Better Day

Yesterday I headed back out to Imire for fieldwork with the local university. I found it stimulating to be with other academics and we had a successful day of fieldwork remote sensing the extent of lantana invasion in the bush. On the drive out we had interesting conversations about everything from the stranded Zimbabwean MPs who went shopping in China to who is the real Baba Jukwa and the water crisis in Harare. I thrive on that and it was good to get the support of other intellectual institutes for my work.

The countryside was looking lovely, on the road out there were lots of erythrina or lucky bean trees in scarlet bloom against the deep ochre of the winter dry grasses. The bauhinia orchid like trees were also in full bloom. The vistas out at Imire were also stunning with the blue Wedza Mountains in the backdrop. I enjoyed being outdoors and out of the office.

When I got back into town I visited a friend with two small children who is a writer in her own right. We chatted about writing and the new fad of dystopia in fiction. I miss the creative arts group she runs that meets in the week but looking forward to a photography weekend coming up soon. As you may have seen I've got back into writing again and enjoying poetry at the moment.

After watching the Germany/France World Cup game I went out with friends to a rather Rhodie establishment, 167 where they were celebrating the American 4th of July. The live band playing was really good and enjoyed watching others play pool and the Columbia/Brazil match. From there we went on to Tristan's which is a bit more cosmopolitan and saw some other friends.

Slept in late this morning and am now enjoying sitting in my pajamas watching the BBC series Miranda on tv. Although I enjoy busy weekends it is nice to chill at times. This evening supposed to be watching Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet with friends but forgot there is also football. Will see which wins. There is a house party after, will see what time the other ends. As an aside on the topic of football, I've been pondering why in life there have to be winners and losers and why we promote this. Just a thought from my musings.

There is a ladies' retreat at the end of July out at Tree of Life that I would like to go to and I might take up an art class on Tuesday evenings with a friend.