Cheetah

If a person should look at his life, one could look at it as an unedited movie, some of it being out of focus and lost, some mundane clips and then vivid clips, complete with stored emotions, tastes, smells and sounds, stored in a special "untraceable" section of the brain. These include moments from death, new life, laughter, sadness, loudness and complete silence.

One such a moment, saved in that place, was the sighting of the cheetah and spending time in their general company. The place is an unassuming small reserve, in the Free State Province, called Soetdoring Nature Reserve, a favorite hangout for a few years. Soetdoring refer to the ,Acacia karroo, sweet thorn trees found along the river that flows through the reserve.

The reserve, being small, has 2 camps, where in one they have lions and the other cheetah. You drive in through a double gate system and then follow various gravel roads looking for the animals. I questioned if they actually had any cheetah, because after 3 visits they remained invisible non existing "entities" to my mind.

Driving in, talking about other things and not expecting much, looking for birdies, suddenly, "There!", and in an instant the vehicle's engine was dead, but still moving slowly forward under what momentum it still had. Dead silence. Then, as if nature turned up the volume, chattering of birds all around us, the soft earthy smell of a mixture of "herbs and soil", replaced by a puff of a dead carcass.

The cheetah was sitting proudly upright, seemingly ignoring the intrusion, although it must have known about us long before we actually arrived at the spot.

[caption id="attachment_184" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Proudly over carcass.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_185" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Looking around.[/caption]

We watched in silence as he looked up and down, never in our direction, then a soft word, "beautiful", breaking through the chattering. Suddenly it got up and walked towards a hill, taking one of the gravel road tracks. We followed, and as the diesel sprung into life again, it seemed to make less noise as well, not nearly drowning out all the outside "music" as before.

[caption id="attachment_186" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Walking up the road.[/caption]

Slowly, determined and graceful, the cheetah walked up the road with his human observers in toe at a fair distance.

[caption id="attachment_187" align="aligncenter" width="474"] At the top of the hill.[/caption]

As we arrived at the top of the hill he veered off to the right and fairly shortly after that, as if a mirrored ghost, another one appeared from seemingly nowhere. They briefly touched, our cheetah turned around and the two came back towards us.

[caption id="attachment_188" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Meeting[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_189" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Walking back towards us.[/caption]

Then they found a nice spot fairly close, and lay down in what again seemed like a mirrored movement. Again the now in vehicle silence was broken with "stunning" and nature took over again. This time we were the ones being watched and in that moment I realized how they blended in and it was no wonder we never saw them before.

[caption id="attachment_190" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Resting in the shade.[/caption]

After a while and with a "sigh" natures music was broken again as I fired up the diesel and taking a last look at the two, drove off. This event has and will forever stay with me as a special moment, a vivid high-definition clip, but better than any technology version, as it combines with smell, sounds and other emotions. It also makes me wonder if we really think enough about how important nature in all its forms are for our own mental condition.

Driving away with a feeling of accomplishment, excitement and wonder, I realized that for the shortest of moments I was totally at peace, it was like taking deep oxygenated mental breath.

A Few shells and beach sand

A short post, but worth so much to us. An artistic friend of ours made the Cross for our house.

It represents a collection of shells, beach sand on a thin piece of wood, originating from our coast. In the hands of someone like this it becomes a wonderful picture and gift of pure love.

Great Weather Today

Weather tend to rotate between wet, windy and cold in the winter. Today was an exception, milder and windless. Good for a walk. First the morning (5.15am) ritual of deciding what toys to play with - a difficult task.



At about 9.30 am we took our walk. On the way we met a neighbor who had the same ideas, and boeta and the girl had an impromptu play date.

[caption id="attachment_162" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Similar in age (10 and 11 months), some baby fun.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_163" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Watching the dog together, boeta shoeless already.[/caption]

A little later we were off again. He has had very little interaction with the beach, first too young and then weather or time issues. We do walk early morning 7 am, but not a good time to play.

Today, however, we walked determined to do one thing, get dirty or sandy.

[caption id="attachment_164" align="aligncenter" width="474"] There you go, now have fun![/caption]

I put him down and stood back! Time to have fun and explore, son!

[caption id="attachment_165" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Off he went.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_166" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Climbing down the "mountain"[/caption]

He did some exploring on the higher level, and then decided to get lower to the water level.

[caption id="attachment_167" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Bigger rocks here to test.[/caption]

Then he saw a fish in the rock pool and decided to investigate this.

[caption id="attachment_169" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Fish in the pool.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_170" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Slapping water is fun!![/caption]

He realized this is water, like his bath and what do we do, we slap it, fun, lots of fun! Boeta had so much fun that by the time dad decided "the kid" is getting too wet, it was not a happy chappy anymore! "We will be back son", I said, and with that I walked home, fairly briskly, to change what was a sandy, wet boy and although a little sad at the time, he slept like, well like a baby after lunch. If you wondered, I also felt good and full of plans for the rest of the day!

Aloe striata

Aloe striata is one of the favorite aloes for many succulent plant lovers and gardeners. It is a beautiful aloe and has the added benefit of no teeth on the margins.

I have 2 in the garden and with their fairly impressive inflorescence with reddish flowers, late winter, they present some color too.

If you are lucky you can see them in nature in full flower. They grow in Eastern and Western Cape regions of South Africa.

[caption id="attachment_155" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Aloe striata[/caption]

Above picture was taken just outside Addo (town), on the way to the Addo Elephant National Park, where they are used as borders for the roads inside the camps.

[caption id="attachment_157" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Aloe striata[/caption]

It is a stunning aloe and drought tolerant. Last time I watered my garden was in 2012! Take a look at them, if you live in moderate climates or can protect them a little in winter in snowy areas.

Reference:

Aloes : The definitive guide. Carter, S; Lavranos, J.J.; Newton, L.E.; Walker, C.C. Kew publishing, 2011

Monday!

[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignright" width="474"] Ready for a mothers love![/caption]

Mom arrived back from a week's trip!

All the boys were happy to see mom again. The big boy thought: "Tomorrow, I will do a few things."

Monday.

Quote from Eminem: "The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed."

I woke at 3 am. Wide awake, like I am the one suffering from jet-lag. Not to worry, I will reorganize boeta's playing area, something I do regularly! Had a few coffees, got that done, took me to about 5 am.

I will be good to go, when mom goes off to work at 6.45 am and after finishing with feeding and cleaning the little rascal, we can be off too. Stuff I need to buy. Pulled out the car for mom, walked around it, a nice wet stream of petrol followed me out. DAY BUSTED, energy gone!

So, today, we will work with a Cary Grant quote: "My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can."

Orange River White-eye (Zosterops pallidus)

[caption id="attachment_140" align="alignnone" width="531"] Orange River White-eye (Zosterops pallidus)[/caption]

White-eye's are fairly common in South Africa, mainly the Cape White-eye (Zosterops virens), which looks precisely the same as this one, except for the peach-coloured flanks. The occur in the dry Northern Cape and part of Free State, as well as Namibia.

The little bird (12cm or 4.7 inches) is very active and for a novice with a point and shoot, very difficult to capture. It is also described as little warblers with white eye-rings.

[caption id="attachment_139" align="aligncenter" width="485"] Orange River White-eye (Zosterops pallidus)[/caption]

They occur mainly around rivers, thickets, town gardens and parks. Find them usually in small groups, up and down in trees hunting for little insects or nectar through a punched hole on the base of the flower.

In gardens, they tend to arrive for an early or afternoon baths, as was the case when I took these pictures.

[caption id="attachment_141" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Orange River White-eye (Zosterops pallidus)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_142" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Orange River White-eye (Zosterops pallidus)[/caption]

Black-Backed Jackal or Silver-Backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)

[caption id="attachment_128" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Black-Backed Jackal or Silver-Backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)[/caption]

On a trip to the Addo Elephant National Park (link for more info) we saw the Black-Backed Jackal or Silver-Backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas), moving fairly quickly, using its smelling sense, which can pick up carcasses smell from at least 1 km away, downwind.

They mainly operate in dusk or dawn, this being taken early morning. They occur in southern African, nearly throughout South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia, as well as eastern Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia, where they are known as Silver-Backed Jackals.

[caption id="attachment_129" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Black-Backed Jackal or Silver-Backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)[/caption]

They are omnivorous, meaning they eat rodents, small mammals, as well as young of larger animals, reptiles, fruit and insects. They have litters of up to 8, with 1-2 surviving to 14 weeks. Leopards and Brown Hyena do take them.

They are unfortunately also a rabies vector. As it is a fairly widespread animal, although persecuted for killing livestock, they are not considered threatened, and listed as least concern.

[caption id="attachment_130" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Black-Backed Jackal or Silver-Backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)[/caption]

It was nice to see it, and although it must have known we were close, it went about its activities, ignoring us. It is a beautiful nimble animal.

References

• Smithers Mammals of Southern Africa: A field guide (edited by Peter Apps), Struik Publishers, 2000


• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-backed_jackal

When Mom is away!

I was thinking today, what is a typical family in this day and age? In my day it would have been dad working and mom staying at home looking after the kids and house. I am fairly certain this is now more a dream to many people and the reality is something totally different.

In our household, this is certainly not the case, in fact it is a total flip of the coin. Mom is the professional, working long hours and traveling extensively, while dad looks after house and kid. Not an easy adjustment initially for all, but once we decided that is how it will have to be, we accepted the fact, and moved on with our life. There is no value in living in the past.

So what do we do when mom's away?

I guess the short boring answer is: "We keep going as normal, to make the adjustment as uneventful as possible."

This is the aim and for now, not a lot of things the boys can do to rock the boat, yet! A 11 month baby does not really have the mobility to be able to do anything really mischievous with dad. We can have really messy fun though ....

and then we added a few new interesting toys...

and I guess we did not bother too much about when to bath, eat, sleep and all the rest of the boring stuff.

Technology

Another huge difference to my day, is technology and how it has made the world seem not that big anymore. Usually when mom is away, Monday, or rather Sunday night, become a little bit of an issue with Boeta waking at least once and sleeping less peaceful, even during the day. This changes by Tuesday and everything settles down into routine again.

We do however have the technology advantages today with products like Skype, to talk and see one another. This is great for mom, dad and little one. Even at 11 months he recognizes her and she gets lots of screen kisses, he also shows and plays all around the screen (notepad), which I take to the ground level and he has the choice to come and see or play. My wife took these screen pics in Asia and sent it to me.

In the process we spend nearly 40 minutes playing as a family. As you can see he did enjoy the interaction as well.

It is not easy being alone with a baby, especially as a man, not easy being away, especially as a mom, but it can be done and we try to make it as easy as possible on Boeta, use it as a learning experience and we focus on when we will be together again, rather than the time apart.

Perfect Little Hands

[caption id="attachment_80" align="alignnone" width="474"] Boeta, 2 weeks old[/caption]

I find the development of Boeta a wonderful experience to watch and be part of. Initially those little hands remain clenched in little fists. As many photographs depict they do have a nice grip if you put your finger in there, a type of reflex, but they are not able to actively reach and grip - this is part of future discovery!

At around 8 weeks or so those hands begin to open and initially Boeta looked like a boxer in exercise, batting at the dangling playthings. A few weeks later I was lucky enough to be making a video, when he grasped the same playthings for the first time, slowly closing the hand around the toy and yes pulling it straight to the mouth, another big moment in Boeta's life and those little hands.

[caption id="attachment_91" align="alignnone" width="222"] Boeta nearly 3 months.[/caption]

From there it was shaking of things and then he transferred toys from hand to hand. Tummy time also became more interesting as he started exploring his immediate surroundings and the materials he was placed on, with the fingers, picking up and testing with the mouth. This puts a whole new strain on Mom and Dad, making sure nothing harmful is in range. By this time hair pulling or grabbing is fun, less so for dad, but funny non-the-less.

[caption id="attachment_88" align="alignnone" width="468"] Boeta's tummy time on deck.[/caption]

The "pincer grasp", picks small things up with thumb and forefinger, seems to start from around 7-8 months and from there on he works on perfecting this over the next months. He also got stronger and lifted himself up on the still closed hands.

[caption id="attachment_87" align="alignnone" width="470"] Boeta working hard and started pulling faces too![/caption]

By around 8 months he was on all four's and starting to prepare for crawling, but only one hand seemed to be open and we played slapping games to make him comfortable with both hands being open in that position.

Interesting enough, he started crawling only once he learned to open both hands on the floor and lifting himself. That first crawl has evolved with various speeds too, slow, mid and race, which is pretty fast.

At 9 months, maybe a little later, he started trying to page through the thick paged baby books. He loves his books and spends lots of time with them in a day.

[caption id="attachment_82" align="alignnone" width="488"] Boeta preparing to crawl, one hand open in position.[/caption]

At this point it is important to note that I played various games and did regular baby exercises with him throughout the preceding months. One Friday afternoon, it all clicked and off he went.

[caption id="attachment_83" align="alignnone" width="475"] Boeta tearing down the hallway, 10 months[/caption]

By 11 months he is also trying to feed himself with some help, it is said some begin earlier, and maybe we did not attempt this earlier to know, but he is trying it now. He is forever taking toys and turning them around (upside down) and investigating, it seems, how it is put together or works.

[caption id="attachment_89" align="alignnone" width="479"] Investigating a toy![/caption]

That is where we are, keeping an eye on those hands, because they are forever looking for new things to get hold and investigate. Being low to the ground those hands can put you in a "spot" when with friends, because he quickly finds anything "normally not seen" in visits. He also quickly points out the "stuff" that should be put away!

[caption id="attachment_84" align="alignnone" width="540"] A favorite book with sliding windows[/caption]

He loves playing games with knock the soccer ball and chase it, a firm favorite, hide and seek and dad cannot catch me, I am too fast being other much-loved games. Over the past weeks he started throwing things he picked up, still funny at the moment.

[caption id="attachment_85" align="alignnone" width="497"] Gripping a ball, which has now evolved to try to throw it![/caption]

While we are having fun playing, it has become apparent that the little joker has more and more interest in walking, standing alone for longer and longer, walking around while holding on to things....and grabbing at anything he sees in the new height.

[caption id="attachment_90" align="alignnone" width="496"] Boeta is amused by his radio controlled car![/caption]

Finally as a father and not expert, above is a summary of my experiences with Boeta, a unique individual, which is true of every baby and toddler. I use child development guidelines as just that, guidelines, because every baby is different and every household equally so. In some cases he is quicker in mastering and some a little later. Importantly, he is a healthy little boy with barely any issues so far (little constipation a few months back).

[caption id="attachment_86" align="alignnone" width="459"] Eating a rice cake![/caption]

Little Hands

My little hands play patty-cake
They peek-a-boo and wave . . .
They catch me while I learn to walk
And splash me as I bathe . . .

My little hands reach up to you
For hugs before I sleep . . .
And fold together when I pray
The Lord my soul to keep . . .

My little hands are tiny now
But yours will serve to guide me . . .
And when I'm grown I'll still reach out
And know you're right beside me.

Author unknown

Mother

Today is Mother's day. This being the first official mother's day for us, it was special for all of us. I decided I had to do something special to "mark" this day and as a man, I can try to express the feelings of my wife, as well as our mothers best through poems and pictures...

My first and to be honest a regular discussion goes towards the mother that is not with us anymore, and I found this which I felt appropriate:



I was looking through all the pictures of the last 11 months and felt pride, love and honored to have been able to watch this unfold. Here is some of this with another part of a poem:

https://flic.kr/p/nhTWUy

Before I was a mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart-break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew something so small could affect my life so much.I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

https://flic.kr/p/nz6qaZ

https://flic.kr/p/nhTLoT

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

https://flic.kr/p/nhTLwZ

https://flic.kr/p/nhTSGe

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

https://flic.kr/p/nhU3ka

https://flic.kr/p/nxkYfE



I from a boy's point of view, this one say a lot, both for Boeta and me...



As I said earlier, such an amazing time in my life, to see and live the birth of a baby and yes a mother,

Who loves, whatever we boys do, has patience and gentleness. One soft word and all falls away, her laughter making our lives brighter, she has wonderful insight and wisdom. And finally as another poet says:

"In each human heart is that special corner, which only a mother can fill!" (K. N. Davis - some of it used in above paragraph as well)

https://flic.kr/p/nhTUud

LOVE YOU MOM! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

https://flic.kr/p/nzp6yY