acacia blossoms

acacia blossoms

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

through the blogosphere portal

In the top right hand corner of Botswana - if north is top - where
four countries meet three blogging pals finally met in real life.
Karen from Border Town Notes; Lori Ann from LoriTimesFive and me -
together with our respective and somewhat sceptical bemused spouses,
and Lori's sister Lindy.

Lori, Chuck and Lindy arrived in Chobe from California via South
Africa and Zimbabwe. Karen was freshly back from a UK trip, and I
stepped off the Zambezi Ferry in time for us all to connect - and
there we were. Face to face, greeting and hugging. It was as if the
mists had cleared allowing us all to step through our portals in
cyberspace and touch ground in the same place same time.

The mission was to visit the Kazungula Day Care center (more about
this on Karen's Border Town Notes) and deliver Lori's lovingly hand
crafted beanies to the children, together with a bag of donated goods
for the school brought as hand luggage half way around the world.

We were given a tour of the center including kitchens and menus,
bathroom with row of toothbrushes in plastic cups, and school books. A
small hand touched my arm as the kids ran by to take up their seats.
Here and there a hand to hold, tightly, a vigorous high five, smiles
and shy laughter - then the singing. Songs about numbers and colours
and days of the week - followed by 'this is my favourite day' and
'this little light of mine' led by the glorious Emeldah - head
teacher.Winter is setting in in this part of the world and the snug
woollen hats are arriving at the right time. A big thank you for
these Lori on behalf of the children!

and yes in case you are wondering as i did - Lori does seem to glow
with a golden light just as she appears in her blog! Karen of course
has angel DNA - Ive known about this for some time.

Later that evening, after dinner and starlight elephant viewing from
the fireside, we finally allowed our jetlagged cyber pals to call it a
day. Oh with one quick call to Angela from Letters from Usedom to
complete the circle. and yes Geli we are all VERY REAL!!

If my IT connection permits i shall upload some photos - but i loved
our connection on planet earth at Elephant Valley; and just hoping
this is the first of many meet ups as the blogosphere takes on a new
and more wonderful dimension. Blog on everyone xxx

'

14 comments:

Angela said...

Val, you have me crying here! Oh God, how beautiful is that? And if Lori has a halo and Karen has angel DNA,then you surely have wings! I was there with you, via the phone and my imagination, and I loved to be among you. I even saw the elephants! But not only me, but all those hundreds of friends we meanwhile are, we were all assembled at your fireplace. Thank you for doing this for all of us - meeting up in person and touching and reassuring us (me) you are for real! And, chuckle, did your spouses have a nice evening, too, with all the ladies chatting? Love to you, Vallie!

Anonymous said...

Angela, I agree. Val definitely has angel wings!!

Val a lovely post - thanks x

Reya Mellicker said...

OH!! This is so exciting!

I just KNEW Lori would glow with a golden light. How cool.

And isn't it something to meet blog friends in "real" life. The conversation is so easy, it's ongoing.

Oh I love thinking of you all there together.

Bravo!!

Reya Mellicker said...

And hugs and kisses to Karen and Lori!

karen said...

thank you Val, what a lovely thing to say. I will polish up my slightly tarnished halo, and try to live up to this! You are lovely and celestial yourself, never fear... xx

Fire Byrd said...

What a wonderful meeting to have , How very exciting for you all to actually hug each other to prove reality.
It sounds a very special time for all three of you, and of course not forgetting Geli.
xx

Val said...

greetings cyber pals :-) ah yes it was a special day, and we certainly felt your presences in the air around us..
Geli - that would be so cool to really have wings...imagine.. thank you Janet x and Reya - its a sort of white gold x
karen - no polishing required :-)
Fire byrd - of course you are no stranger to blogging pals in the flesh as it were, now i get it!
have a fab weekend and hugs to Nicky et al
xxxxxV

Lauri said...

Val this meeting sounds so wonderful. Very happy for all of you.

Eleonora Baldwin said...

Yes yes yes, may this be the first of many REAL LIFE meetings connecting bloggers from all over the world. This post was lovely, and hopefully the inspiration to do good, with love.

Ciao and thank you

Tessa said...

How absolutely magical! How I wish I could have been there, but you brought it all to life for us, Val. You and Karen of the angel DNAs and the golden Lori - together! And the instant circular 'connection' despite the distances between you all before this meeting - but, hey, that happens with old friends. Yes, it's truly wonderful - thank you for allowing us to share.

Val said...

Lauri - thanks for the visit! yup it was fun to meet..where were you?

Lola - absolutely keep the good energy flowing..ciao to you alsox

Tessa- I wish all my bloggy pals could have been there - but increasigly i find i am thinking of everyone more and more as i go about my strange days- blogging is the coolest thing

love love xx

Kristin said...

What a wonderful visit! I can almost picture all of you there and that makes me happy.

Lori ann said...

Val, can i say thank you enough for being there? for going to all the effort, you and Keith too? I love you for that. Yes, we'll have to meet again, it simply was not enough time.
love.

Mark Benson said...

Africa truly is a wonderful place to visit for safaris and beautiful sceneries. Last time the flights to Zimbabwe I took were very enjoyable and worth the money I spent once I visited the charming Victoria Falls. A true paradise on earth.