I haven't blogged for a while on account of (a) we had family and friends visiting throughout the summer, (b) S. was off school for a while, and (c) I'm pretty lazy and, more damagingly, good at rationalizing lazy behaviour patterns.
But let's not dwell on that now. The important thing is that I'm back (second only to S. being back in school - the last few days of the summer hols were quite trying for our relationship). No, instead, below is a photo essay entitled 'What we did this summer'. The idea is not to be exhaustive, but to focus on events/things where I felt we created something (as opposed to having been entertained by something passively). You know what they say, you have to make your own fun, otherwise it is just entertainment.
Which is why there are very few pictures of animals seen on safari. After the family visits, I think we are officially safaried out for now.
[Ed - When my mother pointed out a herd of giraffe on day 2 of our safari, I had the exact same reaction as if someone had pointed out a guy with really tight jeans and oversized sunglasses in Williamsburg.]
Without further ado...
1. Unflappable Baby F. - This little guy is so sweet-natured that I have considered conducting a covert DNA test to ascertain whether we are, in fact, related to one another. (I'm self-aware enough to admit that I'm not exactly Mr. Sunshine all the time.) But F., on the other hand, is pretty well all smiles all the time, even when his mother is doing ye olde smile-out-of-an-orange-rind trick (which still works btw!, but constitutes parenting malpractice in many places) He is well into solid foods now, slurping back such delicacies as pureed moong dal, butter nut squash, and anything he can get his hands on.
Great eater, great sleeper, great traveler, laughs at almost all my jokes = great guy all around! You're my boy blue!!
2. S. gets bigger and suspects the pie chart nature of her parents' affections - S. is growing and changing a vue de l'oeil. She is funny, empathetic, and a great (if a little physical) big sister. I think the highlight of her summer was when her cousins and grandparents came to visit.
Funny things she says at this stage:
- Leafuz (plural form of a leaf)
- Ubmlella (instead of umbrella)
- Heeya (instead of 'here' - some sort of faux Kenyan thing going on there I think)
CAUTION: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC SHOT OF DEAD ANIMAL BELOW - PROCEED WITH CARE
Above: As I've mentioned, I do not use a zoom lens, even on safari. The national parks in Kenya are rife with human/wildlife conflict. It is a bit weird, for instance, that we pay the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) hundreds of $s for the privilege of spending a day in a national park while the people living just outside are living hand to mount. This elephant (named 'Harry') was speared to death by a Maasai elder for allegedly trampling some crops. Upon Harry's death, the protein-deprived citizenry descended upon the still warm carcass and began carving it up for distribution. While I was taking this shot, I was standing next to a six year old Maasai girl with her eyes lit up with excitement and flecks of blood on her cheek. At the time of the photograph, the KWS crew (off-camera to the right) is loading the tusks, which they have hacked off the face of the elephant, into a pick-up truck. As a side note, and en tant que martial artist, I was also very impressed with the fact that a creature like this cold be killed with a spear - while I might hate it, that takes skill and brass.
4. Things we made. Over S.'s summer holiday, I really wanted to make a lot of things with her. Both because I thought it would be fun, and because I think it triggers a lot of other wacky follow-up projects and ideas. But I knew I was overdoing it one day on a walk in the forest when I jokingly threw my granola bar wrapper on the floor and asked S. what we should do with it. Without batting an eyelid, she bent down, picked it up, and said 'An art project?'
Like I said, she's a truly funny girl!
Above: Being married to a WASH specialist, I am entirely unfazed by having a coffee mug in the form of a toilet bowl in our house. S, however, decided to make a pineapple flavoured jello (gross tasting BTW) in said cup, with the result above. Apple is for scale only (ok and maybe to get rid of the awful chemical after-taste of the jello)
Above: We have a tree in our garden which has these really cool seeds/pods. We made some 'crocodiles'! The second photo is the underside of the pod.
Below: Our scarecrow and herb and veggie garden. We have the usual herbs, tomatoes, butter nut, carrots, and the ubiquitous Sukuma Wiki (a Kenyan variety of spinach, which means to 'push weakly' because poor people eat it when they are hungry. It grows like a weed here).
5. In which I get artistic. Self-explanatory, really.
