Read, Reflect, Discuss
When life swings from one extreme to next, stop for awhile watching the moon dance in the last rays of sunlight, mentally sort out events, question everything, try separate fact from fiction, feelings, memories they are gone when asking where to now?
Last week a dazzling rose bloom, today sun burn emphasizing beauty does not last, what is here today may be gone tomorrow, elders at war that never cease ends up a nation defeated.
Relief may have come weather wise with a couple of drops of rain, not enough to wash away the pain we are yet to face, a grey week indeed!
Some may still jump for joy, not realizing their tail feathers are weakening, time is fast approaching for change in our land. Power outages have become our most problematic, 2023 does not look a good year to be South African.
While some enjoy flying high, while others buckle down tight trying to making ends meet, extreme flooding in many parts of our country. Follow up this weekend with Cyclone Freddy reaching the Eastern Shore of Mozambique yesterday, moving inland where flooding occurred in early floods last week, now totally saturated.
Life is not for the weak...
Fluff your feathers, start reasoning with the next move to improve somehow!
OK, pulled up your big boy/girl pants, what is next...., said the White-breasted sunbird (He/Male).
You can dazzle many with beauty, empty promises and charm, remember it only takes you that far and no further. Change is imminent, will it be done in a respectable manner, or act like most politicians today who are continuously feeding at the trough of Taxman money?
So as I walked and talked to myself, perhaps some would love to add a comment or set me right after a tumultuous week.
Feeling frazzled by the heat and humidity I leave with a sight down the valley yesterday afternoon filled with humidity, sighing heat trying to escape the hills below.
My closing thought: Shocking Abdication Of Responsibility by Politicians Worldwide, most placing human life in jeopardy!
All photography is my own using a Canon PowerShot SC730 HS, resized for easier loading, writing is my own.
Thought for Today: " If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents." - African Proverbs
How To
Beautiful photos! @missagora would love this. I love the long tail feathers on that bird, do you see them more often in Africa? All of these photos taken show off their own story of adventure with grace. Amazing. 😁
Greetings @joanstewart.
We have a few birds with long tails, this one in particular is resident at our little tree with his ladies present.
Thanks for visiting and have a lovely Monday.
That's nice, they are very beautiful. Getting pics of animals closer is not easier. You must be lucky to get a super shot of them so close. They still look dazzling. 😲
A lovely Monday to you too. Cheers!
I share your concerns about the lack of accountability and responsibility that we are seeing in many areas of our society today. It's unfortunate to see leaders, organizations, and individuals shirking their responsibilities and failing to take action when it's needed.
Being dragged down halls by incompetent leaders, tossed around in East/West conflict directly after 'pandemic' has thrown a cat among the pigeons, leaving many without anything reliable to cling onto. Time for change is now, be sure to cast your vote.
I agree as life is so unpredictable! When you thought everything is fine, then something will happened, blow up and drag you to the deepest part of sorrow.
I got a a not so good weeks too, no a month I think but still, I keep on fighting.
As so not only applies to the blessings we had but also with the challenges in life. And so , what ever problems we encountered in our way. We should never give up.
Despite of everything, life is still wonderful.
Hope you had a great weekend!
Hold your head high, keep smiling and try your best at whatever you task yourself to, life holds many surprises.
!LUV have a great weekend! Thanks for visiting.
@lhes, @joanstewart(3/10) sent you LUV. | tools | discord | community | HiveWiki |
NFT | <>< daily
I hardly ever trust politician, and always see them as rotten apple, just the degree of the rot that differentiate them.
Stay safe, I heard about the cyclone that approaching Western Africa, moving to southern Africa.
Our basket is full of rotten apples!
After recent flooding more water in these regions is a scary thought, we hoped it would lose momentum. !PIZZA thanks for visiting.
I like your photography ☺️, the flying, the butterfly, flowers which are so satisfying 🌼. To what I love the most is the drop of water on the pink flowers make it a very interesting photography. Of course dear, beauty isn't last, so that is time to enjoy when it live in it's best version.
Always something in nature to divert negative and move into a more positive certain way at looking at life. Nothing living has it easy, perhaps we have not been as attentive as we should have been a long time ago.
Have a lovely weekend, thanks for visiting !LUV
@ahleap, @joanstewart(4/10) sent you LUV. | tools | discord | community | HiveWiki |
NFT | <>< daily
I sure agree about the politicians! We may as well defund congress in the US. Those jokers are doing nothing of value, and haven't been for a few years now.
But as for your funk, perhaps my situation will help - I'm in Vermont, and it's 1 degree outside, not including wind chill. No birds at all. Too cold! I don't know where they go in weather like this.
Too many placing rules/laws into the world, most countries didn't request it, sticking ones nose into another persons business trying to call it global is ridiculous.
Sounds cool up your way !LOLZ perhaps send some down my way, birds most probably down South enjoying a break, nice to have two summer homes 😆
lolztoken.com
It’s not like you’re getting any younger
Credit: reddit
@owasco, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @joanstewart
(4/6)
Use the !LOL or !LOLZ command to share a joke and an $LOLZ
I gifted $PIZZA slices here:
@joanstewart(3/10) tipped @ekavieka (x1)
Join us in Discord!
This weel will be long forgotten before you know it. Oh and I love these sunset pics.
Within two generations a person is forgotten, make hay while the sun shines!
Sunsets are always a time of day I enter the realm of switching off, enjoying time outdoors! Thanks for visiting and kind comment.
First, your post made me cry for my beloved country, but then it made me grin like a lunatic because I just couldn’t get over how gorgeous those tail feathers are! Beautiful 🤩😢
Children don't know a country with electricity, running water, food on the table daily, playing in the road or parks with friends being safe, all in all a failed state. Many families ripped apart fleeing in search of sanity.
Rewarding to watch nature at play, have a beautiful day!
You are so right! Both my neighbours who’ve always been middle class, lost their jobs. Both now living on a social grants, which they can get because they’ve got kids. Both rely on charity food options. Crime is also rampant, two weeks ago thieves literally tore down our palisade and promptly stole my mother’s Polo. Fun times, and I think it’s going to get worse.
Car theft is rampant, shopping list to go over the borders which are not properly secured, or used in further criminal activity. Global village..., 15 minute cities, smart cities take them all and trash them now!
Middle class are now making great exodus out of the country, every second person we know have children leaving or have already left. Not really convinced it's greener on the other side, people are desperately trying to live a normal life.
Politicians, for the most part, are only good for their own interests wherever they are, and this is very unfortunate.
Power outages are such a nightmare. And it is a problem that resonates so much for us in my country as well. Even though here lately, things are not so dramatic in that sense now. But it is so frustrating and exhausting.
I hope things get better, and that the heat and humidity give you a break. And stay safe, please.
Have a good weekend, Joan! :)
Weather has changed, a cooler day with drizzle which gives welcome relief.
More people talking about political nonsense going on in the world, perhaps start mustering up enough numbers to start bringing them down.
Thanks for visiting and comment Silver Cat.
😊🌸
Hello @joanstewart
This is @coquicoin and I'm part of the Silver Bloggers’ Community Team.
Thank you for sharing your excellent post in the Silver Bloggers community! It has been upvoted and curated as a special "token" of appreciation for this contribution to our community.
Thanks to #SilverBloggers Team!
https://leofinance.io/threads/@coquicoin/re-leothreads-4ufyptke
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people ( @coquicoin ) sharing the post on LeoThreads.
I would have said "pigs with their snouts in the trough"
Some great shots there to offset your anger though x
Good visual effect, will try remember for next time!
Show goes on, many escaping when financially able, ripping families apart one by one! Sheeple will carry on, not vote them out, then come begging for more handouts!
👍👍👍
All true as we have had all of 3 hours of grid power today between 4 and 7am this morning. How bad can this really get is what I am thinking now as Joburg was hit very hard today and what we experienced has been repeated everywhere.
Listening to those in the know with previous years of experience this will get a lot worse before getting better. Most regions 2 x 4.5 hours off plus 2 x 2.5 hours off per daily cycle, pushing this into stage 8 which is not being spoken about!
Yes this is where we are already and very fragile at that as this could all just break. WE have been without power since 7am yesterday morning and only now are getting updates. The excuse was cable theft which made no sense as power was restored for 25 minutes and disappeared again. This has taken them 27 hours to send a team to go and investigate which is unacceptable. Insurance companies have sent out emails updating what they are liable to cover and the grid feed has now been removed so load shedding is not their problem. They knew it was going to get worse as it is rather obvious. Hope you guys are doing ok down there.
Lies, deceit, theft still going on.
Prospecton electricity was off over half the week with fire at substation, big industry all down! Towns intermittent between electricity/water. Sea mostly still high Ecoli levels.
Worrying News: "South African refineries dwindle as operators BP, Shell, Total and Sasol pull out" mention made in budget speech "Ramaphosa makes dubious fuel refining claims in state of nation address".
"South African municipalities – 163 out of 257 – were found to be ineffective and sometimes corrupt, leading to poor service delivery."
So much to try unpack it is no wonder I walk around talking to myself of late, perhaps I find solid answers somewhere!
I knew the refineries had pulled out but not SASOL. This means we are importing fuel (petrol and diesel) and not the raw material which is obviously more costly. Yes some hard decisions need to be made as my business relies on raw material from SASOL and cannot do without. Prices are rising weekly as this is a different type of inflation that we are experiencing now as running costs have risen in manufacturing and retail due to funding their own power.
Obtaining information from reports, damned difficult of late. Business throughout the country battling with rising costs,
SASOL:
https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/658727/major-renewables-project-for-sasol/
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sasol-limited-interim-results-announcement-for-the-six-months-ended-31-december-2022-301751743.html
Last link stats it is evident in Turnover and EBIT slowing down on fuel.
Well I do that, even when I am not frazzled!
Politicians, greed, corruption, something that will not go away anytime soon I am afraid.
Hope the heat takes a break for you Joan
!ALIVE
@joanstewart! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @tengolotodo. (2/10)
The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.
Politicians and 'Self Elected Leaders' are too busy formulating stupidity not watching disharmony growing. More concerned about which tie to wear, who's arse to kiss when next they meet for photographic evidence like rock stars, they even pretend to like one another!
Thanks for the token reminder 🙃
very inspiring message. thanks
Helpful hopefully to get people thinking about their situation where they live!
Thanks for visiting !LUV
@rubelynmacion, @joanstewart(1/10) sent you LUV. | tools | discord | community | HiveWiki |
NFT | <>< daily
Gotta be optimistic, despite all!
No use crying in our soup, always some way to try overcome this 💩
Happy Sunday!
Just an awesome collection of photos! The first photo is very pleasant, so quiet and atmospheric. And I also liked the bird with an incredibly long tail.
Lighting phenomenal end of day, Whydah bird will start losing sassy look soon, breeding season almost over.
After rain comes sun, always. You just have to make sure that you don't get flushed down the drain until then.
Devastation sweeps throughout, yes the sun comes out in the hope we will see better days.
Sadly a very apt title, very few South Africans would call it cynical!
We're all tired of having to wear our big girl/ big boy pants, having to feed the state coffers so the politicians can fill their back pockets even more!
We're literally in for dark times for quite a while still.
Abusive power has taken it's toll, trust has been lost, now floundering around wasting another year before next elections.
All the politicians will be doing is worrying about 2024, not facing the devastation they need to face right now.
Oh you beautiful soul.
Don't let the world get you down. I hope the walk helped <3
Master Ugwe would say "There are no accidents".
And I'd have to agree, you know.
Closing your eyes to the facts is a choice at the end of the day :D
I just Googled his name for some reason - Ugwe translates as "Cord" in English. Lovely, isn't it? The knowledge that binds us.
There are no weak women in the world, btw. You can't walk in this world in the body of a woman and not be strong. It's not possible. I think we underestimate ourselves far too much!
You are very powerful! 💥
Life would strike the right cord if people in power had a brain not to close their eyes to the facts around them. Woman in power can be just as wicked as the men, both have strengths yet sway toward greed.
People need to talk to each other, work toward the change they wish to see not pontificate possible outcomes, it is the poor who feel the abject poverty.
Also... I'd like to drop a comment here for my beautiful daughter if she ever makes her way over here...
That I'm so sorry I never "saw" or understood male privilege at all and she suffered so badly because of my ignorance. And our family's ignorance.
And I thought I was "liberated", "educated" and "woke".
My bad... :(
I totally unconsciously allowed her to get hurt because of this as well. Before I knew better. I simply thought some stuff was "normal" and never even thought to question it further :/
Equality without accounting for inequality is not equality at all. Take the hungry child at school vs the well fed as one example... this becomes very clear. <3
#silvernugget #frompippin #forgaia
Hopefully you will get to sit and talk this out, obviously something that needs to be addressed together.
We need politicians that care about people and the environment. So much upheaval in the world it would make anyone talk to themselves. 😊
The pink flower with the droplets is lovely Joan as are all your photos. Love the long tail on the bird. You are able to see humor in desperate situations and that will keep you going. We have been having chilly nights. It -4 outside right now. 🥶 love to send you a cool breeze.
Stay positive and take care my friend. 🤗
Very frustrating making sense about most things happening around the world today, not only here.
Being outside watching life in action put me into a much more positive mood, thinking through one hurdle at a time.
Massive electrical storm hit us last night, power blackout as usual, no water this morning once again, this is how we live since the April 2022 floods. At least it is a comfortable 25C for now.
Thanks for kind comments and visit Jo.