Tag Archives: boomslang

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Still Lots To Look At During the Winter in Oribi Gorge

“Each season brings something to appreciate in Oribi Gorge.”

PHOTO BY PIXABAYJuly 29, 2023

A bat flew out of a bush today, right by my head. I thought it was a bird because it was about the size of a firefinch, but it had those distinctive zigzag wings and was flying around in circles for a while. It reminded me that it was nearly time to go inside. I’d been hacking the garden.

There’s this insane vine that just decided to grow on top of my rambling rose and then, because I left it for so long, it just basically took over every single thing it could grow over, including the long grass.

Well, I’m no longer pregnant and my baby is giving me more free minutes in the afternoon, so I’ve hacked it. But it’s even grown pods, so I’ll have to hack its progeny next year, too. I shouldn’t have left it so long.

Winter in Oribi Gorge Is Still So Beautiful

Winter is a beautiful time here, with aloes in full flower and lots of clearing on the go. We chop hedges and clear out half-dead weeds. It is not so scary in winter because the snakes are much less active.

I still look closely into every pile of leaves or bush I put my hand into, though. Puffies won’t move until I’m right next to them. Large mambas curl up tight. And boomslang females look just like the leafless branches you’re cutting back or pulling off the tree.

I was spraying one of the dirty windows the other day when I happened to look up a little higher to see a very large spider dangling just above my face. Some sort of orb spider, I think. Very pretty. And terrifying when it’s almost as big as your face and within a ruler’s length from your nose.

Thankfully, it was scrambling up toward the roof on its silky thread at that point. I don’t mind orb spiders eating the insects trying to get in my window. It’s much safer than the hundreds of brown button spiders you have to watch for on pot plants, the lemon tree, and under wooden tables and chairs.

Warm Winters Are a Bonus on the South Coast, Aren’t They?

Winter thins these things out to make room. But I’m still glad I’m living in one of the warmest places in South Africa. The cold is not for me.

The bats are also confused it seems. This one came out at 16:30 because the sun had dropped below our hills already. At least that means the eagle owls are sometimes on our garage roof by about 18:30 these days.

Each season brings something to appreciate in Oribi Gorge.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: 24 Things I Survived in 24 Months of Lockdown

Two years in lockdown included a male boomslang in the laundry that was not happy hiding in a watering can.

The male boomslang in Oribi Mom’s watering can. PHOTO BY HEATHER LIND

May 27, 2022

Has it really been that long? Here are 24 things I’ve come through as I find myself standing in 2022 and feeling grateful to be alive.

#1 Giving birth after standing at the emergency entrance answering COVID questions between contractions.

#2 Renovations – so that we didn’t have four people sleeping in one room anymore.

#3 Sending my child to play school for the first time and hoping it wouldn’t mean bringing COVID home.

#5 A riot that sent us into extra lockdown, food rations, night watch, and prayer.

#6 350mm of rain in one week that destroyed roads, cancelled school, and sent giant boulders sliding down into the gorge roads.

#7 A male boomslang in the laundry that was not happy hiding in a watering can.

#8 Two years of cancelled birthday parties.

#9 Several lengthy power failures, including one recent stretch of EIGHT days with two sick children (on the farm, no electricity also means no water).

#10 Two years of missed church services, Sunday School, and face-to-face conversations with our community.

#11 Another pregnancy, but also having to choose a new OB/GYN as my beloved stalwart retired!

#12 A Christmas and New Year’s disaster where a certain virus I am tired of naming scattered the family back into isolation.

#13 At least 20 months without a haircut from a professional.

#14 More than 24 months of missed Mom’s Group teas that used to be a weekly time to catch up and let the children play with friends.

#15 Losing at least one freelance client due to the pandemic, which forced their company to shut down.

#16 Postponing holiday bookings for a third year running.

#17 Two years of masks, sprays, wipes, looks of suspicion, and a widespread fear of coughs and sneezes.

#18 Two years wondering how long coffee-stained teeth and a lost filling can go without dental work.

#19 Four remaining chickens and three bunnies still managing to eat pumpkins flowers, chew welcome mats, poo on the porch, and scratch out flower seedlings whenever they have the chance.

#20 Yet another season of relentless lantana, bugweed, blackjacks, and burrs.

#21 Finally deactivating Facebook, deleting Twitter, and cleaning up diminishing Gmail storage.

#22 Losing three grandparents and friends, and saying goodbye behind a screen.

#23 Two years without weddings, dates, parties, public events, theatre, international travel, movies, or Saturday night braais with friends.

#24 Over two years without a Zest lolly. Only kidding, we would never have survived that! In fact, those sweet frozen treats might be the top reason we moved to the South Coast!

Two Years and the Tide Is Turning

It’s only been 24 months. We can carry on surviving if we need to, but it does feel like there might be a change in the air. There is always hope.

Published here.