Learning from the slow loris

“Slow down and enjoy life.

It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast -

you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”
~Eddie Cantor~

Have you ever seen a slow loris move?

True to their name, they are so, so slow.

Incredibly shy.

But,

strangely,

loves being tickled.

Creative geniuses I share my home with

Drawing and painting are possibly

the number one activity

that my children turn to

when they are at home.

Above is a drawing of a house by Em.

This, by Hero, shows

a flying saucer carrying a lot of butterflies

crossing the Red Sea

on a stormy day.

This again is Em's illustration

for the story she wrote:

Hero's kindergarten hosts an annual art exhibition of the children.
This was Hero's masterpiece for the exhibition this year,
showing a car on a rainy day driving on the sea.
This car, is to be invented by him at some point in the future,
I am told.

For that annual exhibition,
three years ago,
Em also drew something related to a rainy day.
It shows how a hole in the roof of a house is causing water to drip in.

And finally...
not a painting,
but a note that was left by Hero on my bedside table:

Please can I have [a] toy aeroplane on Saturday if I behave, Mumma[?]

On this day, in another year

1883: Seismic sea waves created by Krakatoa eruption bring about a significant rise in the English Channel 32 hours after explosion.

1896: Chop suey was invented in NYC by chef of visiting Chinese Ambassador.

1945: British liberated Hong Kong from Japan.

1958: Michael Jackson was born.

1964: Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" was released.

1966: Beatles held their last public concert.

1974: I was born.

1982: Ingrid Bergman died on her birthday.

1990: Saddam Hussein declared that America can't beat Iraq.

2005: Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on US Gulf Coast.

Ten very notable moments in history, don't you think? ;)

A darker shade than black

the moonless starless night
beckons me into its darkness
that is a darker shade than black
pushing aside
the caressing arms
of kissing trees

i leave the comfort of my home

in search of you

somewhere far away

i hear you
call my name
i see you

but you are not you
your eyes no longer
light up when you smile

your mouth a shadow within shadows
your feet barely touch the ground

you whisper my name
and fade into the darkness
i follow you

You Capture: Outside

This week's theme for You Capture is

Outside.

This is my take on the theme,

the first photo above is the dried remains of the ihaa after the coconuts have been removed.

Eating outside,

under the shade of a date palm.

The water well outside the old Friday Mosque,

with the dhaani to collect water for ablution before entering the mosque.

And our little friend on the beach.

...and I met this lovely woman...

Woman I have just met looks me up and down and says: "You are Dr. N's sister, right?"

I confirm that indeed I am.

She asks: "Younger sister?"

I reply in the affirmative.

She is still not happy until she has said her piece: "But you look older. Must be because you are fat."

Charming, isn't she? Just what I needed to hear at the end of a long day.

~I should have posted a picture of a hippo or a walrus or something to go with the anecdote I suppose, but I thought that the circular shape of this shell could be taken to represent me adequately~

The safety valve of the heart

“Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while,

so that we can see Life with a clearer view again.”
~Alex Tan~

"The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears."

~John Vance Cheney~

This August afternoon

I sit here at the dining table in the mellowing heat of the late afternoon, windows wide open, hoping the wind will pay us a visit and break the heaviness of humidity in the air. My fingers follow a practised dance across the keys of the laptop that I have grown to love so much. It makes me smile now to think how reluctantly I accepted this laptop as a gift two Augusts ago, but how it is now my trusted companion at various points during my day; my link to you on the other side of the world. On the screen, I play with dates, places and possibilities ... allowing myself to hope a little, dream a little.

Through the open window I see the blue expanse of the sky. Cloudless and bright. A bat flies across that blue and lands on the fronds of the coconut tree, just a few feet away from where I sit. It hangs upside down, its wings like a shawl wrapped tightly around itself; its large glassy eyes seemingly stare back at me. Then, in a series of quick acrobatic movements, it makes its way to the ripening fruit and unashamedly steals in broad daylight. The cheek!

The door to the children's room is half open. Below the colourful wooden letters that spell their names on the door, a new sign has been scrawled on a sheet of paper and attached with scotch tape. It reads: "No grownups allowed without knocking or wiping their feet." A foam alphabet puzzle board is placed on the floor, at the entrance - a mat for the grownups in question to wipe their feet, I presume.

The giggles and excited chatter coming from inside the room warms my heart. I listen to them play house.

"James, will you go to the market and buy some fish, please?"

"Okay Natalie, right away!"

As "James," wearing a jumble of clothes from the dress-up box, including swimming gear, an oversized shirt, a hat and a feather boa, gets into his bright red and blue car and drives to the market (the couch in the living room which has many toy fish arranged on the seat), there is a loud cacophony of honking from the street below. I glance down. A truck trying to make a U turn in the middle of the street has caused a slight commotion and angry drivers make their frustration known - and heard.

Across the street, in the apartment block at two o'clock from where I sit, I see residents gather on their balconies, peering down to see the hullabaloo of the late afternoon traffic.

A strong waft of perfume turns my attention back to the goings-on inside the house. "Natalie" has transformed herself into a fairy of some kind, red glittery wings flapping under her arms as she flies around the living room.

"I am going to a tea party, so I used some perfume," she beams at me, when I look at her questioningly and sniff the air. By "some," I think she means half the bottle.

When I ask her where the tea party is to be held, she tells me that it is at the bottom of the woods, with all the elves and the fairies... and Spiderman. Of course.

What a wonderful thing, to have the imagination of a child. To let yourself be transformed into anything and be anywhere, without a care in the world.

I turn to the screen on my computer again. To the markings that sketch my plans. So many questions. So many ifs and buts. But for now, for this moment, I allow myself to ignore the questions and turn away from the doubts. I let myself dream.

The side effects of fasting

If I seem to be posting food photos these days,

even more so than usual,

I would have to say that

it is a side effect of fasting.

Having had no food in my belly all day,

my mind is inevitably drawn

to the yumminess that will fill me,

come sunset.

~Vegetable and lentil tart~

~Individual mini tarts baked in cupcake cases for the children~

~Roshi: Maldivian flatbread~

~Banana and berry bread: this is as close to heaven as a bread can get~

~Hard boiled eggs waiting to be transformed into a filling for pastry~

Come for dinner at our place tonight

and this is what you will eat

~pasta salad made with deliciously juicy cherry tomatoes,

cool lebanese cucumbers,

velvety smooth avocado,

tart kiwi fruit,

a mix of herbs

and a wholegrain mustard dressing~

... and this is what you would drink:

freshly juiced star fruit.

Focusing on the journey...

“We are the boat, we are the sea, I sail in you, you sail in me”
~Lorre Wyatt~


“Your life is an island separated from all other islands and continents.

Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores

or how many ships arrive upon your shores,

you yourself are an island separated by its own pains,

secluded in its happiness”
~Kahlil Gibran~

Tonight, I am alone

I watch the waves roll in

wondering if their paths had crossed yours

on the way to my shore.

I watch the heavens with my eyes

willing the stars and the almost-full moon

to take my thoughts back to you.

I watch the curtain flirt with the breeze

that gently blows in my face,

singing a song that sounds your name.

I watch the clock ticking time

counting the hours

until you are here with me again.

***

Kelly, Claire and Sarah

are playing with the theme "yearn."

Won't you play along too?

I don't ask for much...

No, it's okay,

just hold still

and let it suck out as much blood as it wants

because

I just have to get this shot.

I don't ask for much, do I?

Sometimes

Sometimes

the heart and the head

just don't work together.

Sometimes

what the heart feels is right

the head says is wrong.

Sometimes

the heart and the head

just have to find a way

to work along side by side.

Playing word association

Em, Hero and I played word association this morning,

one of us going through the photos in my archives

and calling out one word to describe each photo;

without seeing the photo,

we then say the first word that comes to our mind.

These were some of the photos that were used,

together with the words associated with each.

cow = milk

bird = beak

fork = knife

rope = joali

mosque = minaret

aubergine = babaghanoush

sea = blue

fern = silver

thorn = prickly

pipe = fitter

Man in the tree

This is the view I normally see when I open my bedroom window.

This was what I saw a few days ago, when I was going past that window.
Two legs in the tree.
Gave me a rude shock,
until I realised
it was the man who came round every few weeks
to get the coconuts down from the tree.

Then,
I see the man sitting down on the ihaa of coconuts
that he seemed to be cutting off.
Hmm... seemed a little strange.

But soon, the ihaa was on the ground.

(minus the man, who came down later.)

You Capture - in the kitchen

The kitchen in our home is where we spend a lot of our time together.

It is where much of the children's artwork is displayed,

together with little love notes to one another.

It is where we prepare food (duh!)

while sharing stories about our day.

These are some of the meals we've shared in the kitchen

over the last couple of days.

Semolina and corn griddlecakes.

A stack of spiced rice and lentil pancakes,
which served as the accompaniment to beef curry.


Now, while this pizza
~the children went mad with the toppings with this one~
bakes in the oven,

let me show you my favourite little grater,
which has gone into each of my kitchens
over the last sixteen years.



My kitchen holds many of my cookbooks

which serve as sources of inspiration not only for me

but for my children

when they want to let me know what they want to eat

~here, Em is trying to select what cake to make~

And now,

won't you sit down with me here

and enjoy a cup of tea?

***

Please visit other blogs participating in You Capture,

the theme for this week being

In the Kitchen.