The blessing of rain

There is nothing in life  that  brings  a  closeness to a dear friend more than being together and feeling the softness of the rain as it falls upon you.   You   feel joined as one as though anointed by a superior force   A true beauty of life and a memory that lasts forever

The change of colour

A short time ago I had admitted to feeling rather flat but there has been a sea change at last  We have had several days of rain and in this area where I live it marks the real change in seasons

I live in the dry tropics and unlike other areas of the country where the change of seasons is more gradual into the four defined times of the year we really only have two seasons   The green and the brown

Now the green season has arrived and the transformation is remarkable .Many folk do not enjoy the rainy days and would no doubt agree with Longfellow when he wrote

“Into each life some rain must fall

Some days must be dark and dreary”

How can the days be  “dark and dreary” when you know the transformation around you is taking place !

The arrival of the rain lifts my spirits in anticipation of what is to happen and the wet days also provide the ideal time to read and reflect on life itself . While I have had the opportunity to witness the beauty of the seasonal changes in other parts of the world it’s the changes here that make the most impression on me

A thought on loyalty

I spoke to my dear friend a day or so ago and it was delightful to hear her voice again but there was a note of sadness and dismay coming through.

I had mentioned her predicament in an earlier post and how her many years of loyalty to one of the four major banks in this country counted for little.

Luckily she has been employed rather rapidly it seems by one of the second tier banking institutions who were aware of her skills .Still I could tell that all was not the same nor did she have the vibrancy in her voice that I have heard over the years.( Sadly a nice lunch and a chilled glass of Riesling was not a panacea as we are some twelve hundred kilometers apart )

It seems to me that all that nonsense we were fed in the nineties about “people are our best asset” was little more that window dressing It sounded good and it created a false sense of loyalty by staff towards the company  A loyalty I may add that was not reciprocated in many instances

Perhaps loyalty to your employer will be a disappearing quality in this new century This point was made quite starkly by this countries Prime Minister who ,when addressing a graduating  High School class told the students to expect a lifetime of many employers A somewhat unsettling thought for folk of my generation

Not the "Black Dog"

“O what can ail thee. Knight- at- arms,

Alone and palely loitering ?”

The question posed by Keats seems so appropriate

I feel as flat as a founder today and I cant seem to lift the gloom nor sense what has caused this malaise. Hopefully it will be of a transient nature.

It has been a rather hectic week with some family members requiring much medical assistance and numerous other issues all cropping up at the same time .The older one gets the harder it is to recuperate when all your mental energy is exhausted  Well that’s my theory on this and I hope its right

Is it really local ?

Finally the transport situation has been resolved following my traffic incident of January when the old car was written off

After much searching and kicking of tyres in car lots a decision was reached and the new car finally delivered A rather neat sedan well suited to our needs for cheap safe local transport Certainly not the style of car one would purchase for long distance driving My days of driving vast distances are now behind me and I have now resorted to plane travel and hire at the other end if a car is needed

I decided to purchase what was badged as a local product but I later found that the badge may be local but the vehicle comes from Korea  How small the world is and how local are local products these days?