The Quiet Saturday

Hello friends

For most people Saturday is a busy happy day. It is a day in the weekend when meetings, family get- together and organizing games and recreations take place and not to mention the Saturday night parties and  good time for the socialites.

In my working era I most welcome the Saturdays. A day that I could be away from the madhouse. The weekend was therefore a relief giving me a chance to focus on my home and family. Being low salaried I could not have go-travel-holiday Saturdays like those rich people. Apart from clearing the backlog of the household chores most of my time would be spent playing with my two children.

Once upon a time . . .

Now I need not worry, the pressure of work is already a thing of the past. Though I have all days to myself I still wait for Saturdays to come.

If I plan to visit my already grown up children, that will be on a Saturday. If I my children were to visit me I know they will arrive here on the 6th day of the week.

Then there is the wedding invitations . . .  ah again, on  Saturdays.

Our tennis monthly tournament is on the first Saturday of each month.

And the coming up fun run they are organizing also falls on a Saturday night.

Also on  Saturday too friends come to visit.

Once a Saturday . . .

This week our weekend start early. The children came home on Friday an extra work free day due to the Awal Muharram which is a public holiday. The hive of activities started on Friday night and I planned to take one of the girls for a swim on Saturday morning, i.e this morning as she demanded requested it.

But today, Saturday, the morning was gloomy with intermittent rain. It is difficult to make decision to go or not to go while here was a girl so eager to show me the proof that the swimming attire that I bought for her was well worth it, that she is real and serious about swimming.

While she was in the mood I better not disappoint her. We swam cautiously under the gloomy sky and light rain. But soon there was a sound of thunder in the distance. We had to stop. Anyway she was able to prove to me with  that few short laps.

(On the way home I kept thinking about my early girlhood days. I used to follow my mother and sometimes my grandma to pick kangkung di sawah bendang )

The lovable gerombolan  left after lunch. They have to go back early because of an invitation to a Saturday night function.

 Its quiet now. A quiet Saturday afternoon.

Unusually quiet oriole - no calls

Contacted a friend for tennis. Its Saturday, the weekend children are back, sorry . . .

The tennis court is quiet today, no one is playing there. There is an away friendly game, a return game in the city. Every one wants the opportunity to play in some posh club. Others may have their own arrangements.

It is such a happening day, you know. What else can there be.

What a slowish internet I am having now . . . arrrggghhh . . .


Stay cool . . .

Bye . . .

Take Turns.

Cradled in nature's hand

Morning Walk

Hi again

In a day or two I got to pack. Am going home.

I don't really have to do much packing. I am going to leave most of my clothing here. The next time when I have to come I would just bring myself . . . and only those gadgets which I can't do without for my hobby activities. And of course some cooked food that can last me for few days.

I also must do some washing and cleaning and clearing up before leaving. The beds, the seats and sofa have got to be draped over with cloth to prevent dust from settling on them. Dust will settle all over the place You will notice that when you enter the house again weeks or months later. Powdery black soot would stick to the soles of your feet as you walk in. That is how polluted the air has become.

But before doing all that cleaning I want to go for a morning walk where I can revisit the lake birds first.

Hmmm  . . .  overcast sky again this morning . . .  it was still alright to go out for a walk around the neighborhood and the nearby housing area which is next to the lake where the birds live. The day would clear up later. I was optimistic.

I like the houses there. Big and spacious. Built for the rich.  I don't have a million to own one. So I just admire them.

Some houses face the lake. Trees with sweet smelling flowers line both sides of the path which separate the houses from the lake front. Shady and cool.

The view from the house must be awesome. Serene and calm with birds and trees mirrored in the water.

It is a beautiful setting except may be for some who are superstitious as the creature below can be a spoiler.

Very quiet morning indeed. Very few people walk this path.

 Are they not appreciative of the nature here? May be they have better things to do. Perhaps when they grow older and have to race against time do they realize and yearn  for serenity such as this.

White lotus

Weeping willows with drooping leaves. Are they sad . . .?

As mentioned earlier my coming to this place was to revisit the birds. Yes there were birds but their number has dwindled I think. Just one or two here and there. You know they were much less because there were not much sound coming from the trees and undergrowth on the small island.

Why . . .

I think there is not much food they can find there. The water has become dirty and polluted and there would be less fish breeding there. So the birds must have gone to settle some where else - exactly like we humans attracted to greener pastures . . .

A bird here

And a bird there

A few here lamenting over their fate

I hope the the authorities will pay more attention to this place. It should be maintained and preserved and reverse it to its pristine condition.

I finished my morning walk as the day remained gloomy.


Cheers!

Be In Control

Hi everyone.

So here I am spending a week away from home though I can also call this place right where I am now, a home too.

I came here last weekend and after seeing to some family commitments I decided to stay on hoping to break away from the everyday routine. But then what difference can there be because living means you got to do the same things to maintain life, eat sleep eat.

Of course if you are staying alone you are free to do things and not be dictated by obligations to others such as that for lunch together you have to have rice and curry or masak lemak. In this situation now I can have cakes for lunch why not or just a boiled egg for dinner. For breakfast I can just steam a few florets of broccoli.

That makes everything fast and easy. No fuss what so ever.

Then I am free to spend time as much as I like on blogging  but the irony is that the more time I have the more empty the head is. Its been three days now but I have not composed a single entry. Hope to finish this one fast.

Well staying in the house spending time watching tv drama ( I never do that back at home) is so much sedentary and a waste of precious time.

To go and hike at the parks and hill nearby this area I think I am too old for that.

That left me with walking and dancing exercise. It can be boring if you are not in the mood. And I am away from tennis court too for this whole week.

I thought of going to the swimming pool which is some kilo meters away from where I am staying. I need to drive there myself but this place is quite unfamiliar to me. No I don't have waze or if there's any road pointing apps and devices I don't know how to use them. I am old  and old fashioned and not up to date with the technology.

But going there I must. I want to swim in that big pool so that I can burn off some of the fats from food that I have indulged in these few days. At times you cannot keep up to your diet program when you happen to pass by certain food outlet selling the familiar finger licking good fried chicken. The temptation is too great. After refraining for so long the chicken tasted really good. Alas it is loaded with so much calories.

Excuse me. . . I am preparing to go now , when I come back I will tell you whether or not I can find my way there. If I find my way there can I find my way back hahaha. Bye for a while.

-----------------

Hahaha I am back. I managed to reach there quite easily but I have to grope for my way back. It has been  a long time that I didn't drive in big towns or cities so I feel intimidated by the heavy traffic and feel lost in the labyrinth of the city routes.  Am I such a country bumpkin . . .

I get jittery when driving on unfamiliar route. Usually I will look up the route map first but still I tend to swerve the wrong way at the Y and the fork junctions. And when the wrong lane is taken there is no simple way like a u-turn.You got to go down and under and sometimes through tunnel to be on the correct route again. If you have an important appointment it can give you cold sweats.

When you become a grandma  people think you are incapable of driving around yourself though they are still confident with your cooking. I like to be self reliant like driving myself where ever I want to go.

And of course I love driving on the highway . . . it makes you feel young . . . hmm.

Now most of the time I only become the passenger or the navigator in the sense that I got to squeeze my eyes to read the road signs when required or sometimes got to help point the smart tag at toll plazas.

Or else I sit dumb and enjoy the beautiful scenery if the weather is fine. If its raining don't be worried just try to shut off.

I need to drive more often not only on the road of my rural home town but in big towns and cities and on highways so that I can get back my confidence in driving.

My week-long stay here would give me the opportunity to drive around in the city. Why would I be wary of losing my way. Just drive ahead. Just take any turn, climb confidently at the ramp. Just don't drive backwards . . .

Get back that confidence. Be self reliant. Don't let myself be categorized  . . . "Ah women drivers . . ."


Be in control, drive your own life.


Bye . . .

Of Old Trees And Dead Wood

Hello everyone

Please no I am not talking bad about people, I mean if you look at the title you might think I am on to belittle some people. But it is real that some people are being called dead wood for a reason.

I remember in my old working days very senior non performing unproductive staffs were quietly called dead wood by unhappy and annoyed co workers.

Those sly few were highly paid but they seemed not to contribute proportionately. They were only counting their days to retirement. At critical time they were not of much help. They remained cool and aloof even if the sky were to fall. They just stood there like a dead wood and looked on with no heart to help . They cunningly escaped doing difficult task by pushing it to more junior staffs. They were burdensome to colleagues and management.

Hope I was not included in that category hehe.

As I said those kind were few. In fact some  senior staffs were like old/matured trees giving shade to whoever happened to be under them. Some were so good and guiding that they seemed like having mentor mentee relationship, this helped a lot when the newly appointed was not quite independent yet. Managing and working together with such colleagues you don't feel so much the heat of the high - pressure working condition.

Anyway those were the days. Its just that sometimes when you are alone you tend to have flashbacks. Or sometimes when you see certain objects like dead wood it spurs you to think about its other meaning. Wandering mind can make you look at things far and beyond.

Are dead wood useful?

In the old days dead wood were used as firewood, as if you don't know.

Dead wood if they are not rotten can be crafted into artwork or mementos. On my many walks along the beach I find many dead wood drifted to the shore. They are of different forms and shapes and I think  it can be turned into interesting craft pieces. Alas I am not good at craft work. Otherwise I could set up a stall selling souvenir to you.

Some trees although already dead still stand tall. Birds like such bare trees especially in the morning after the night rain when they want exposure to the sun. This is good for you the bird watcher . No foliage to block your view.

Birds like bare dead tree

Old trees soon becomes dead wood.

Skin Bark - rough n wrinkled

Trees, they can live for so many years. Those who planted them have long gone. It is common to hear people say you plant the tree but other people will eat the fruits.

Amazed by their gigantic size, the strong roots,the massive trunks and the huge canopy we want to let the trees be there to cool us to protect us from the heat and not forgetting the oxygen they supply. And you wonder why would anyone want to fell it, the big tree.

Old big tree gives shade

Some trees look ok from the outside but see the stump below. Dangerous if not cut down in time.

The tree that gave shade to our tennis court was felled recently

The rot inside

This tree which was chopped down was our favorite. Because it was there we could start our game early. It protected us from the strong evening sun. It reduced the glare so that we could play in comfort. We love the trees around the tennis courts. We did not realize the danger posed by that big old tree. Are they going to replant?

No worries there are so many other trees around. We still have shade such as from another big tree like this where birds like to perch.

Shadow play . . .

Old trees and dead wood, meant literally, are there in nature for a purpose.


Till next entry, bye . . .

The Long Weekend

Scratch . . . scratch . . .

Now I sit here and intend to type

But I do not have anything to write

For in my mind there is naught

A worthy thought

A promise has been made

The need to update

Every three days or so sounds quite great

But now its not moving and in a stalemate

When time does not permit

I have to admit

Inspirations come to submit

Ideas flow in to visit

Lots of it

But as I sit

They escape, they exit

I little comprehend

The mystery of the mind

I don't understand

Why brain and hand don't sync in time

Are they numbed
Bedazzled by the long weekend?