Tag Archives: friends

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Seven Birds a Week Challenge 2024 – Still Twitching

“Seeing a fantastic golden-breasted bunting two weeks in a row on our farm would normally have been amazing, but I can only log it once!”

Little Oribi bird watcher.

June 13, 2024

For about 20 weeks, I’ve been all self-important because my kind brother-in-law invited me into a very exclusive birding challenge. Me?

A committed non-twitcher who doesn’t really have time to devote to such whimsies right now? I said yes without hesitation because, well, I’m a bit competitive.

Enter the Birding Competition

It’s a WhatsApp group. It started with about 29 people from vastly different backgrounds – another mom, PhD students who live in the Kruger, a certain famous ex-weatherman, someone in Holland, stats enthusiasts, and so on.

All of us started together on January 1, united in one goal – find seven new birds every week that you haven’t seen yet this year. That’s one new bird every day. You can’t list the bird a second time in the year. Also, you have to have actually seen the bird in the week that you submit it.

For example, if you happen to see nine cool birds this week, you can only submit seven of them. To use the other two, you’d have to see them again the following week.

Easy, right?

Doesn’t Oribi Gorge have 250+ bird species listed? That’s at least three-quarters of the year I can stay in this challenge.

Wrong.

Stay Alive By Birding, Birding, Birding

The limit of being able to list only seven birds in a week and having no carry-overs makes this a lot harder to do.

Also, January is in South African summer, when there’s an abundance of birds on hand daily. By April or so, those birds have often migrated over to another country.

The group had submitted manually and tried to police themselves with not repeating birds. The integrity has been impressive.

My bird-loving brother-in-law has also committed time to do this admin every week, so he’s keeping things going in spreadsheets and automated bird lists.

Someone also added a stats site so that we can see cool figures, like the number of unique species logged by the group (750+ already).

I like birds. I like stats. I like travellers. I like competing. It’s fun.

But my time is almost up with not being able to travel out to birding sites. I’m too busy at home. Seeing a fantastic golden-breasted bunting two weeks in a row on our farm would normally have been amazing, but I can only log it once!

How long will I last in the 7 Birds a Week group? Stay tuned.

Still, what a way to spend these last five months. I’ve intentionally looked out of my busy life and noticed what’s out there under my nose – daily. It’s rather beautiful.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Dark-backed Weaver Friends Are Everywhere You Know

“They’ve been right there in front of us the whole time, waiting for the sun.”

Dark-backed weaver. Photo Derek Keats/Wikipedia

June 5, 2024

Have you ever heard the dark-backed weaver sing? That’s not a book title. They really have the most melodic singing you can hear for miles. It might be Oribi Dad’s favourite bird sound. Maybe because it took us a good long while to identify what bird it was coming out of when we first moved to the farm.

They’re tricky from far, especially in Echo Valley. You think it’s one tune, but when the bird flits closer, it sounds a bit different. It rises and falls, and then ends in this buzzing sort of noise, like a phone vibrating on a table. You also hardly see them in the thick bushes they sing from or if their backs are turned to you. Yet from the front and in the sun, they’re the brightest yellow – rivalling orioles and African emerald cuckoos. Against the dry winter brush, it’s really quite stunning.

Isn’t that so like some people we know? We meet them, masked in their dark brown coats with faces turned away from us. We hear their names but don’t remember. We wonder what others see in them at all. Then, one day, we hear their song and it makes us pay attention. Where is that coming from? We want to know more.

Sometimes, it takes us a while to figure out how this brown-coated interesting figure can produce such a clear and beautiful sound in the first place. Did we hear wrong? No, we think, as we hear that melody ring out a few more times. There’s something there worth discovering.

One day, we might even hear that voice and catch the owner turning to face us, just as the sun hits from over the gorge cliffs to the east. The sparkling yellow seems to light up the whole valley as the song rings loud and captivating from that tiny black beak. What a sight! What a talented package this is. How could we have missed that mesmerising beauty for so long?

It feels like that’s how friends are made sometimes. We see each other, really see each other. And we hear a song we can’t ignore any longer. Then, once we’ve seen and heard it, we suddenly start to see that person’s influence and worth everywhere we look. How could we possibly have missed it before? They’ve been right there in front of us the whole time, waiting for the sun.

Published here.

Oribi Mom, Travelinds

Oribi Mom: Back To Paradise and Still Captivated

“If you ever go there, be sure to leave time for a long walk.”

Oribi Mom at Mabibi in iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

August 3, 2023

It’s been three years of this COVID stuff, with two sons arriving amid the chaos. With all that’s happened, we’ve also had to postpone a holiday we’d planned for July 2020.

Instead of COVID lasting a few weeks, it was still around the next year, so we didn’t go in 2021 either. Then, Boy Number Three made an entry in 2022. And now, here we are, with a one-year-old, his two brothers, and finally a three-year-old booking we have been able to actually use.

A Special Place for Our Growing Family

The place is a very special one for us as a family. It’s where we met 22 years ago as starry-eyed teenagers. It’s also where he proposed to me six years after that, when I was finally old enough to get married. So when we go, there’s always some history to it.

But it’s truly a gem of a beach destination on the North Coast. It’s the type that is beautiful just the way it is. It doesn’t need amenities to cover up litter or dirty sand or cloudy water. It has pristine soft white dunes, crystal clear water, and kilometres of space with not a soul in sight. Perfect.

Beautiful Beach Hours Above and Under the Water

The snorkellers in our little group saw rays, crayfish, lionfish, and all sorts of other interesting things in the water. The beachgoers admired the performing whales constantly passing by. And I found five turtle nests, marked by the dried eggs fanning out from the exit point on the dune. Super exciting.

In twenty years, not much has changed there except the popping up of a very exclusive lodge right below the campsite. The camp has also erected three little cabins with canvas walls, giving us the option to have our own kitchen and shower. It’s glamping compared to the outright campsites, but just as immersive in nature.

I like the cabins with small children, but we let the bigger boys camp for two nights just to have the memories. The kids also hopped around from campsite to campsite, visiting their cousins and friends who came with us for laughs, toasted marshmallows, and lots of sand castles. They even found some of the endemic bird species in the area, saw giraffes right on the main road, and watched the sunsets over Lake Sibaya. They heard the bushbabies and elusive Green Malkohas too.

Hopefully, they’ll always remember it as the best beach ever. That’s how we think of it. If you ever go there, be sure to leave time for a long walk. You might just find one if the giant cowries my love used to propose to me all those years ago. Best ringholder ever.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: No Wedding Video To Show Our Sons

“If we had invested in a professional videographer that day, we could have shown our sons what their parents, aunties, uncles and other friends looked like.”

The reward of reaching 15 years with three kids and a full memory bank has been worth it so far.

October 1, 2022

Many of you may already know that it sometimes pays to go through your cupboards and boxes. All three boys are transitioning into the next clothing size and I was taking a hands-free 20 minutes to fold laundry and sort things out.

When the piles of clothing were finally back into the right spaces, my eyes fell on a shoebox right at the back of the shelf. Oh yes, Mom brought that over a few months ago and I haven’t had a chance to look in it yet.

As I opened it up, I realised it was a few things from my childhood room; some wedding invitations, a photograph or two; printer’s tray items. How sweet to remember the little ornaments I spent so much time looking at and playing with as a girl. Too delicate to pass on to rough and tumble toddler boys just yet, though.

Look Closer at the Memories for Treasures

As I scanned the items, I saw an envelope with a single name on it in my handwriting. Who is that? Let’s call him Ben.

I only remembered one person by that name – a boy in my primary school. I didn’t remember ever writing him a letter, so I opened it. Three R100 notes fell on the floor! And as I read the note, it became clear.

“Here’s something to say thank you for taking our wedding video. Hope 2008 is a wonderful year for you!”

Oh, that Ben.

The one who offered to film our wedding almost 15 years ago. The friend who never arrived.

Still Frames in the Mind Are Treasured, Too

That’s right, we don’t have a wedding video to remember our very special union at 21 and 23. Those fresh-faced young people in the photographs are captured in still frames only. Their sincere voices and excited celebrations are a distant memory now.

Wedding guests didn’t have smartphones to capture clips of the day. There wasn’t even WhatsApp.

“Car trouble, sorry,” the message said as we were dressing for our long-awaited big day.

We’d dated for six years and were finally old enough to tie the knot. As we stood overlooking the ocean and said our vows, only the guests and gulls bore witness. We signed papers and we beamed at the prospect of what the future might hold for us.

Guests swam between the ceremony and the reception to stave off the oppressive January heat. Speeches and friends’ songs made everybody cry and laugh. And then, we moved on with our lives.

Maybe We’d Do It Differently But Time Doesn’t Rewind – Enjoy the Moments!

Maybe if we had invested in a professional videographer that day, we could have shown our sons what their parents, aunties, uncles and other friends looked like and how they sounded at the start of something beautiful.

Thankfully, we’ve invested more wisely into marriage. Love takes work, but the reward of reaching 15 years with three kids and a full memory bank has been worth it so far.

And, now we have some cash to go on a well-deserved date night one of these days to celebrate. Happy early anniversary to us.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Keep the Lights On and Call Somebody

“Friends lightheartedly commented in May last year that they hoped to meet my little one before he was walking – too late, he took his first steps last week.”

Our woolly-necked storks are residents or intra-African migrants.

April 8, 2021

The first of those lockdown babies has turned ONE! Did you remember?

A year after our lives were turned upside down by an invisible threat, we are still in isolation and it doesn’t feel normal yet. There are likely people in your circles who have changed jobs, lost livelihoods, recovered from surgeries, and upgraded their smartphones. In a whole year, there are also mothers who fell pregnant, watched their bellies expand, and now have an infant – without seeing anyone.

Can you imagine not one of your mommy friends admiring your bump over tea or meeting your child? That is now normal.

It’s Been a Year of Wondering When Things Will Be Normal Again

I haven’t been to a shop in over a year. Or in-person church.

Friends lightheartedly commented in May last year that they hoped to meet my little one before he was walking – too late, he took his first steps last week. My cute two-year-old is now a tall, rambunctious three-going-on-thirteen, rolling eyes and all. He’s outgrown several clothes sizes in a year and forgotten the names of some friends he played with every week before – a year is third of his whole lifespan!

My pregnant belly is now an 11-month toddler who wants to feed himself. He gets excited about the loud sounds of tractors and vacuum cleaners. He’s never met his extended family, including great-grandparents.

So Much Has Changed and Yet So Much Is Still the Same

Will we be looking back the same way another year from now? I don’t know.

Our garden has undergone another season of growth, as has our marriage. Even the swallows are getting ready to leave again after their six-monthly residence on the farm.

I know that you should check on your friends, even if it’s over WhatsApp. Everyone is not okay. South Africans are tough, but these have been dark days where social lifelines haven’t been forthcoming. We need friends and family, but we have also needed to obey the laws and minimise the spread of a virus.

We recently went through five days without electricity on the farm after a terrible lightning storm, but it was like a welcome reset in many ways. My fridge has never looked so clean as it emptied rapidly and couldn’t be refilled.

There’s some light for 2021, but we might have to enjoy a few candlelit dinners to see it. We don’t need complicated technology or filled calendars to be happy.

We do need connection, though. Relationships are the electricity of a fulfilled life.

What changes have you been through in a year of lockdown? Are there connections you need to restore? Don’t lose hope, you’ve already come through an entire year of life-altering abnormality. Keep the lights on and call somebody.

Published here.

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About Us – Meet The Linds

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Howzit and welcome to Linds.co.za., friend! This is the official online home of the adventure-loving Linds from South Africa. Whatever you'd like to know about us, you'll find right here.

Welcome! Learn More About Us Here

As you browse our posts, you’ll find a lot of living here. There are pervasive themes: an adventurous spirit, tenacity, and a living hope.

Lind: A Brief History

The widespread Lind family has a rich history in South Africa now. There’s no doubt about a bit of wanderlust in the blood.

Our Lind ancestors mostly hail from Norwegian-Swedish-Scottish-English descent (Yes, we know how complicated it sounds).  Isn’t complexity beautiful?

Fascinating bloodlines have come together over centuries. Just think of the eyes in our family. These windows to the soul range from icy Nordic blues to rich chocolate pools that draw you in despite yourself. We’re all so different, and we’re all bonafide Linds!

They’re certainly an interesting bunch these Linds. Want enough unbelievable stories to fill a couple of books? Let’s just start with a website!

Virtue always flourishes

See our sweet, dainty, petite female dog here? She was called Butch! That’s Lind humour that. She’s in doggy heaven now, but she shared in many of our adventures over the years.

If you’d like to start exploring and learn more about us, here are a few things you’ll find on our site:

The “Travelinds” Blog

Join us on this exciting journey as Travelinds discovers beautiful new places and faces around the world. Visit our travel blog.

The “Oribi Mom” Column

With so much on offer in our new hometown, the adventures started rolling in as quickly as the babies here. Three sons, a menagerie, a little farm, and parenting gave rise to the “Oribi Mom” column in the local paper. It’s published right here and on the newspaper’s website.

We hope you enjoy the journey with us!

Picture of three boys looking at the forest
Our three small boys looking at a creature scuttling off into the forest in Oribi Gorge, South Africa