Up at 4h35… Hmmm – looks a bit grey and they did say rain in the forecast.
Look South East: dark clouds. Lightening up in South West whence our rain is from. That means the rain has past. I won’t even need my hat – I hate rain on my bald pate; it’s hot in summer, but not needed at dawn.
Come Lulu, let’s get your lead on and away we go.
A quarter of a mile into the park and there are a few sprinkles, no worries…
Now a drop or two – if it gets worse we’ll duck under a tree. There’s no thunder or wind so more likely to be crowned by a kookaburra as crushed by a falling branch.
Damn, it’s coming down harder and the tree doesn’t work; have to dash for the shelter over there … it’s only 50 yards.
Haven’t dashed for years and I’m nearer 70 than 60 now, so it was not a walk in the park! My crocs nearly came off when Lulu ran around me, effectively trapping me in the lead, so I had to do a quick pirouette in the now teeming rain … we made it, eventually.
We made it – it won’t last long and at least in Queensland, the rain is warm and one dries quickly. Wish I had worn the hat!
Damn! Mosquitoes love stationary people! Hah! Got the bastard!
What does one think about when stuck in the rain? Lulu is sulking because I won’t let her wander and sniff.
Murphy’s Law No 2(g): if it doesn’t look like rain it will.
Well, it is a fine opportunity to meditate. Wish I had read the book, done the course… my mind seems to go into flutterby mould when I try to focus…
I know – I’ll think of something to blog. Very little response to my last two serious bits, maybe it’s time to lighten up? How about some happy stuff, rather than the acceptability of lies and the new morality of the past? Mind you: I was right about Bitcoin! It will hit US$10k this week!
Here’s an idea: what about getting caught in the rain in the park! (just a passing memory).
I have just remembered a cardinal principle of my life: you always have a choice
!
Getting caught in the rain can be a miserable experience or it can be a good one.
It’s your choice!
You can have a happy day too, if you like…
There were boats, wonderful tiger and bream fishing and a rainbow array of birds and wildlife. There were also crocodiles and hippos…
Pafuri is a private rest camp at the northern tip of the Kruger National Park where the Narina Trogon was spotted.
We caught only one fish between the two cold fronts that passed over dumping rain by the ton.
e too many allowances, the return swing becomes very lumpy – ask the US Democrats!
Bauhinia, the purple herald is in flower.
The word “friend” comes from Old English “frēond”, which is actually the present participle of “frēogan”, which means “to love” and “to honor”.
and the Golden Penda, come into flower and lure birds in flocks; driven to fatten up before winter. 
Fortunately, Lulu took exception and ran over and barked them away. I watched them chase the bewildered bird into the distance at great speed. A hard way to start adult life away from home
Yeah! I am back on the happy horse again. In the past, I believe that happiness and fulfillment were neglected. It’s like what happened to butter – it was once a no-no, with potentially fatal consequences (it and a lot of other stuff too).
Lately, the realisation has dawned that the other end of the spectrum is the cure to many of those ills and greater attention has switched to positive psychology.
In 2011, the United Nations invited all countries to measure the happiness of their people and to use this to help guide their public policies. The first World Happiness Report was published in 2012. The 2017 Report is available online.
My point is that if it’s happening on national levels, then everyone should be measuring their own happiness and well-being and working at improving it and spreading happiness.
The braaivleis, known as barbeque in many parts of the world, is a cultural practice which involves the cooking of piles of meat. The cooking often takes place after a few drinks and is not really that important; the meat just has to look cooked. It often does in the evening twilight, after a few beers…
for a treat. I combined it with some bread crumbs of the nutty, seedy bread she prefers. To make the mixture more special and because she doesn’t like raw onion, I used sliced pickled onion, which I thought was quite innovative. To add some colour, I added a couple of sliced pepperdews, small red capsicums in a sweet syrup. I mixed in an egg for binding, salt and pepper seasoning and some finely chopped parsley from the garden. Simple!
Cognitive therapy is all about learning about how our thoughts create our moods; I can recommend it.
frolic and squirm away from suncream lotions and sun hats; adults expose their tattoos and drink beer from as soon as the tent is up.
sillysocksonfriday 