Of this and that with no rhyme, reason or pictures.

 

Formatting a novel in preparation for an edit has kept me out of mischief  for the past couple of days and late into the nights.  In fact, I slept through the arrival of some 30 mongooses on the front lawn this morning, and nobody got any pictures.  It was told to me by the family that one got really cheeky, and advanced on a fluffed-out MacGregor, who was not at all impressed with the intrusion.   He and the monkeys have an understanding, but this was something new!

The cheeky one suddenly noted that no reinforcements were coming up behind him and that Mac was significantly larger than he was, so he remembered a sudden appointment back in the forest and he and his very extended family scooted.

When I did get up, however, I yielded to some very loud pleas from the Pooch Pack and headed down the path to the beach accompanied by various-sized blobs uttering high-pitched yells of joy.  A slightly hazy sun gave enough warmth for my baggies to be enough clothing, and no breath of wind stirred until later.  The high seas recently have left only a scattering of finely-chopped shingle, but by dint of sheer perseverance I came across two nice cowries. 

I also found a bewildered octopus who had chosen to swim at the wrong moment and had got himself flung up on the beach by a wave and left high and dry.   He was making good progress across the sand – but in the wrong direction.  I scooped him up and he clung lovingly with all suckers while I transported him to a rock pool.  There, it took him a matter of seconds to swim to the side and merge with the rock there to become invisible – their camouflage is simply amazing.  He seemed to know I was no danger, and didn’t try and ink me.

I was rewarded for my kindness by being attacked by a sharp stick on the way back – my knuckles were lacerated.  Why is it that I generally return from the beach bleeding? 

I heard the unmistakable calls of ‘Spreeus’ this afternoon – Red-winged starlings.  They remind me so much of Knysna Heads, where they were a bit of a pest, but it is only lately that they have been in evidence here.  I wonder if they will replace the Mynahs?

Sad news from a friend – her niece was travelling back from Durban towards Harding where she was to be met by her husband, driven by a colleague on a winding stretch of road, when the driver swerved to miss an animal and went head-on into a heavy vehicle.  Both girls killed outright.  The niece has kids of 6 and 4.   

Our roads are becoming increasingly more of a menace. 

© Colonialist August 2013 (WordPress)