welcome to Miami

from the lushness of life and spirit

to the decadence 

of Art Basel Miami week.

A5 says Karibu!

my happy place

what i see from a solo run

In the quiet of the shadow
In the corner of a room
Darkness moves upon you
Like a cloud across the moon

You're a-wearing all the silence
Of a constant that will turn
Like the windmill left deserted
Or the sun forever burn

So don't forget to breathe
Don't forget to breathe
Your whole life is here
No eleventh hour reprieve
So don't forget to breathe

 Keep your head above water
But don't forget to breathe

 And all the suffering that you've witnessed
And the hand prints on the wall
They remind you how it's endless
How endlessly you fall

 And the answer that you're seeking
For the question that you found
Drives you further to confusion
As you lose your sense of ground

 So don't forget to breathe
Don't forget to breathe
Your whole life is here
No eleventh hour reprieve
So don't forget to breathe

 Keep your head above water
But don't forget to breathe

Breathe....
~alexi murdoch

A5 bartlett hotel

looking out at our driveway-house A5

come to africa, fall in love. i dare you not to.

come for too long and you are infected, longing to come back and uncontrollably urging everyone else you know to do the same. a powerful virus...

since we are here, we have convinced my aunts and uncles and cousin to visit us instead of our annual outer bank trip. the first group arrived this week. it is my cousins James and Alex's first trip out of america. a far cry from a leisurely trip to england or france, to the museums and restaurants. the Louvre is amazing, the Vatican worthy of unending examination, i wouldn't have missed Pompeii, while Ramses and the Pyramids still linger in my dreams... but if i could only choose one for my future children -if they may be- i would spend any extra cent to get them to the plains of africa, the lions in the misty mornings, the umbrella trees, and the herd of elephants with their babies towering over your jeep.

Kalulu the Hare

from my english teaching tools:

KALULU AND HYENA AND THE POT OF FAT

Kalulu the Hare and Hyena were friends, and they lived together in the same village.
One day Hare said to Hyena, "Hyena, we are not eating well. We are not eating enough fat. We must eat more fat."
Hyena said, "We have not enough fat to eat."
Hare said, "I know a way of getting fat."
Hyena said, "How will you get fat, Kalulu?"
Kalulu said, "There is a cart which comes along this road, and the men have pots of fat in the cart. I will lie down on the road. The men will see me and they will think that I am dead. They will put me into the cart, meaning to eat me when they get home."

"Yes, yes!" said Hyena, "but how shall we get the fat?"
"I will throw a pot out of the cart on to the road," said Hare.
"Yes, yes!" said Hyena, "that is good!"
Then Hare and Hyena went to a place on the road and Hare lay down on the road. He looked as if he was dead.
Then the cart came along the road. And one of the men in the cart said, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Stop! There is a dead hare lying on the road."
"What will you do with it?" the other man said.
"We will put the hare in the cart," said the man. "We will take the hare home and cook it and eat it."
Then the man took Kalulu and threw him into the cart. The cart went on.

Kalulu looked at all the things in the cart. He found a big pot of fat. He threw the pot out on to the road. The men did not see Hare throw the pot of fat out of the cart. Then Hare jumped out of the cart and the cart went on.
Hyena thought, "I will lie down on the road too. I will get another pot of fat." So Hyena lay down on the road and the cart came along.
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Stop!" cried one of the men. "There is a hyena lying on the road."
"Is it dead?" said the other man in the cart. "Is it really dead?"
"I do not know," said the other man, and he hit Hyena with his big stick.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" cried Hyena, and he ran away.

Then Hare came, bringing his pot of fat and they sat down to eat the fat.
Now Kalulu did not want Hyena to eat much fat. Kalulu wanted to eat all the fat himself. So he said to Hyena, "Oh, Hyena, if you eat much fat you will be ill."
"No, Kalulu," said Hyena, "I shall not be ill."
And Hare said, "If you go to sleep and when you wake there is fat in your mouth, you are ill. You are ill because you have eaten too much fat."

Then Hyena went to sleep. Kalulu put a big piece of fat in Hyena's mouth.
After some time Hyena woke up. And when he found the big piece of fat in his mouth he said, "I am ill, Kalulu. I am very ill. I will not eat any more fat."
So Kalulu ate all the fat himself. And he laughed --and laughed --and laughed.