strandlooper

come climb trees with me in a secret glade along the eastern cape sands
you know there’s treasure there
i have your bones and shells

i loved walking the beach with you
and seeing what caught your eye
you took spiky shells, crimson clams, feathers, sea gull bones

you opened my eyes to a new beach
a beach I’ve been going to for 10 years
a beach i’ve walked a million times

you remind me that
“seeing heaven in a grain of sand
is not a trick only poets can accomplish”

rain

i wish i could wake you to listen to the rain,
but i don’t think you’ll appreciate the sentiment

it’s so beautiful after the parched, dry months!

i know one storm doesn’t break a drought.

but it’s the sound of hope…

Focus on listening

lower the I to i

watch i become

!

Cooking with Ginger

After a year away from home, I was eager to see how my ginger was doing.
Despite the clayey earth, it was thriving!

Biking around Benoni

One of the things I’ve most been looking forward to
about going back to South Africa is going for a bike ride.

My New Yoga Mat

I bought a new yoga mat. It is soft, yet firm, with excellent grip. The powder blue mat makes me think of soft skies and gentle seas. It’s so comfortable it’s like doing yoga on a hug. And yet, I feel a curious attachment to my old grey mat.

After my first stint in South Korea I stayed with my eldest sister in Australia. She gave me the best gift: a month’s worth of sessions at the local yoga centre. Previously, my experience with yoga had been based on books and videos. It was wonderful to have an experienced teacher to guide me and a class of fellow yogis with whom to practice.

My next stop before heading home was with my elder sister in Ireland. Hearing about how much I loved my yoga sessions in Australia, she bought me what would become a constant companion: a grey yoga mat.

11 and 1 Things To Do To Celebrate Hobbit Day

21 September 2016 marks seventy nine years since The Hobbit was published changing the lives of many children and adults alike forever. Depending on your view, 22 September is Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday. Strictly speaking, there is some debate about when Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday should be celebrated due to the differences between Shire Reckoning and today’s conventional calendar system. For the sake of simplicity, and the convenient anniversary of The Hobbit, let’s stick to 21 and 22 September. To paraphrase Gandalf, some other time would be more fitting for the history of calendars. If encouraged with undue patience, I’ll sit on the edge of ruin and drone on endlessly, so without further ado, here are 11 and 1 things to do to honour Bilbo and Frodo.

Patchwork

“I myself am made entirely of flaws
stitched together with good intentions”
(Augusten Burroughs)

Composition