I was hoping for a prompt word that would enable me to use an experience I had yesterday and today. It’s quite atrocious that I am manipulating the prompt so that I can write about this in today’s challenge.
My daughter is visiting and working online and yesterday was just settling down to tackle the morning’s tasks when she spotted something atop the braai chimney!
“Mom,” she yelled. ”Come quickly!” Dad was still reclining in bed while I was loading the washing machine. I knew it could only be a special bird that the daughter was yelling about so I dropped everything and grabbed the camera from its place on the workstation counter, and there staring straight at me was a beautiful spotted eagle-owl.
We have had this bird visitor our garden before and we have wished for it to return but it has been at least a year since last it graced us with its presence. So imagine our joy when it decided to stay for the whole day and only flew off in the evening to hunt for its dinner.
This morning she was back and she was not alone. A smaller owl was with her and was probably the male as he is usually a bit smaller.
During the day both were about but the female went while the male remained till dusk.
We have cats who visit every day and it was so amusing to observe how the owl reacted to Mike as he climbed over the wall. The owl considered that the cat was quite atrocious invading the garden that he had claimed as his own. The cat of course just totally ignored him but I wondered if like the owl and the pussy cat they might become friends! What an atrocious thought – they did not even try! The owl hissed at the cat and the cat stalked off to find smaller prey!
The owl also considered our birdbath a rather fun place to visit and enjoyed a nice long drink.
We just hope these lovely creatures decide that our garden is a friendly place and that they will continue to make themselves at home here. We don’t think that will be too atrocious at all.
A mood is a temporary state of mind or feeling and many factors can affect the mood we are in at any given moment. If one has a healthy Emotional Intelligence, one can recognise and manage one’s moods and also know how to deal with the moods of others.
I taught at a school where we were encouraged to look out for children who had difficulties with their emotions and moods, to consider the causes when dealing with them, and to help them manage their reactions to their moods too.
Every morning as the children filed into the classroom each greeted the teacher with a show of fingers. Four fingers meant – “I am feeling great.” Three fingers meant – “I am okay.” Two fingers meant – ”I am not so great’ and 1 finger meant – “I am going to cry.”
This system helped the teacher to understand why a child would be distracted or acting up. There was no pressure on the child to say why they were feeling a certain way but they could choose to discuss things with the teacher, ask for a care circle, or ask to see the school counselor.
We had care circles where the children could share anything with the class – just their news or anything that was bothering them and then their classmates could offer comfort or solutions. Things like – my hamster died, my dad’s gone on a business trip and I miss him. Granny is in hospital. I had a fight with my sister. The sharing really helped and made for a bonded class. A child could ask for a care circle at any time and usually after break, we would have one to settle disputes that occurred during play! Anyone who wanted to speak held a teddy bear and nobody was allowed to interrupt until the teddy was passed to her. The children loved care circle time and many issues were thrashed out during this time and the children usually ended up finding solutions with very little input from the teacher.
You might think that all this would take time but it was time well-spent. The children knew that they were understood and cared for not only by the teacher but by their peers as well and this reduced bullying to a great degree.
I found that most of the children would enter the classroom with four fingers and the ever-cheerful ones even went as high as 10! Then there were the melancholics who were always a two and would express something very minor as the cause. I would say something sympathetic and then ask if there was something else at that moment that could make them a three. After a little thinking, the answer would be something like – I’m a three because I‘m at school, or after school I have a playdate with my best friend, or it’s swimming during phy ed today. Often another child would take the sad one in hand and cheer her up.
Mental health at all ages is very important. We should never dismiss moodiness as just a bad personality trait. As we grow older we should also not ignore mood swings. There are many causes including, dementia, menopause, ill health, and poor diet. When one is retired and no longer in a regular routine of work, exercise, and diet, one can let things slip and drink too much, eat too many treats, and even take in too much coffee! All these will affect mood! If we keep busy, eat correctly, and do a little exercise and still have mood swings, we should seek help straight away.
I like the word tenacious. It’s a strong word and screams of character. It conjures up a vision of a person who is together, determined and has all her ducks in a row. The tenacious person is ready to face any challenge presented to her and will not give up when the going gets tough.
People in history who had tenacity are the likes of Churchill, Edison, Madame Curie, the list goes on. Would we have the light bulb if Edison had not persevered with his inventions? Would Britain have won the war if it were not for the tenacious Churchill who would never give up! In fact, it was the tenacity of all players that meant there was victory at the end.
Can tenacity be taught or is it a character trait that one is born with? Probably a bit of both. It certainly can be encouraged.
There is, of course, a bad side to tenacity if it causes one to be stubborn or obsessive. Not letting go of a bad idea can be very destructive. After some time, if what one is doing is causing distress or harm, then one should surely stop and find something else to be tenacious about.
A tenacious person should also be careful of resisting change and I find this to be the case with many of us tenacious old fogies! Let’s try to be flexible and have a balance between being tenacious and knowing when to let go,
Today’s JusJoJan prompt is doubling with One-Liner Wednesday. The word to use is Grateful.
Every day is a gift. One more time I can enjoy a sunrise, hear the birds singing in my garden, and have the next-door cats come in for a cuddle. It’s another day to begin a new adventure, to talk to loved ones and create something special even if it is only the evening meal.
I am grateful that today I got to see the excitement on a six-year-olds face as she started Grade 1 on this first day of the school year. When we arrived to collect her she ran straight out the door to greet us. Mom followed all giggles saying she’d been up since dawn! My heart was full!
Proudly dressed in her new school uniform and more than ready for her first day of formal education!
I am starting this blog an hour before 16 January ends so I hope it is in time – it’s earlier in some parts of the world and later in others! Anyway the prompt word is from John today and it is “Variety”
Variety is the Spice of Life. Boring people have no variety in their lives. They are not adventurous and do not seek out new experiences. Perhaps they feel secure in their safe cocoons eating the same food, seeing the same people, and never trying anything new. Many years ago a colleague of mine was going through a stressful time and mentioned that she’d love to go away for a relaxing weekend. So I offered her and her husband a free weekend at our holiday home just two hours away. She discussed this with him but he said, No thank you because it was too much effort to pack a bag and drive to a destination he would feel unfamiliar in. Then he would have to pack up after two days and drive home again. I was horrified. Did he not understand that the drive there would provide a variety of different scenes along the way. They would be able to stop, get out, explore, have a coffee at a quaint little farm stall, and then move on again. Then once at the destination, there would be the beach, different birds to watch, a lighthouse to climb, the list goes on.
I find it amazing too that some folk won’t even add a bit of variety to their diet. The same old fare is oh-so boring. Why not add some spice, a vegetable you’ve never tried before a completely new food. We love sashimi and I have offered this treat to many people, some who immediately accept and others who say they would certainly never eat raw fish! When I ask if they have ever tried it the answer is always, No and I never will! Okay fine – your loss. For ages, I tried to get a close friend to try sashimi and finally after a year she gave in, and guess what – she loved it.
Sometimes I think having a bit of variety in what you do, where you go, what you eat, who you see etc is healthy. You needn’t change your entire lifestyle but do try something new from time to time. You might find your depression lifting. You might find you’ve been missing out on something you thought you would hate.
We live in a small fishing village and it is so easy to slip into a mundane routine but we make a point of doing a variety of activities. Recently we have put a couple of our rooms on Air B&B which means we meet a variety of guests both local and foreign and hosting them is proving to be great fun.
Today’s prompt, the word ‘craft’, for JusJoJan comes from Astrid.
Many images jumped into my mind when I read what today’s prompt was. Perhaps it’s because we are planning a trip that visions of planes and ships and craft of that sort appeared in my head.
Normally, I would think first of craft as something to do with your hands. I have always had a problem with fine motor skills. Writing, drawing, sewing, etc were always a challenge. And yet I enjoyed them all – except for drawing! I struggled in sewing classes at school – yes in the olden days sewing was a compulsory subject in primary school. I also battled to learn to knit. But those classes took the place of OT and were good for children with motor skill problems and once I had mastered them, I thoroughly enjoyed them. Another activity I struggled to learn as a child but then became addicted to was French Knitting – definitely good for fine motor coordination!
The thing with a craft is that you can always learn how to do one if you put your mind to it. I do have a creative mind but my creativity does not stretch to fine art. So as an outlet knitting, crochet, and sewing have been my go-to crafts. There is something very satisfying about creating something with your own hands and as long as there are clear instructions I seem to be able to manage to create something by carefully following the directions. As a young mother, I still had problems with dressmaking but got a friend to teach me then attended some classes and became quite proficient, and for years I made most of my and my daughters’ clothes. (I no longer sew and have given my sewing machine and over-locker to a young designer who really needed them for her craft. ) I still go through phases of knitting and crochet.
I crocheted a set of placemats like this for my daughter
Now to the other craft. The Earl had a fishing craft for many years and loved being out at sea catching fish. He no longer has a craft of his own but he still likes to board his friends’ boats and always enjoys a short excursion out to sea. Longer fishing trips are no longer an option for him. Luckily living where we do the fishing spots are fairly close to the harbour and you need not go out for very long if you choose not to.
Because of his love of the sea, the kind of craft he loves to travel on is a cruise ship. At first, I was not so keen to take a long cruise on the deep wide ocean as visions of the Titanic Disaster danced in my head. But after a month-long cruise on the good ship, Costa Victoria in 2019, I was hooked! What an awesome way to travel. I am so pleased we did this before the pandemic prevented us from booking another one!
A magnificent craft – The Costa Victoria
As I said in my opening paragraph we are planning another trip, and yes it will be another cruise but not for as long as the Costa Victoria. The cruising bug has bitten our darling daughter and she has persuaded us to join a group of six on a nine-day cruise in the Mediterranean. Yes – we certainly are keen to board this craft although nothing has been booked as yet. We will of course also have to board an aircraft to get there and our plan is to start in the UK so we can visit friends and family there then after a few days, we will fly to Istanbul where the cruise begins and ends, and then fly home from there.
When I was growing up and in primary school, handwriting was considered a very important skill and our teachers insisted upon correct pencil grip, correct letter formation, and above all neatness. This was in the days before children with difficulties were sent for occupational therapy, remedial tuition, and psychological counselling. While I was learning my letters, I now realise, I needed all three!
First, we learned to print in the ball and stick fashion. In Standard One/Grade Three we started on cursive. By then I had mastered the difficult skill of printing and was really keen to get to cursive which I found a tad easier to learn. According to my very strict but excellent teacher, my handwriting was very neat. But it was also very slow! I spent so much time concentrating on neatness that speed fell by the wayside. Once I reached the higher grades speed became important so guess what -neatness fell by the wayside simply so that I could keep up!
From then on my teachers despaired of ever getting me to write neatly and accurately. I could spell but I made ‘careless’ mistakes – and still do! I had to make a choice, write neatly and win the teacher’s praise for pristine penmanship or get the work done in the required time and avoid being scolded for tardiness. Time won! These days children with learning issues are given extra time to complete – I had no such privilege. How I envied those children who managed to complete tasks with awesome handwriting and no errors.
I liked writing – not handwriting but writing and I still do. When it came to writing compositions I just needed so much more time so usually did not write quite as much as I would have liked to.
When I was teaching in the seventies and eighties, handwriting was still an important subject in the curriculum. Now that I was the teacher I was a little more sympathetic toward those who struggled with this skill. My training had prepared me how to help those with fine motor coordination problems and I never penalised a child for untidy work. Some of my colleagues were still strict about neatness but having had problems myself as a child I was more interested in what the child wrote rather than how he wrote it.
However, I was strict about pencil grip and correct letter formation. In other words, I encouraged my learners to start the letter correctly, to start next to the margin, and to try to keep between the lines. The reason for this is that the physical act of writing is good for the brain.
Learning to physically write is still important because writing uses more complex motor and cognitive skills than is required to use a keyboard. Knowing how to write also helps with reading fluency as writing activates the visual perception of letters. There are many other benefits to having good handwriting but I won’t bore my readers with those now.
I learned to type when I was in Standard 7/Grade 9 and it changed my life! It is the best thing I ever learned at school, besides reading, because although I did not need to type during my early career it was a skill I could use on a computer which from the nineties on became a huge part of both school admin and creating teaching aids. I welcomed the digital age with open arms as it made everything a thousand times better for me. Doing admin for school records was a nightmare – no mistakes were allowed at all – one mistake and you had to begin again! It took me five times longer than my more accurate colleagues. I was one of the first on my staff to welcome a computerised system while many of the older teachers were resistant to the changes!
Yes – I love technology and it is a great tool for those who struggle to physically write. Screens are being used as a learning tool in school. I used them myself and found them a tremendous aid as they capture the attention of children and enable you to do so much more in the classroom. But handwriting is still important and we must still teach children to read and write.
The pencil will one day become obsolete as did stone tablets and quill pens. But it’s not time to throw the baby out with the bath water yet!
I enjoy taking photographs but I am really of the aim and shoot variety. Reasonable memory shots are usually the result of my efforts and I have an archive full of photographs from many years of recording just about anything since digital photography became a thing.
I received my first digital camera on my fiftieth birthday – twenty-one years ago. I guess it’s time my photography skills came of age! That little camera had a three times optical zoom and cost R7 000 if I remember correctly. At the time I owned a video camera which was my pride and joy but it was not digital. My camera did not have a video function so I still had to use both of them.
My next digital camera came a few years later and I paid R 6 000 for a 12x optical zoom camera – Wow – was I thrilled with that. I could not believe that a camera so superior to my previous one cost R1000 less. And it had a video function so the video camera went into a junk cupboard and stayed there for many years before giving it away for nothing!
But now to the point of the prompt – close-up. Well with my new digital camera, I discovered that close-ups were quite easy and great fun too. As technology improved I moved along with it by purchasing the newest in digital zoom cameras until at last I got one with a 65x optical zoom. My brand of choice was and still is Canon, and their PowerShot range is superb. Each time I bought a new camera the price was less than the time before until the latest one. Cameras now cost twice as much as what I paid before the one I have now – a Canon PowerShot SX70HS. I have to take great care of this one because it will cost too much to replace. My previous cameras have all been given to members of my family who coveted them!
Camera technology today is amazing. Who would have imagined twenty years ago that a phone would double as a camera? In fact, the cell phone is even more than that, and what a difference that has made to modern life!
Let me now close up this post with a few favourite close-up photographs. The Earl is in fact the best close-up photographer so I have also chosen from his folder too. He uses a Panasonic Lumex 60X with 60x optical zoom.
Giraffeclose-up by The EarlLion close-up by The EarlZebra close-up by me.
It is so easy to go through life taking things for granted. It seems that the more fortunate we are the less grateful we are for what we have. I have so often heard people say, “I got to where I am by myself through sheer hard work.” And although this might be true it wouldn’t hurt to show some gratitude for the opportunities that presented themselves or the people who helped make things happen along the way. I don’t believe we can take credit for everything we have achieved or obtained in our lives. Of course, it is important to be self-reliant but I have yet to meet a happy person who has not shown some gratitude to others for helping them along their way.
I also believe it is very important to express gratitude to people who provide services for us. Are we grateful to our employees? Do we thank the petrol jockey for filling up our vehicles and washing our windscreens? Yes, they get paid for it but does it hurt to just say thank you?
My greatest joy was when my grandson thanked me for the part I played in his life. I did not expect gratitude nor even thought about it but when he expressed it so eloquently in his own words it was better than receiving a diamond ring!
In my experience showing gratitude to a shop assistant, a cashier, grumpy passport control guy makes all the difference to the service you will receive. While waiting in a queue to check in at a game reserve rest camp, I have seen people with long faces become irritated that they have to wait to be processed. This causes stress to the poor receptionists too. How much better to greet the overworked soul with a “Good Afternoon, Boy am I glad to be here in this beautiful park at last. I’ve looked forward to this all year.” Immediately you will get a smile back and cheerful service as they process you. The trick is to think of the other person first. What kind of day is he/she having. Of course, they should leave their problems at home but we’re all human. Let’s be kind to each other, treat each other with tolerance and thank those who serve us with a smile and friendly word.
Adventuring into Retirement 