did you know?

Did you know that Seattle is the birthplace of Nordstroms, Eddie Bauer, REI, Starbucks and UPS? It is also the home of Amazon, Microsoft (and Bill Gates), Boeing and Cosco. Musically Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Death Cab all have their roots here. And... it's rather pretty too. Mountains, water, buildings, people etc.

These are a bunch of general knowledge things i've picked up here so far. Be sure to check back for some more useless tidbits soon! Tomorrow Julie and i are off to Mt Rainier National Park after a week of meetings and busrides.

S to the E to the ATTLE

Woohoo! Tonight at 11pm Julie and i fly off on our next adventure - 2.5 weeks in Seattle! We have some CPE and Radio snooping to do, as well as trips to the San Jaun islands, and Mt Rainier National Park.

Cheers!

Waving

Start. Stop. Wait. Wave. Start.

Life seems to go forward in starts and stops. Sometimes it even appears as if it is going backwards. But, as a recent labyrinth experience reminded me, life leads us to the centre in a roundabout way. And, most of life and growth actually happens in the turns, and the times when you are seemingly on the outside going backwards.

“We walk slowly, as if we will never arrive, for we come from a place far away."
My Oupa (granddad) died on Sunday.

He was 85 years old, and left us in dramatic circumstances. He was a wonderfully creative woodworker and I have great memories watching him sculpt beauty from a rejected wooden stump. He taught us manners and principles, and enthralled us with stories about ‘Dinky the dwarf’ and true stories of South African heroes. Predicting the future careers of his five grandchildren, he said that my sisters would be world famous actresses, and Matthew and I would be their bodyguards. Fortunately we would be towering hulks, whose shoulders filled doorways, and had to duck into rooms. He wasn’t far off - my sisters are beautiful, and Matt almost ducks through doorways. At 82 Oupa was beating me on the squash court. It might be more of a testimony to my lack of squash skills than Oupa’s agility, but anyone who can hit a squash ball at 82 has done well! He lived a full life as a farmer, teacher, musician, woodworker and story teller, and shall be missed. I often use examples from his life in my conversations, as testimony that anything is possible, and I shall continue to do so.

Fare well Oupa. I’m planning to make something out of wood as a cathartic goodbye ritual. Maybe I’ll make two - one for him and one for me, and then bury or burn the first one. Whenever I do woodwork I shall think of Jacobus Petrus Grove - my Oupa.

Stop. Wait. Wave.

I flew up to Joburg last night, and the funeral is in White River on Friday. I was hoping to get to see my family in the near future, but not under these circumstances. I’ll make the most of the time here, and enjoy the lack of rain. I fly back to Cape Town on Saturday, and then off with Julie to Seattle for two and a bit weeks of holiday and future snooping things. She won this incentive trip at work, so it’s even more enjoyable that it is free. Hopefully it will be a chance to reflect on those who've gone before me, and the path left for me to walk.

"Look ahead. You are not expected to complete the task. Neither are you permitted to lay it down." ~ The Talmud

Wanna ride?

I’m contemplating the financial and practical aspects of getting either a messenger's ‘fixie’ bicycle, a mountain bike, or a scooter to get me around Cape Town. Until that time, Doug Bax (retired minister and anti-apartheid activist) has lent me his bicycle. Check my wheels out now:


My favourite thing, apart from the dynamo that needs rewiring, the gears on the diagonal bar, and the yellow helmet, is the red reflecting place that swings out like a flag on an arm from the back of the bicycle to remind people not to get too close! Beware the cyclist in yellow.

update on life

So, how’s Cape Town? Without an office or internet connection this blog hasn’t really been the place to keep abreast of what’s been happening.
I’m working part time as a monitor with the Parliamentary Monitoring Group which brings in some income if I go regularly. You can see some of my reports online if you wish. It’s a great way to learn how legislature is made, and I even got to be on TV news on Friday! I’m still talking to Keith Vermeulen at the SACC Parliamentary Office about a researcher/admin post. He needs and wants the extra ‘personpower’, the problem is getting funds from the General Secretary in Jo’burg.
There has been another really interesting development - I met with Kevin Light a while back and had a great chat. He is a Methodist minister who is involved with ‘post-religious spirituality’, and doing really interesting work with his group called Labyrinth. Go have a read at their website. Labyrinth has three ‘rules’ which I really enjoy: no hierarchy, no orthodoxy and no jury. It is simply a place to come and explore spirituality. I may end up doing some work with them in the future. Coupled with this has been my similar experiences (through Julie) of Quaker worship. She attends the local Quaker meeting, and my experience of their worship and fellowship has been interesting and refreshing. They have no clergy, are silent worshippers and live out the belief of ‘that of God in everyone’. Both the Quakers and Labyrinth seem at first glance to be undermining the future occupation I’ve spent 5 years studying for, but, as an ecclesiologist (grin) these alternative faith expressions are helping to shape my own.
As to other life aspects, Julie and I are enjoying being in the same city; I’m playing for ‘the Remnants’ - a local Ultimate Frisbee team here; and my housemate took me surfing for the first time ever. It was humiliating. I’ve seen a sunrise from Simon’s Town beach; listened to Harris Tweed, and the Kolo Nova Movie Band in concerts; been loaned an awesome retro bicycle; and worked out how to catch the (free) University of Cape Town student shuttle into town.
For next year, I’m really excited about doing CPE (hospital chaplaincy) here at Groote Schuur in March, and then perhaps a year long internship in Seattle. That could mean Probation waits a bit. Or CPE counts towards probation. Something like that ;) I don’t want to be in too much of a rush to get ordained, yet I also don’t want to put off my calling. A chaplain of mine’s question of “why do you need to be ordained to minister?” helps to slow me down.

being 'unemployed' at the moment allows me to fiddle around with photos and things. Great procrastination material! The job search is becoming a bit of a drain... hopefully the SACC thing closes soon, otherwise i am considering doing CPE here in Cape Town for the remainder of the year. It's cheaper to be an unemployed student here than it is in the US.