#UULent - #worship

#UULent - #teamwork

If you want to go fast go alone.

If you want to go far go together.

African proverb

#UULent - #home

#UULent - #action

Action: the distance between dream and reality

#UULent - #hunger

For today's word I had no option but to post this photo. It was taken in Ng'ombe, a small township of Lusaka, Zambia. Ng'ombe was the community FP Lexington was paired with through Communities Without Borders (CBWB). Two years earlier two children in the community died from starvation.

That event was the trigger which made CWB rethink it's focus on education and realize that without food in their bellies these kids would learn nothing. So a feeding program was instituted as part of the support for the Ng'ombe community.

The children who died were probably in the cohort of kids shown in this photo. These were no longer starving to death but they knew hunger every day.

#UULent - #vulnerability

Had never heard the term Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) before Bethany and I travelled with CWB to Zambia in 2005, but ever since then vulnerable has always conjured up a very specific feeling.

These two where inseperable whenever we visited the Garden compound and I was never sure if they where Double Orphans meaning both parents were dead, Single Orphans meaning one parent had not yet succumbed to AIDS, or merely Vulnerable which meant they could fall into on of the other categories at any moment.

#UULent - #honesty

#UULent - #inspiration

I obviously should have looked at the mind map yesterday when this post was due.

#UULent - #patience

a haiku


Patience is a skill 

Taught to us all while waiting.

Failure is common.

#UULent - #freedom

For the full interactive experience go to www.freedomhouse.org

#UULent - #awareness

The Fish

Elizabeth Bishop, 1911 - 1979

I caught a tremendous fish
and held him beside the boat
half out of water, with my hook
fast in a corner of his mouth.
He didn’t fight.
He hadn’t fought at all.
He hung a grunting weight,
battered and venerable
and homely. Here and there
his brown skin hung in strips
like ancient wallpaper,
and its pattern of darker brown
was like wallpaper:
shapes like full-blown roses
stained and lost through age.
He was speckled with barnacles,
fine rosettes of lime,
and infested
with tiny white sea-lice,
and underneath two or three
rags of green weed hung down.
While his gills were breathing in
the terrible oxygen
—the frightening gills,
fresh and crisp with blood,
that can cut so badly—
I thought of the coarse white flesh
packed in like feathers,
the big bones and the little bones,
the dramatic reds and blacks
of his shiny entrails,
and the pink swim-bladder
like a big peony.
I looked into his eyes
which were far larger than mine
but shallower, and yellowed,
the irises backed and packed
with tarnished tinfoil
seen through the lenses
of old scratched isinglass.
They shifted a little, but not
to return my stare.
—It was more like the tipping
of an object toward the light.
I admired his sullen face,
the mechanism of his jaw,
and then I saw
that from his lower lip
—if you could call it a lip—
grim, wet, and weaponlike,
hung five old pieces of fish-line,
or four and a wire leader
with the swivel still attached,
with all their five big hooks
grown firmly in his mouth.
A green line, frayed at the end
where he broke it, two heavier lines,
and a fine black thread
still crimped from the strain and snap
when it broke and he got away.
Like medals with their ribbons
frayed and wavering,
a five-haired beard of wisdom
trailing from his aching jaw.
I stared and stared
and victory filled up
the little rented boat,
from the pool of bilge
where oil had spread a rainbow
around the rusted engine
to the bailer rusted orange,
the sun-cracked thwarts,
the oarlocks on their strings,
the gunnels—until everything
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go.

#UULent - #struggle

A quote from a classic novel addressing the internal struggle between good and evil in man.

#UULent - #awe

Sometimes awe is like - 

... so often ends up like  -

#UULent - #memory

LOL. I found two funny things when I went looking for a memory.

The first photo is on the back of a postcard showing European itinerary from my trip in 1978. One of the highlights was being in St Marks Sq when the smoke came up from the Vatican announcing that John Paul 1 had been elected.

The second is the advert I respond to which ended up with me moving to Bermuda and ultimately the U.S. after meeting Sally on the island while I was working there.

#UULent - #failure

Appropriately I forgot make this posting yesterday.

#UULent - #heart

The only poem I ever learned by heart and remembered.

Wilfred Owen

The Chances

I mind as 'ow the night afore that show
Us five got talking, — we was in the know,
"Over the top to-morrer; boys, we're for it,
First wave we are, first ruddy wave; that's tore it."
"Ah well," says Jimmy, — an' 'e's seen some scrappin' —
"There ain't more nor five things as can 'appen;
Ye get knocked out; else wounded — bad or cushy;
Scuppered; or nowt except yer feeling mushy."

One of us got the knock-out, blown to chops.
T'other was hurt, like, losin' both 'is props.
An' one, to use the word of 'ypocrites,
'Ad the misfortoon to be took by Fritz.
Now me, I wasn't scratched, praise God Almighty
(Though next time please I'll thank 'im for a blighty),
But poor young Jim, 'e's livin' an' 'e's not;
'E reckoned 'e'd five chances, an' 'e's 'ad;
'E's wounded, killed, and pris'ner, all the lot —
The ruddy lot all rolled in one. Jim's mad.

#UULent - #abundance

#UULent - #possibility

Every drawing begins with a straight line. There is so much possibility in that straight line. Everyone should draw. It's a fulfilling experience.

The first photo was taken after 20 minutes of straight lines.

The last after three hours of drawing.

#UULent - #hospitality

Zambians were the epitome of hospitality when Bethany and I were in Lusaka with 18 people from Communities Without Borders in 2005. The women would greet us with singing and clapping and the kids would dance with everyone. All of us would be smiling.

#UULent - #heal

Today's word is heal which led me to the Band Aid on the list below.

When we led the All Star II conference on Star Island in 2003 we gave all of our volunteer staff an Altoids tin with all of the following small gifts, and a slip of paper with this explanation.

The American to British English translation is probably also needed for my friends in the UK.
- Rubber Band - Elastic Band
- Band Aid - Elastoplast
- Eraser - Rubber (this one caused me some embarrassment in my early days in the U.S.)
- Candy Kiss - small pyramidal chocolate
- Tea Bag - this was before tea bags became common euphemisms for other things

A TEACHER'S SURVIVAL KIT
FOR EVERYDAY LIVING.

TOOTHPICK-reminds us to look for the good qualities in our students. You may be the only teacher who says something positive to them that day.

RUBBER BAND-reminds the teacher that they have to be flexible. Things don't always go the way we plan, But flexibility will help to work it out.

BAND AID-reminds the teacher that sometimes we do more than teach, That we help heal hurt feelings, broken dreams, And lend an ear to a problem.

PENCIL-reminds us to be thankful and we should list our blessings daily, But also encourage our students to list their blessings And to be proud of their accomplishments.

ERASER-reminds us to allow students to know we are human And make mistakes just like they do, and it's ok. We must all be able to learn from our mistakes.

CHEWING GUM-reminds us to stick with it And encourage our students to do like wise. Even the impossible task or assignment can be accomplished By sticking to it.

MINT-reminds us and our students we are worth a mint. (We may not be paid a mint, but are worth one.)

CANDY KISS-reminds us that everyone needs a hug, Kiss, or warm fuzzy everyday. (All teachers, students, parents, and even administrators)

TEA BAG-reminds us we need time to relax, Go over our blessing, and take time for others. Family, husbands, wives, friends, children need quality time together.


A teacher must be willing to show their students how much they care!!!

#UULent - misteaks

This is a chapter from the SciFi novel I am working on.

Brant Candor had left the Tavern as Venki and Sara insisted on cleaning up after their meal. He walked over to the Flagpole and took a seat at one of the benches the settlers had set up around its base. He looked up as he heard the flag flapping in the gusty winds. A light was shining at the Earth flag flying high above his head. Just like the Stars and Stripes before it, it was considered unpatriotic to fly the flag in the darkness. So it was lit every night rather than lowering it each night at dusk to raise it again at dawn. He had had a part in the flag's design, an effort by all the Outsiders to rebuild some semblance of normalcy after every nation state in the world had crumbled. It was a simple kelly green circle, surrounded by a ring of dark blue on a background of pale blue trimmed with a blood red border. Land, Ocean, Sky, and a stark reminder of the lives lost to the skank or the nuclear explosions.

He was lost in thought when he was startled by a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Brant, I didn't mean to creep up on you, but you were so lost in thought."

Sara took a seat on the bench beside him and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Venki is putting the kids to bed. They wanted you to read them a story but we told them you'd had a tiring day but that you might read to them tomorrow morning."

"I shouldn't stay the night Sara." He looked into her eyes. “Cora has your eyes, that beautiful shade of sky blue like the flag."

"But you ARE going to stay Brant, we insist. You need to rest before hitting the road again." She paused before adding "Cora does have my eyes, and Dene has yours."

He looked back into those deep brown eyes of hers again. "Sara, I thought we'd agreed to never give Venki any reason to doubt. What if he hears us? "

Until today this had been his darkest secret. It had happened at a Thanksgiving party. No longer for an America thankful for a good harvest and a new land, but a handful of struggling survivors thankful for the birth of children. Uninfected children. Ale, wine and moonshine had been consumed by everyone in the settlement, and the laughter, singing and dancing had given way to a somber storytelling. Eventually, as the revelers went back to their own homes, Venki had passed out and Brant and Sara had fallen into each other's arms. It had been one stupid moment of passion with a woman he loved like a sister because she was the wife of his best friend.

After it was apparent she was pregnant again they prayed every day until the birth, but when Brant saw Dene for the first time it just confirmed what he already knew. Venki had just assumed that Dene had inherited more of Sara's light skinned ancestry and less of his own darker skinned genes. Nevertheless it took both Sara and Brant by surprise when Venki started to joke about Dene's skin color and implying he may be Brant's kid. 

"Take it easy Brant. The bedtime routine gets longer every day. They won't let him leave for another half an hour, easily." 

He knew that she loved him like a brother and like him had tried to forget that one mistake, but he realized it must be difficult with the evidence living in her presence every day.

“I must admit that the bedtime routine is a lot easier since your last visit, when you convinced Dene that his nightmares about falling were actually about flying. Every morning he now tells us something new about what he did as an owl in his dreams. Sometimes he can’t wait to get to bed to finish a dream from the prior night.”

Then, her smile as she talked about their son vanished and he knew she was thinking about their earlier conversation. "We can keep Kayli a secret. Were you going to tell anyone else?"

She looked at him as he tried to decide if it was fair to his two friends, to ask them to keep this information to themselves, and he also knew that by ‘anyone else’ she had meant Kayli herself or his parents.

"I haven't decided yet." He looked into Sara's eyes again. "What good would it do to let her know? As far as she is concerned I killed myself after her mother died in childbirth. As far as my parents are concerned I died as soon as I made the decision that the future of humanity lay outside the domes not in them. They are the only ones who should care, I should stay dead to all of them."

They both turned as a door closed behind them and Venki came across the meadow from the house.

"I know what you've been talking about.”

Brant and Sara exchanged nervous glances.

"Kayli and her grandparents live separate lives under the Dome, and no one Outside need ever know. There's no benefit in this knowledge going beyond the three of us. Sometimes secrets are worth keeping.”

Sara and Brant looked at each other as if to say 'How could we disagree?'