A rock story

31 March 2023 

Hi Singhy and Bagheera,

I see you are enjoying sitting on the veranda.

Singhy and Bagheera

In three weeks, we will cross the Pyrenees mountain from Saint Jean Pied du Port to Roncesvalles.  I see the pass is still closed due to snow. l hope the weather change before we get there. 

Can I ask you a favour, please? 

I feel left behind because Punda does not take me with them on their training walks.

Please remind him that he should be more considerate of my feelings. I would also love to experience what they find so uplifting while walking in the mountains at Jonkershoek nature reserve. Since they are carrying their backpacks to get used to the weight, there is no reason why I can not join them. My weight is such that it will make no difference anyway.

I must say, he does tell me about his experiences, but it is not like being there at the time. 

The other day Punda went hiking on his own, with strict instructions from Mpanzi about what routes he could follow. As far as I can gather, he mostly, with some unplanned and also unbeknown by Mpanzi detours, followed the agreed-on way.

Anyway,  let me tell you about the discussion we had about a rock that he brought back from Jonkershoek.  I asked him why on earth do you add a stone to your backpack. His answer was two-fold; firstly, it was after lunch. Thus, the coffee and sandwich were in his tummy, which made the pack lighter. Adding weight is better for training. 

Secondly, the stone caught his eye due to something interesting. 

Look at the photo of all the whitish rocks that were washed onto the road during a recent storm. What a storm it must have been to move all that gravel down the mountainside! 

Rocks washed into the road.

In the next photo, you will see me sitting beside the chosen rock while Punda talks about it. The stone was cracked, and the two pieces fit neatly. Do you see the dark inside colour?  Only the outer layer is whitish.

Punda said that stone was in a storm and got cracked due to all the rough and tumble coming down that mountain. 

That made him think about what comes out of a man when life gets rougher. Do you then look like the stone, a thin white layer on the outside with much darkness inside?  

My advice is to check yourself to keep the darkness from spilling out and worsening the situation. Before you say something, remember Nicky Gumbell's three gatekeepers for your words. He mentioned these in a daily devotional message: 

1 is it the truth

2 is it kind

3 is it necessary.

Let's try to keep those gatekeepers in place.

I must go now. 

Cheers

Msafiri

Meet Bagheera.

Hi Singhy,

Since our last adventure, Bagheera has become part of our family. Let me introduce this black cat with green eyes to our friends.

Bagheera in Mpansi's spinach bed,

He will be staying with you while we are away in Spain, walking the Camino Frances.

He is a real personality, inquisitive and playful. Always looking around to see what is happening.

He loves to chill out on his back when it is hot.

His tail is very crooked and short. When I asked him what had happened, he said he was born that way. It is a genetic thing in their type. 

It seems to me you two are good buddies. He belongs to Barika and Rafiki. They are travelling to Spain next month to watch the Moto GP race in Jerez. After the Moto GP, they join us on the Camino for one week of walking. I think you two will have a good time together while we are away,

When I met Bahgeera the other day, he rubbed his nose against mine in the same way he does when greeting you.

Noserub greeting each other.

You see, we are good friends.

Bagheera was not very impressed when I told him we are going away for forty days

"What, are you really going away for forty days?"

As I told you, he is full of fun. Just watch this video.

I am sure you and Bahgeera will have a great time while we are away.

Cheers until next time.
Msafiri

15 March 2023 The forty day thing.

15 March 2023 

 Hi Singhy,

What is this thing about forty days in our culture?

Many forty-day events come to mind.
Years ago, the forty days party to celebrate the end of their compulsory military conscription was a big event in many young men's lives.
It rained for forty days when Noah went into the ark to save his family from the flood. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights when he received the Ten Commandments. When Moses sent the spies to explore Canaan, they spend forty days exploring the land. Jesus went into the desert for forty days.

But that is all history. What about the future?

Wel, in forty days time, we depart on a forty-day adventure in Spain.

Why forty days?
Because Mpanzi's wish was for a forty-day hike as a celebration of forty years of marriage.
Just look at this forty year old photograph! Time has taken its toll, on both the photo and the people :-)

But there is a twist in this new adventure.

In 2019, Punda's brother-in-law, Sean, was organizing a trip to Spain. Part of this trip would be a hike on one of the Camino routes. He asked Punda to organize the hiking part of the trip.

At the beginning of October 2019, Punda made a suggestion, and Sean replied with this WhatsApp message:

"Thanks Kobus _ looks great and good info! Which route are we taking and which stages equaling what distance and number of days?"

Since life is not always as we would like it to be, the answer to that question never materialized.

Forty days later, Sean was in ICU, fighting for his life after an aneurysm.
The fight continued for forty days, and then it was the end.

What a sad time it was. With forty red roses we said goodbye.

Life goes on, and so must we.

Are we not urged to make good use of our time on this earth?

Therefore we wil strive to make the most of the next forty days and then for forty more. Walking, talking, eating tapas, drinking cafe conleche and cerveza and meeting fellow pilgrims from all over the world.

On this trip, Sean's wife, whom I call Dadatu, is joining us to walk the Camino Frances. I suppose it will be a celebration in more than one sense, with intense emotions to process at periods along the way.

A friend of ours love to say: "Failing to plan is planning to fail." A lot of planning went into organizing this forty-day camino. Here is the plan; the red dots are our reservations for the trip.

Reservations on the Camino Frances.

Now we must pack our bags and execute the plan.

Cheers
Msafiri