Sundays in My City--Beware the Shortcut

 
 Two roads diverged in a [green] wood,
And sorry I could not travel both ['cause I was tired]
.......
[I] looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim ['cause it was shorter]

.....it was grassy and wanted wear......

.......I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

  Adapted from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. 

  
Today we visited one of my favorite places on earth. Ntumbacushi Falls! We have a volunteer who has been working with us since November and we hadn't been to the falls with her yet. Also, this is Timothy's last chance to see the falls before he moves back to the States.

To get to our favorite swimming spot (shown above) is quite a hike. The initial part of the trail is quite steep and, at this time of year, slippery. The last time we were at the falls I learned about a shortcut that takes you straight through the woods rather than following the falls in a more meandering route. 
By the time I got to the top of the steep part of the hike my kids had already moved on down the trail. I decided to take the shortcut and beat them to the top. This trail was way wetter than it had been in August and by the time I reached the part where the two trails met up again, my shoes were soaked. But! I had beaten my kids to the top and I was so happy.

 I waited and waited for my kids to come around the bend. When they didn't appear, it hit me that they didn't actually realize that I had taken the shortcut and therefore might be a bit concerned when I didn't show up anywhere on the trail behind them. Sighing, I headed back down the trail--the long one this time--and sure enough found my kids waiting for me. They had even sent Troy back down the path to search for me. Oooops! So much for my cutting time off the walk. I'd now had to travel nearly the whole path twice.

But, wasn't that sweet of them to look after their aged and decrepit mother??

So what lesson can I learn from this? First, I have really great kids. And second, I shouldn't take a path less traveled--at least not without telling someone first--and that will make all the difference.

I'm linking up with two lovely ladies today:

 

Garden Glories

I thought I'd share a few photos of our landscape gardening project this morning. Nothing like some greenery to start the year off right,  correct? 

Mary Mary quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells

And pretty maids all in a row.

I truly didn't mean to make everyone in the northern hemisphere jealous today. I merely wanted to share how I can just walk out of my kitchen, barefoot if I like, and clip fresh herbs and leaves straight out of my garden. It's delightful! Sorry if things are brown and bare and wintry where you are......Did you enjoy a White Christmas though? I'd say we've even.

I'm linking to Sundays in my City by Unknown Mami and Fresh Mommy by Tabitha

Exactly Two Years Ago: A Funny Witch Doctor Photo

Peace Like a River

I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.
--Author  unknown

We are looking toward the future and realizing that we are going to one day outgrow our current property. To that end we are looking at possible pieces of land. We may open a junior/high boarding school and farm for the kids as they get older.

Yesterday Tom and I stopped off on the way to Mansa, and took a walk through the bush to the Luapula River.

A group of children accompanied us to show us the way.

At one point there was a train of children following us. I quickly turned around to catch a picture of them but this girl was too quick for me.--She ducked down to hide from the camera.

We had to clamber over huge boulders. This is one of the driest months of the year so we'll have to come back in April to see how far the water comes up. 

As we walked along the trail heading to and from the river, this little plant kept reaching out to snag us. Each leaf had tiny thorns lining the edges. Ouch!

We finally reached the river and it was beautiful.

This is the most peaceful section of the Luapula that we've seen so far. It would make a really nice place for boating and fishing.

We have no idea if this is the right place for a future project but it was fun to daydream a bit and we got a great walk in. 

This post was submitted to Unknown Mami's Sundays in My City and Fresh Mommy's Sunday Citar.

Sundays in My City--Just Dance!

“Life may not be the party that we hoped for…

But while we’re here, we should dance.”

- Author Unknown 

 

Last week, instead of holding our regular staff training meeting, I invited the ladies to take part in a Just Dance tournament. I paired them up as they walked into the room so there wouldn't be any calls of foul play.

They all laughed a lot and had so much fun. 

Beatrice was our winner. The above photo was the only one I could find just now.  (My photos are in a mess right now). We were short one nanny for even teams so I was paired with one of them. I do NOT have photos of that!

After two rounds of dancing we talked briefly about competition and improving on your own score or performance and how that makes the entire group better. 

There can be a feeling in African culture about not wanting to outdo anyone or make yourself look better, and while on the one hand that kind of attitude can promote unity, it can hinder development because no one wants to do better and look like they're just trying to be proud, or as we saw in the recent riots people can even be attacked for being prosperous.

I want to encourage the ladies to each be the best they can be while still working as a team. I'll have to tell you later about our next project which is promoting better work standards and a team effort.

And in the meantime, as we learn how to work together for a better Zambia, we'll dance!

Happy Mother's Day!

That best academy, a mother's knee.
James Russell Lowell, poet, critic and diplomat

The other day, as I was making homemade cream cheese, I began to think of my mom and a little dish she used to make for us when I was around 7 years old.

We lived in Mexico at the time; camping out because housing through my dad's job had fallen through. All six of us kids, plus our parents, lived in a tent and a van. It was a fair drive outside of town where my dad worked teaching English. Occasionally, when my dad brought fresh milk home, it would spoil and sour.

My mom would take that sour milk, which many people would deem unusable, and boil it up. The heat would cause the curds to separate from the whey and after straining the milk and collecting the curds, my mom would add honey (and perhaps a bit of lemon?) creating this wonderful little dessert. We loved it so much that we would clamour around my dad when he returned from home begging to know if perhaps the milk had spoiled again.

This has always been one of my favorite memories, but recently it came to mean more to me. As I got older, I learned that my mom doesn't really even enjoy cooking. She'll do it, but she doesn't feel confident in the kitchen and she'd rather not cook if she can avoid it. The fact that she would create this wonderful dish out of seeming defeat is that much more amazing to me.

I feel like this sums up my mom so wonderfully. She is one of the sweetest and most positive people I know. She doesn't just take life's lemons and make lemonade, she takes soured milk and makes cheese 'n' honey delight. And I'm not just saying that because she's my mom and I owe her my life. Anyone who knows her would back me up. She has always striven to put a bright and cheerful face on whatever she goes through and I admire and love her for that.

My mom and I last April

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I love you!

Exactly One Year Ago: Doncha Hate When This Happens?

Snakes in My City

 Below is a picture of my two chest fridge/freezers. The one on the left is set to freeze and the one on the right is set as a fridge. We keep our veggies and leftovers in there.

Just a side note. If you look at the far left of the photo you can see just a small portion of the 30 loaves of bread we go through each week.


Now, you might be wondering why I would be showing you my freezer.

Well, because this is the sign that was left on top of the freezer yesterday afternoon. What could be so dangerous about a box that keeps things cold? Let's take a peek inside.

Hmmm, suspicious looking gunny sacks. You might remember sacks like these from a previous Sunday in my city post....

 

 No way! I did not see this coming! There is a snake in my freezer! Correction. There are seven snakes in my freezer! All huge! All poisonous!


Tom decided to thin out his snake population this weekend. The most humane way to kill snakes is to pop them in the freezer. They basically just go to sleep forever. 


Many of you have questions about why Tom does what he does with snakes. I've written about it over here (it's in the second half).

This guy is 3-4 feet long. His head is about 4 inches across. When I asked Tom what the measurements were for the snake he said he didn't know but that I could go measure it!


What?? It's like he doesn't know me at all! He assured  me it was dead. Not in this lifetime will I voluntarily hold a snake--dead or alive!


Marriage is like putting your hand into a bag of snakes in the hope of pulling out an eel.
Leonardo da Vinci

I don't agree with Leonardo's take on marriage, but I do know that being married to a man who loves snakes is never ever boring!

I'm playing along this week with FreshMommyBlog and Unknown Mami.

Exactly One Year (& a day) Ago: My Hips Don't Lie