acacia blossoms

acacia blossoms

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sunday Times



It’s Sunday morning. Sunny and bright, with delicious cool air wafting around full of ozone to awaken the senses.  There was a huge herd of impala on the ‘lawn’ this morning. Youngsters skipping and scaring each other; adults munching happily on the assorted herbs that now grow in patches where the lawn used to be.  The golden sunlight shimmering off their glossy hides – honed by a summer feast of grazing and browsing in the reserve. The bare bones and staring eyes of winter long forgotten.

I love Sundays. There is a wonderful feeling of time being my own on a Sunday. It’s a fantasy I know but sometimes it actually works. Who knows maybe my internet connection will actually work today and I can post this note onto the Roof with the Monkeys.

Yesterday the wind was blowing all day. We are not used to wind here – it makes us edgy and want to travel (any excuse). We had visitors. They told us that there is a cyclone somewhere off the coast of Madagascar and that’s why it’s windy here.  

The lions have left us alone for too long now. I am missing them. I should leave some new cushions lying artfully around and hope to tempt them back for another pool party. So there are no new dramas of the leonine kind to report of late.  But we do have spiders. They are early this year, but suddenly there are golden orb spiders everywhere in the bush. There are also tiny web spinners all over the house.  We have grasshoppers too. The ground is exploding with them, ricocheting off the walls, and off your back as you walk.  They keep jumping in the pool and have to be rescued – repeatedly. Every year someone gets a chance to shine. So this is their turn.

For a while there we had stink bugs. Ugh. Tiny black beetles that come in to the light in the evenings. If you move them, or brush them by accident , they release a horrible acrid smell that lingers and clings for far too long. The skunks of the beetle world.  It’s a powerful trick for ones so small, and you DON’T want them to fall in your food.  I wonder if this scent could be bottled and sold as an appetite suppressant? It could work.

With the first sip of winter in the air though, the stink bugs are dwindling and losing enthusiasm for jinxing our mealtimes.

There is Man Flu in the house. I should draw a cross on the door.

and so on with sunday; sunlight and bird calls, and soft clean air. The mountains are purple blue in the distance, under downy pillows of plump white clouds; butterflies are flitting about in the waving grasses. It is peaceful, calm... for now.


ps sorry apparently adding images was too much to ask...maybe later





15 comments:

Angela said...

You painted your images, Val, I am right there with you, lingering around the pool, looking for grasshoppers and half-heartedly expecting lions, but NOT stink bugs. Wow, what a zoo of wild animals! You really always have something to surprise us with! What a Sunday. Lovely calm picture, thank you for this post, and may your peace continue. ommmm.

Janelle said...

ahhhhh soporiphic sunday picture you paint. am loving my sunday only because no school tommorrow! yay. love love love half terms! xxx j

Fire Byrd said...

Who needs pictures when I can see it all from your words alone. Especially the penultimate sentence, so evocative.
xx

Anonymous said...

Photos not missed, as your words do the job so well. Stinkbugs are yuk indeed. Don't miss them, but could do with a hot lazy Sunday in the bush.

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Hi Val, Like everyone has said, photos are hardly needed as you are a master painter with words. The vision of purple mountains and white clouds will stick with me for a while.

Perhaps your Sunday is nearing its end by now - hope it unfolded in the manner you were hoping for, and that you were able to steer clear of the stink bugs!

Wanda..... said...

Your post makes me long for the awakening of spring and then summer here, with it's merry-go-round of visitors. Your words woke my sense of sight and smell this morning, making me anxious to see what my day may bring. No need for photos...I saw everything in my mind.
Thanks for starting my Sunday so beautifully!

Val said...

oh my last comment disappeared...

geli - ya come and escape the snow here in grasshopper land

janelle - oh i remember that feeling well even tho it was long long ago!

fire byrd - thanks

Rob - stink bugs - who needs 'em??

Bonnie - yup more than half way thru the day now, but still sunny with long shadows

Wanda - i am thinking of all my bloggy pals who are snowed in right now. spring must be on its way, as i can taste a hint of winter in the air here already

thanks for all your lovely kind comments - and happy sundays to you all xxxV

Kristin said...

Beautiful, as always. You really have a way with words and I can almost picture your world.

What is it about the wind that sets nerves on edge and makes one want to wander?

Vagabonde said...

My favorite books do not have pictures. To read your description of some areas of your life is like reading a book from far away, pictures are nice but not necessary to bring your outdoor to our indoor. Last week I took my husband to Florida for his birthday mostly because there was what they called a “Lion Country” park there. We went but the lions were not as free as in their pictures; many other animals were free to come to the cars so I guess the lions could not be or they might have attacked some of the younger gazelles, or drivers! I’ll have a post on it next week. But it was your post on lions which made me chose Palm Beach, Florida. We enjoyed it though.

Anonymous said...

I can see it all sans pics. I also feel like travelling!!

Stink bug appetite suppressants, hhhhhhhmmm could be an option, given all these diet pills that are being pulled from the chemist shelves. Would be more challenging than bees you think??

Man Flu OMG you poor thing!!

have a fab week
xxx

Lori ann said...

it seems that nobody was bothered about those SPIDERS.

AGGGGGG!!!!!!

little ones to big ones hopping on your backs even? oh my god, i would rather eat stink bugs for breakfast lunch and dinner than see one more golden orb.

but the rest of your sunday sounded perfectly lovely val, i'm so glad your internet is back on and i hope keith feels better soon!

xoxoxo

Miranda said...

back Man Flu BACK!

Anne said...

I so love this blog. I look foward to your post to see your world. You didn't need pictures to go along with this post, I imagined it all in my mind as I read.
Have a wonderful day.

Lauri said...

I'm a Sunday lover too. Very nice.

Barbara said...

Weekends are really much too short, aren't they? And Sundays are a mixed blessing. Truly time to relax, but with the knowlege that Monday is, gulp, tomorrow! I love hearing about the wildlife in your world. Can't wait to see pictures when your internet cooperates. But for now, thanks for the glimpse.