Blue Moon

Okay, I don't usually post so often, but I couldn't let this day and night go by without writing something about what's happening in the sky.

Two of our four children got married in a blue moon month. Not the same one, though. Hopefully, this augurs well.

I guess I'll have that old song on my mind for a while. It reminds me of childhood and teenaged days when we used to have fun on the piano with the tune. My cousin or aunt would play the base, and I would stand on their right and bash out the notes with pinky and thumb.

If I ever had to answer one of those interview questions that go: 'Which skill do you wish you had?' I'd answer, 'To be able to play the piano.'

Now, I used to be able to, and took lessons while I was at ballet school, and for a couple of years after that. But even though I really enjoyed playing, it never came easily to me. Years later, when we bought a piano so our daughter could learn, I found I'd lost everything I'd ever achieved. Couldn't even play Brahms Lullaby. I tried to get into it again, with no luck. Seems I just don't have what it takes in that direction.

But here's the thing. All you have to do to entertain and please me is to sit down in front of the keyboard and play.

These days that happens for me once in a blue moon. Seeing as our daughter lives too far away to visit, I guess I'll have to see what's available this weekend.

It said, I read

At lunch today I said to my husband, 'It said we're going to get rain tomorrow'. Then I realized this wasn't actually true, because I'd read, or rather, seen on my computer screen, that rain is predicted for tomorrow.

I used to get my weather info from the radio or TV. Then it was accurate to say 'It said'. But these days I'm mostly on line. So really I should have said, 'I see we're going to get rain tomorrow.'

Somehow that doesn't work for me either.
Over the past weeks I've become aware that my habit is to say 'I heard', or 'it said' whereas in fact, most of the time it should be 'I read'. I've tried substituting, but that doesn't quite ring right. Maybe because it's less familiar?

Summer heat

To be sung to the tune of 'Putting on the Ritz':

I'mmmmm closing all the windows
Drawing all the drapes
Shedding all my clothes...

Well, not all of the latter of course. The neighbours would likely complain and I prefer to have a light covering over my body. So think djellaba without sleeves.

This reminds me of the time I took a ship up the east coast of Africa. I believe it was in Mogadishu that the 'gully gully' man came aboard. The passengers weren't allowed off at that port, so he appeared to entertain us. I'd already heard about such people from my dad, who was 'up north' during the war. What the gully gully man did was produce chicks out of his djellaba, a kind of more abundant version of the magician's rabbit out of the hat.

I wonder why I didn't take a photo.

Anyhow, I digress. What I was really thinking was that I kind of wish we had wooden indoor shutters. They are so efficient at cutting out the heat. We made good use of them when we lived on a farm that had an old Cape Dutch homestead. The long narrow building was cleverly placed to ensure comfortable living in both heat and cold. So we had a front living and dining room and then an 'agterkamer' (literally, a back room) which was the same side as the kitchen. This gave us the two options.

The downside is that wooden shutters cut out the light. But I'm thinking that's okay, seeing as I'll either be outside today, or staring at the computer.

No doubt I'll be turning on the air-conditioning soon. But meantime I'll take a look at my farm memoir, which I plan to publish one of these days.

Listening and Hearing

I switched on to CBC Radio 2 this morning to help me along with bedmaking. The routine actions immediately sent my mind into float mode. A couple of minutes later I realized what I was listening to: the most sublime Mozart. But the noise in my head had prevented me from hearing this gift from the gods. Yes, my thinking was too loud, and blocked out the radio.

In a way, it's amazing that this can happen. But afterwards I thought, 'Why turn on the radio if I'm not going to listen?' Next time, I'll try to be more conscious.

Our On-Screen Lives

Are you like my husband and me? Every day we engage with other people via email. We check out various websites and blogs and maybe surf the web a bit.

Who doesn't? you ask. In first world countries, I guess most people do. And this surely brings quite a change in our lives because, unlike most other things that go on in our lives, most of this is not shared with our loved ones and families. Sure, there's facebook, but that's not really what I mean. I'm saying that a proportion of our lives is kept completely separate from those nearest and dearest to us.

Before the world wide web, I believe we shared more. We could and did ask 'How did your day go, honey?' But now, who's really going to ask, or even be interested in 'What did you do online today?'

This is the observation that's been hovering in my mind. Now I'm going to sit outside and watch the butterflies for a while.