Guardians of Being

In the weeks leading up to Andy leaving Tennessee for South Africa, I wracked my brain trying to think of a unique gift to give him right before he left.  I wanted to get him something special that would make him think of me, but that would also be a thoughtful present.  A couple of weeks before Andy's plane left, I stopped in Borders Book Store just to browse, not really thinking about the gift I needed to buy.  I went to the Spirituality section and stumbled upon this fantastic little book by one of my favorite authors, Eckhart Tolle.  I picked it up, sat down in the floor in front of the bookshelf in Borders, and read the entire book right there.  It's short, and it reads almost like a comic strip, but the message it has is extremely powerful.  I bought the book, and gave it to Andy when we were saying our goodbyes. 

I reread it last night, and it had the same powerful affect on me the second time.  It reminds us that we have a very important lesson to learn from animals and from nature.  If we stop and pay attention, and let our minds be still, we know that we are all connected by the presence of our creator in each of us.  We are all one, and we should all love one another as one.  That is the only way!

Here is a nice quote from the book, but I suggest buying it and reading it!  Every person needs to be reminded of this!
"You are not separate from the whole.  You are one with the sun, the earth, the air.  You don't have a life. You ARE life... We are ultimately not separate, not from one another nor from any living thing- the flower, the tree, the cat, the dog.  You can sense yourself in them, the essence of who you are...Love the Creator in the creature." 

Well put.  

We Saw A Snake!

                                          This is a close-up of the snake we saw!



Andy and I went for a walk in a Park called Rademeyer on Saturday.  It has a little chapel, a restaurant, and an events venue.  It also has trails to walk through, and zebra, antelope, and ostriches roam there.  It's a little bit of the African bush right in the middle of the city.  The trail we took was about 2.5 miles. 

When we were about halfway finished with the trail, we had just passed through a small forest and came out into a clearing where we saw a couple standing ahead of us looking at something on the ground.  I panicked.  I stopped dead in my tracks as Andy slowly walked towards them.  Sure enough, it was a snake!!!  It was so tiny I couldn't see it from where I was standing, but Andy managed to get a picture of it.  The couple was Afrikaans, and the girl said she had almost stepped on it and then she saw it.

The man asked us what we wanted to do, and said that we should be able to step around it, but that it was in an aggressive position. It took me forever to get up the courage to walk closer.  Andy still had to point it out to me when I was a few feet away from it.  I think it was about 6 inches long.  It was so tiny.  It had a brown body and a black head that was raised off the ground toward us. My friend, who has a snake expert in her family, says it is a Red Lip and that it is only slightly venemous.  She says it would maybe cause a headache if it bit you.  Well, I didn't know that at the time, and it took what seemed like forever, but I finally managed to step around it, and I think everyone was relieved.  Andy thought we were going to have to turn around and go back.  The couple was so nice though, and they waited there until we all had gotten past it.  Just more people to add to the long list of South Africans who have been so extremely nice and welcoming to us.

The entire rest of the walk we were both worried about seeing another snake.  We didn't, luckily, but we did come across a small herd of zebra.  They let us get pretty close to them.  We then saw 3 ostriches, which were also pretty scary for me.  They look vicious close up. 

It was a beautiful day, and we had such a peaceful walk.  It was really nice to be able to get out in nature.  We have missed doing that kind of thing, because in Knoxville we went hiking or to parks or to greenways all the time.  That's how we got to know each other when we first started dating. :)  Here, this is the only park we know of in Pretoria where it is safe to walk around.  There are other parks close to the city center, but we would never be able to go walking there.  They are high crime areas.

The walk made both of us think of beautiful Knoxville.  I wish I would have really appreciated the beauty of the city while I was still there.  It is a very unique place.  Andy and I both hold Knoxville close to our hearts, and we agree that a piece of both of us will always be there. 

But we are here now, and we are trying to take full advantage of it while we can so we won't be saying we wish we would have after we leave.  Here are some pics from the walk. 

                                          Just one of me on the trail with the hills behind.

                                          One of the ostriches we saw walking across the trail in front of us.

                                          The first zebra we came across was alone. 

                                          This is the actual picture Andy took of the snake before I zoomed in.