Ambling in Africa: No Green Bananas

Take that Dad!!

Matt Berger - deadly on the rail!!

Though it's been about a year and a half since my Dad passed along -- my life is as peppered with Dadisms today as it was while he was alive. One day as he battled through cancer, bravely I must add, I asked how he was doing; "well I'm not going to buy any green bananas". Ah!!! such was his humor and it is dearly missed.

Unfortunately he left the planet prior to me communicating all the "I told ya so's" I would have liked. You see -- proving my father wrong was and continues to be a necessary preoccupation for reasons not abundantly clear. They are however of critical import.

So it is with great pleasure, glee and something approximating euphoria that I share the names of the 3 men that make up the Canadian Skateboarding Team for the 2021 Olympics. In 1976, I argued with my father about my passion for the piece of wood with roller skates screwed to the bottom I'd been riding.

"Skateboarding is not a sport" he said. "Baseball is a sport - Soccer is a sport. Do you see skateboarding in the Olympics?!!!"😀 I rest my point. Smugly I might add. Good luck to Andy, Matt and Micky -- the men representing our country in this fine fine SPORT!

The Belay King

In what can only be described as a horror show in real time, I attempted rock climbing with a group of intrepid adventurers. To the far right of the photo my good friend Andy surveys the sheer cliff that we had foolishly agreed to climb. His expression is clear. What The Fuck!!

He did however do wonderfully well as 6 hours of challenging ourselves to feats of strength and courage slipped away surprisingly fast. The view from the top (I understand from talking with others) was absolutely spectacular.

The African Savannah stretched out in front of us forever bathed in the glorious afternoon sun. Baboons danced on the cliffs making fun of our awkward attempts to do what comes so naturally to them. Interestingly, I noticed some baboons were wearing masks. It's good to see them taking this Covid19 thing seriously.

Actually I did make it to the top on a few occasions but found I was much better at Belaying than climbing. Later - looking at this picture, I noted that I have a big fat ass. Could that be the problem?

Some Charitable Flap doodle and Folderol

Many thanks to my friend George and my Mom's friend Gail for their generous support. George was kind enough to drop off this maize flour for the kids a Kibera and Gail sent along some much needs funds to help out Jake's Education fund. Thank you very much.

Jake has finished the term with flying colors and starts the next term this Wednesday. Yvonne and I were busy this weekend getting his new books for the upcoming term. Very exciting!!! I'm curious to read all 3 required books but Just like me in particular. 😀