Tae a Moose

Small, crafty, cowering, timid little beast,
Oh, what a panic is in our little breast!
You need not start away so hasty,
With argumentative chatter!
I would be loath to run and chase you,
With murdering plough-staff.

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
And justifies that ill opinion
Which makes you startle
At me, your poor, earth born companion
And fellow mortal!

I doubt not, sometimes, that you may steal;
What then? Poor little beast, you must live!
An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves
Is a small request;
I will get a blessing with what is left,
And never miss it.

Your small house, too in ruin!
Its feeble walls the winds are scattering!
And nothing now, to build a new one,
Of coarse green foliage!
And bleak December's winds coming,
Both bitter and piercing!

You saw the fields laid bare and wasted,
And weary winter coming fast,
And cozy here, beneath the blast,
You thought well to dwell,
Till CRASH! the cruel plough passed
Out through your cell.

That small heap of leaves and stubble,
Has cost you many a weary nibble!
Now you are turned out, for all your trouble,
Without house or holding,
To endure the winter's sleety dribble,
And hoar-frost cold.

But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

Still you are blessed, compared with me!
The present only touches you:
But oh! I backward cast my eye,
On prospects dreary!
And forward, though I cannot see,
I guess and fear!

Burns, Robert, To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough

Shade of the Tree

The farmer goes out with his seed

Which he buries gently underground

In a soil giving all its need

Way beyond where it can be found

Tomorrow when you pass by

May not notice the farmer’s effort

It is hidden to the naked eye

You may think that the seed is not

Days and weeks turn into months

A small shoot can finally be seen

Hardly different from the other plants

Could be the maize, pea or the bean

Months turn to years and into decade

Who cannot tell this is a mighty tree?

The difference now clearly distinguished

Does it not stand plain for all to see?

It’s been worth the effort and long wait

For we can now rest under its shade

In its cool breeze we can also sit

Celebrate its beauty that will not fade

The Clock Ticks On

Just musing on the many birthday wishes, gifts and presence. Yes, that is not a typo - I mean presence, not presents. At times presence (just being there) outweighs presents. It is by far the best birthday I've celebrated so far (oh, there was no party - but I still celebrated). Its great to know that my life counts, to be in pursuit of a vision and to have a purpose.  Someone told me that youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle and old age a regret. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was never meant to be this way. That is NOT my life.

Anyway to the day itself - the select day even in the season. The day before my birthday we are having tea with mum and I tell her,

"hey mum, remember tomorrow is my birthday..."

"is that so?" she asks, "is that when you were born?"

I paused. I realized I actually DON’T KNOW when I was born. She really is the one who knows when I was born. I only believe what she tells me.

Doesn’t this fill you with greater appreciation for your mum? I mean, today I'm more learned than she is - but there are some things only she knows for sure, and I will never know. She could tell it to me, but I will never have the experience. How it felt to carry me for nine months. How was the day she carried me from the maternity? Was it rainy? What was the color of the baby shawl? Was it plain or flowered? She will always be mum - no matter how old, rich, or powerful I become. For I would never get here without her.

So goes with our leaders. Note: I don’t mean POLITICIANS. I mean leaders. People who have led us along the way. People who went before us and paved the way for us. Like my nursery school teacher. She taught me the alphabet. Well, today I'm fluent in English, I can write, fill crosswords and the codeword, but where would I be except for the alphabet? So as one wise man said, "if we see far, it is because we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us." and there are numerous examples. People who have invested in us and we became better than them, or we just became better; maybe we became more visible than they are; we should always honor them.

Different people offered different gifts (key word is offered - receiving the gift is up to me). As the old adage goes, it’s the thought that counts. I wont discuss that, but will discuss one gift. My sister bought me a watch. I lack the proper words for it but in slang, "I was so jazzed". I got thinking how I would "revenge" - get back at her; repay her. I can get her a shoe or some cake - I know she loves both. The cake she will eat and that's it. The shoe she can wear - maybe once a week (she has so many other pairs, I don’t understand why she still loves shoes). Or maybe she can wear it on special occasions. But "her" watch, I WILL ALWAYS HAVE WITH ME.

This caused me to think deeply. What impact do I have on people? Is it a sweet but momentary impact that will only remain in the recesses of their minds but not be carried wherever they go? (like the cake). Is it an occasional impact only when we meet? (like the shoe worn on special occasions). Or is it a lasting impact that becomes embedded in all that their hands seek to do? (like the watch now worn on my wrist). I desire the latter.

I could keep writing. Of how the same words "Happy Birthday" coming from different people mean different things - not more or less - but different. Of how each friendship and relationship is unique. Of the beauty of simplicity, the small things that matter; of wanting what you have not having what you want; of the flowers that we never notice along the path coz we never take the time to…… but I will pen off here…and let the music play on…. Happy Birthday to me…….

Coast Guard

I am a coast guard
By the shore I stand
Believe my word
For I've sight of oceans deep

The seas look calm
The waters still and warm
And though it seems like there's no harm
The undercurrents could harbour a storm

You'll therefore do well to heed
My word which you greatly need
My insight which to safety leads
My wisdom that lives saves.

Cala Lilly

My father was a flower farmer. He would prepare their seedbed, tend the seeds, weeds, water and put in manure until the flower came of age. Having matured, he would harvest the flowers, cut them into size and then put them in water and preservatives the whole night. The next morning, he would put them in "sleeves and pack them in cartons ready for export. It was a very deliberate process that took conscious effort.

In the vicinity, there grew a variety of flowers known as Cala Lilly. Checking them up today, I realize they are actually a popular variety on the Internet. However, back then we considered Cala Lilly to be wild flowers. Reason being, they grew all by themselves. You would find them in the bush where clearly no man took deliberate action in planting them. That notwithstanding, they are good flowers and there are people who made money out of them. To be a successful farmer, one could not merely rely only on this breed of flowers. They grew in the wild and their supply could not be determined.

In the same way, though we have some "Cala Lillies" in life, they cannot be relied upon to provide lasting solutions. For example, we cannot count on windfall gains (such as winning lotteries) to provide for our financial needs. Life requires that we take deliberate action to invest in a process whose result may take long. Yet, though it takes long, it can be relied upon. It is sustainable.

Creativity

 Creativity is the quality of being creative. It is the ability to use the imagination to develop new and original ideas or things, especially in an artistic context. Creativity is inherent in every human being. It is an innate quality that exists in each one of us. Throughout life opportunities present themselves, often disguised as challenges, which require our responding to them in a creative way. In fact, one dictionary defines creativity as making imaginative use of the limited resources available.

  

Features of Creativity

1. Creativity comes from knowing The Creator.

I have realized that the best way to be creative is to know God, The Ultimate Creator. You may as well say, “I create because I’m a creature that knows The Creator”.

2. Every person is creative.

God created the universe and created man. He put in man His creative nature and empowered him to continue the work of creation. Hence it is in every person to be creative. The expression of creativity will however no doubt differ from person to person. For one it will be in poetry, for another music and yet another one in drawing/painting.

3. Creativity is a muscle that grows with exercise.

Creativity starts with baby steps. The process can indeed be likened to that of a young one who grows to maturity. One has to have courage to stand and start taking baby steps. As you take the baby steps you realize you actually can create. Success in the little steps buoys up one’s confidence. It also offers an opportunity to be pruned through constructive criticism. It is critical though to make the initial step, however faulty.

Having taken the first steps also presents one with the possibility of meeting others along the way who can complement you in the particular area of creativity.

4. The environment you are in determines what lives or dies in you.

Creativity involves coming up with new ideas, artistic expressions or inventions. This starts in the mind as a seed thought. At each point in time, there are thoughts crossing our minds – good and/or bad. Some thoughts come to fruition while others die depending on the environment.  It therefore becomes important to maintain around us an environment that fosters creativity.

The TO Lessons

To manage time and money
To control thoughts and words
To subdue appetites
To school feelings
To overcome temptations

The TO lessons you have taught me

Learning by Osmosis

Osmosis is the flow of a solvent through a semi permeable membrane from a more concentrated solution to a less concentrated one, until the concentrations are equalized.

Osmosis may also be defined as the gradual, often unconscious, absorption of knowledge or ideas through continual exposure rather than deliberate learning

Several points can be noted here. The key point though is that there is transfer of matter from one location to another, altering the state of the latter to be more like the former. This happens because the dividing wall between the two locations is semi-permeable. What would happen if it was impermeable? There would be no transfer, hence no osmosis.

Illustration
Let us take the concentrated solutions to be value systems. Good/right values and wrong values. It works both ways.
Let the solvent be the means of transfer of the values e.g. speech, literature, company etc..

Where the concentrated solution represents wrong values:

Osmosis is the flow of speech, literature, attitudes, perspectives etc. through a SEMI PERMEABLE MEMBRANE from a concentrated solution (high concentration of the wrong values), to a less concentrated one, until the state of the person initially holding right values is like that of the one initially holding wrong values.

Assumptions
1. There are right and wrong values
2. The absence of one is the presence of the other
3. As one set of values increases the other decreases till it is totally extinguished 

The fact that the membrane is semi permeable is the key factor contributing to the “process of osmosis.” If the membrane were impermeable to the opposing values, there would be no osmosis.

Is Zero Nothing

No.15 commutes to Lang’ata; 105 to Kikuyu 
If I boarded One Five, instead of One Zero Five 
Would I get to my destination? 
If not, is zero nothing?

My boss pays me peanuts; to keep me alive 
If he added a zero to my annual pay 
It would increase ten fold 
If so, is zero nothing?


Companies are in cut-throat competition 
A gain in market share; is a loss to the other 
It’s a zero sum game 
Then, is zero nothing?


When it is winter and temperatures drop to zero 
Would you feel cold, or would you feel nothing 
If you would feel cold, is zero nothing?


We can talk about it all day; and write endlessly
But this is what I'm zeroing in on: 
Is zero nothing?

Can I tie a tie?

Early one morning on my way to work I was approached by a fine looking young man.

"Excuse me," he said, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Yes", I answered.

"I need to put on a tie." He continued. "The only problem is that I don't know how to tie a tie. Will you please do it for me?"

"Yes I can," I answered.

With that, he went to the nearest stall and bought a tie, which he gave to me to tie for him. For some reason I felt like there was something funny about this whole episode. I tried to look around for any hidden cameras - I couldn't see any. It didn't help that the ladies around the stalls were gazing at us the whole time. It only increased my suspicion.

After the first attempt, the tie was shorter than what I thought was ideal, so I re-did it. All in all, I ended up tying it in less time than I thought I would. I was on my way to work, but not without some thoughts: