Month: April 2020

At a traffic light near Saqqara in Egypt, a boy approached our van with a pyramid of tangerines for sale.  Egyptian tangerines are the world’s best, very cheap, and the boy sure could use a sale. We waved him off – the year was 1997 and we have regretted it ever since.  There have been many times since then when we wish we could just go back and get it right this time.

We both were raised to be thrifty.  We had broadcast television until 2018.  Back in the 1980’s, we had a party-line telephone – in New York!  So, acting spontaneously to take advantage of opportunities required a major brain rewiring.  We have had to overcome our instincts and learn to get to yes faster, and avoid “non-buyer’s remorse.”

In our recent travels and in our life here in the US, we’re trying to be more intentional about the choices we make.  One of our “must do” activities on our South Africa trips is to visit a craft market in Khayelitsha, the second-largest township in the nation.  It’s in a very, very tough neighborhood. We buy some Christmas presents there – but it’s not only because we want to give hand-crafted products (which vary from the sublime to the… umm… sincere!).  It’s also because we know these crafters need the business, and we’re trying to get it right.  For them, this is tonight’s food on the table. It’s the same reason we visit some of the other markets in and around the Western Cape – you can pretty much tell who needs business. 

For a variety of reasons – thrift, health, timeliness – we cook and eat at home a lot.  But as we write this, we’re intentionally eating out more often.  Or, more correctly, we are doing carry out more often to support our local small restauranteurs who are struggling during the Covid-19 shut down. 

It’s not easy to “unlearn” good habits in support of a greater good. There are always glitches, but we realize that life is too short to have regrets over not acting on an opportunity to help. 

And life’s “undo” button doesn’t work.

Authors: Jeanne and Randy spend some of their time in South Africa helping the Anglican and Methodist churches with their work on ECD centers, youth programs, and other priority projects for church staff.

We have a bookmark that says “Eat a bullfrog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” For the past 24 years we have been getting up early to do our daily run – our metaphorical bullfrog.

When we were working, this meant the alarm went off at 5 AM, and for a large part of the year, our running companions were the stars. The first part of our run was to the north, and the Big Dipper was a constant – sometimes looking like a dipper, but sometimes looking like a giant question mark in the sky (“Are you guys crazy being out here so early?”). Starting in the fall, the Orion constellation appeared, and for our south-bound return home, he often hovered right over our house.

 Even at 5 AM, we were rarely alone. There would be an occasional dog walker, but deer and fox were more frequent workout partners. The night-time insects would be our workout music, and during daylight saving time in the spring, the birds would start warming up with us. We knew fall was coming when we were up before the birds – and winter was here when we finished our run before the birds started.

Across those 24 years, we payed attention to details while running – the hum of the heat pumps; the streetlights that created pools of illumination, casting long thin shadows as you passed; neighbors with lots of outdoor lighting and neighbors with none. We learned who put out their holiday decorations early, who decorated for Halloween, and Easter. After a particularly bad summer storm, we learned who had whole-house generators or portable generators, and who were stuck with candles and flashlights.

On our trips to South Africa, we bring our running gear, only we indulge ourselves by sleeping in (till 6:15 AM.) Because it’s summer (January through March), the sky is light – and the star we get to watch is our sun, coming up over the Hottentott Mountains. There are more dog walkers out, including Julius Caesar, the dashing dachshund, and his companion human. And instead of deer and fox, we see guinea fowl – really great looking birds – who seem used to having people around.

We still pay attention to details – the folks who walk up the hill to their jobs, the smell of toast and coffee from the café, the man setting up his mini-market tent in the parking lot, the whirring sound of the exercise bikes coming through the open door at the local Curves (yes, even in South Africa!).

So, even during bullfrog time far away form home, you can be aware of your world and the simple wonders in it. And Orion is there with us, but at night, not in the morning . . . and he is upside down!

Authors: Jeanne and Randy spend some of their time in South Africa helping the Anglican and Methodist churches with their work on ECD centers, youth programs, and other priority projects for church staff.