Greetings

Well, sorry folks... that was a bust. For some unknown reason my laptop lost all my already-deleted-on-camera tree photos and now it's too late because I'm elsewhere. Sure, there are trees in this neighbourhood, but they're not quite so interesting although often lovely... like the prunus that are in full flower.

To tell the truth, I think those techy gremlins didn't like the idea of my next planned post, where I wanted to share with you how this one particular tree, as I walked by it on a hot day, invited me 'Come share my shade'. The words sounded in my mind so subtly, but nevertheless undeniable. And I was happy to do exactly that.

What I started thinking about (apart from trees!) as I walked around the block was how the neighbours and the gardeners and the construction workers greeted me. The usual form was 'hello'. 'Hi' seems to be out of favour right now, as does the spelling I like to use, which is 'hallo' with an 'a'. Without going to the dictionary to discover the etymology, I like to think that we're saying 'hail oh', especially as local vernacular in South Africa uses the word 'ou' for a person. In the UK, however, 'hi' has now added a syllable and the normal, colloquial greeting is 'hiya'.

That's it for now. Till next time, God be with you... i.e. 'goodbye'.