. I've had responses from 2 of them, for which I'm very grateful. Especially with the deadline of next Monday looming!

* It's Monday, and I can tell. One minute after I got to work I had a call from someone who gave me grief over one of our policies, not letting up nor giving me a chance to respond. Although I do enjoy what I do, it's folk like that who get to me. The rest of the day has been reasonable, but stressed. I find myself questioning whether I can hold out an entire year, or if I'll try make a run for it sooner...

* Siesta's - why don't we all have them? Post-lunch sleepiness has kicked in, after a weekend of not much rest. I tried an afternoon nap or two, but wish I could get one every day.

* I was at church again this week with dad and the son, and it was like night and day from last week. My dad commented (not exactly in a whisper either!) that the preacher was rambling, no coherent thoughts, no progression. On the way home he had more to say. The preacher was the first guy my dad worked under as pastor after he graduated, so my dad knows he could do wonders. Unfortunately he didn't. A colleague who was also there found herself drifting off into dreamland - but caught herself in time. 5 others in the immediate vicinity were not as lucky... Me, well I sat there wondering if my vision of church and what it could be would ever happen. Dreaming of the preacher just keeping that heading he had up on screen, reading the verse he read, then telling us to "discuss among yourselves" and sitting down. We may then have come away with more than we did...

* I woke up to the most wonderful sound of rain on Saturday morning, after weeks of stifling heat. It was positively chilly all day, winter in the middle of summer. There's nothing quite like rain after hot, dry weather. Soul quenching.

* Why do people dump dead dogs in plastic bags in public parks? Spotted while doing article research on Sunday. It looked like the kind of dog a family would care for and love, not your average skinny street variety. Yet there it lay, abandoned in death.

* Also while doing article research, I spotted a couple of guinea-fowl in the undergrowth. Bent to take a photo, only to find SIXTEEN babies running around their knees at ground level! Never have I seen such a brood in one place in my life. The river may be half-dead, but some species still flourish.

* Siesta's - why the heck can't I take one now???