Western Night

One of the first things we did when we arrived in Port Alfred was to attend the local Rotary Club. Having been Rotary members at home, the Port Alfred Club decided to make us honorary members during our stay here. We have enjoyed the friendships we have developed through our association with the club, and we feel we have helped to develop a more positive image of the Church within the Port Alfred community.

In addition to working with some the the club's community service projects, we have also enjoyed some fun times with them. The attached picture shows Dian singing "Those Boots Were Made For Walking" at their annual Western Night party. Needless to say, she was a big hit.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Big weekend in Port Alfred........... its the Inter Collegiate Rowing Championships this past weekend on the Kowie River here in Port Alfred. And of course, college kids from all over South Africa were here in mass to cheer on their favorite teams.

African Winter

The one thing we will miss the most when we return home next spring will be the wonderful friends we have made throughout South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland. One couple that we have enjoyed emensely is Pat and Albert Whitfield. We became acquainted with them through our association in the Port Alfred Rotary Club. I mentioned Pat in an earlier post regarding her efforts to develop stronger literary skills here in the Port Alfred schools. Pat and her husband, Albert retired here in Port Alfred two years ago after fourty years of ranching and farming in the Free State Province in the central high plateau of South Africa. They gained a reputation and great respect for being outstanding stewards of the land. Pat is a beautiful watercolor artist, but also writes very touching poetry. We are just now coming out of winter here, and although we here in Port Alfred do not have the bitter cold of the central highlands where the Whitfield's farm was, I was still very touched by her poem, African Winter, which she has given me permission to share with you.



AFRICAN WINTER


Find a road that runs up to the sky

Find a randjie where wild winds blow

Find a landscape wiped of colour

Where the grey sun tips the fading hills,

And the rolbossies and the mealie leaves

Blow in the empty lands

See the sheep dust lift in clouds along the road

See the cattle hunched against the fence

Pause where the wind can catch your hair

Hitch your shoulder against the cold

Then open your palms and feel God’s peace

In the aching beauty of this high land.

Cats

Seeing a lion or a leopard when visiting one of our game reserves here is a rare treat. Here's a few pictures we were fortunate to take over the last few months. I got these shots of the male lion and the mother lion with her cubs during a night drive in the Scocia Game Reserve, and Dian got this great picture of a lounging leopard on a recent visit to Suboya.